Review:

'Tenors' was a great ASO show

By DAVID LINDAUER

for The Capital ( Annapolis , MD )

Published December 22, 2007

You've got to hand it to the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra people: They really know how to throw a great holiday party! Case in point, last weekend's holiday pops concert with The Broadway Tenors - Jonathan Dokuchitz, Hugh Panaro and Sal Viviano. Oh, yes, there was also a guest conductor, Carl Topilow, but more about him later.

The three talented tenors tantalized our sensibilities with beautifully rendered offerings from Broadway shows of the past century. Raucous humor, delightful and well-remembered tunes, and a high level of musicianship characterized the whole evening. And although one could point out that the whole concert was the musical equivalent of eating an entire container of pink cake frosting - all sweet and fluffy with little substance - the event was so much fun, you'd have to respond, "So what? Enjoy!"

Picking individual highlights of this concert probably depends on where your Broadway musical preferences lie, but there was such a comprehensive range of music that there was something for everyone: Selections ranged from the era of Rodgers and Hammerstein all the way up to that of more contemporary composers like Elton John and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Our performers caught my attention from the very first medley, combining as it did music of such greats as Leonard Bernstein (" New York ! New York !") and George Gershwin ("Broadway Rhythm"), followed by Mr. Panaro's compelling singing of "Something's Coming" from " West Side Story." In fact, Mr. Bernstein's music was noticeably on hand throughout the concert, with both "Mambo" and "Maria" appearing later in the concert.

The music of Mr. Gershwin was also prevalent, with such featured selections as Mr. Viviano's "They Can't Take That Away From Me" and Mr. Dokuchitz's gorgeously sung "Someone to Watch Over Me," in which he eschewed any theatricality and let the music speak for itself. The concert also piqued my funny bone (despite persistent rumors to the contrary, I do have one; I picked it up cheap on eBay) with such numbers as "Grand Old Name" in which our three soloists managed to cram about 60 (I lost count) song snippets featuring ladies' names into about three minutes. This clever effort culminated with the three of them combining in that most glorious of name songs, "Maria."

The humor continued with a medley of numbers from "Fiddler on the Roof" during which Mr. Topilow brought out his clarinet and treated the audience to such a collection of squeaks, honks and humorous sounds that he could have set klezmer music back 50 years, if it had not been all part of the fun. But the funniest number (and the one that had my stomach growling for nourishment) was Mr. Panaro's heartfelt and ardent love song to Sara Lee. I was doing fine until he started listing all of her baked and frosted delights; then I lost it, and compulsively ate my program.

I was also struck by how well the three voices blended. Although all three gentlemen are clearly tenors, there is a slightly baritonal cast to Mr. Viviano's voice, so it provided a nice melodious underpinning to his trios and duets with his colleagues. Mr. Panaro, by contrast, has a very strong, ringing high tenor, so his notes were very distinctive (and beautifully sung, I might add).

There's an old maxim that "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach." Whoever said that obviously never ran across an individual with the versatility and talents of Mr. Topilow. Not only does he head the master's program in conducting at the Cleveland Institute of Music, but, as demonstrated Friday night, he can certainly lead an orchestra! You only needed to hear the "snap" in the sound the ASO created during the opening number, "New York Medley," or the very cleanly articulated syncopation in Mr. Bernstein's "Mambo" to realize that here is a gentleman who assuredly knows which end of the baton is which.

All in all, a great time was had by all, thanks to the ASO and The Broadway Tenors. This was definitely one of the highlights of my Christmas season, and I hope all of you who heard it can say the same. Happy holidays!

David Lindauer, a lifelong student of music, reviews classical music for The Capital.