Cheerful concertgoers give the night a hearty finale that the music lacked

Wilma Salisbury

Plain Dealer Music Critic

Over the last decade, the Cleveland Pops Orchestra's New Year's Eve concert has become a popular holiday tradition. The celebration Saturday night at Severance Hall ushered out the old year with medleys from movies and musicals that played area theaters in 2005. The new year was greeted with balloons, noisemakers and dancing to live music in the lobbies.

The program opened dramatically in darkness. As music director Carl Topilow led the orchestra in the introduction to Richard Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (aka the theme from "2001: A Space Odyssey"), balloons above the stage flashed the numbers 2006.

With the lights up, audience members participated in the annual ritual of clapping in rhythm and tooting toy horns on cue to the strains of Josef Strauss' "Feuerfest Polka." Also familiar from past concerts was a solo performance by violinist Steven Greenman, who emerged from the ensemble to show his impressive skills as a gypsy fiddler. He was joined in Vittorio Monti's "Czardas" by Topilow, who descended from the podium and picked up his clarinet while violinist Jason Steber took over conducting duties.

Later, Steber engaged Topilow in a "battle of the batons." The violinist, masked like Darth Vader, won the mock duel and the right to lead the musicians in "Battle of the Heroes" from John Williams' "Revenge of the Sith."

The 59-member orchestra sounded fine in works by Williams and the Strausses. They also shone in "What's Up at the Symphony," a clever collection of familiar tunes compressed into a nutshell by arranger Jerry Brubaker. The talents of the players were wasted, however, in medleys from "The Polar Express," "Hairspray" and "The Producers." The music lacked substance, and the performances were short on dynamic contrast and expressive nuance.

In addition to the orchestral arrangements of music from Hollywood and Broadway, the program presented two guest vocalists from London, Ontario. R&B singer Denise Pelley brought personality and style to a lively set that featured hits associated with Gladys Knight and Aretha Franklin. Rock singer Jean Meilleur looked stiff and sounded tense as he paced the stage wailing songs by the Beatles.

The program ended abruptly with the vocalists teaming up to sing Martha & the Vandellas' hit "Dancin' in the Street."

The large crowd wanted more. But neither an encore nor a grand finale had been prepared. Instead, the last number was repeated.

Despite the thinness of the repertoire, the audience responded with enthusiasm, then crowded into the lobbies to dance to light rock played by Splash and swing music played by Topilow and members of the orchestra.