Broadway conductor Donald Pippin led the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra in an engaging mix of seasonal tunes, Broadway and operetta classics and familiar carols at the orchestra’s holiday pops concert at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts.
Pippin, the music director at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall and one of Broadway’s more honored conductors, with Tony, Emmy and Drama Desk awards to his credit, is adept at bringing out the verve, warmth and sentimentality required in the pops realm. In Friday’s concert, his third in Annapolis since last year, he led the orchestra in a performance worthy of Radio City Music Hall.
He had help delivering a stylish combination of Broadway pizzazz and Annapolis hometown charm from talented Broadway performer Teri Hansen and the wonderful young singers of Hillsmere Elementary School.
Orchestral works by American composers included David Rose’s “Holiday for Strings,” Victor Herbert’s “March of the Toys” and an instrumental showcase, “Jingle Bells Fantasy.” In that piece, the familiar “Jingle Bells” was transformed through an array of styles, from oompah band to country hoe-down to semi-classical, with the strings moving from pizzicato to a lush fullness.
Pippin showed what made him a legend at Radio City Music Hall with excerpts from Percy Faith’s sensitive arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. His remarkable Broadway career was recalled by composer Jerry Herman’s “We Need a Little Christmas,” from Mame.
Soprano Hansen has a big voice with an impressively wide range that is well-suited to show tunes and the more demanding classical repertoire. She joined the 20 Hillsmere pupils in singing “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” adding her own touches of warmth and charm to standards like “Silver Bells” and “Winter Wonderland,” and fun to the children’s “Frosty the Snow Man” and “Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer.”
With the orchestra, Hansen delivered an inspired “Carol of the Bells” and a heartfelt “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” in a display of versatility.
She was later joined by the children in “Do-Re-Mi” from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music.
Not only was Hansen expert at relating to the children, she mingled easily with adults as she left the stage to get acquainted with audience members, inviting them to sing along and join her in a waltz or two. She captivated both the audience and the children while looking lovely through the entire concert in a succession of four glamorous gowns.
Hansen also proved adept at comedy in her delivery of Fred Silver’s amusing “Twelve Days After Christmas,” with ASO principal percussionist Donald Spinelli serving as her willing foil.
The only complaint was that Hansen might have given the children an opportunity to sing one or two songs alone without always joining – and often overwhelming – them.
Friday’s near-capacity audience held a surprising number of young families with children. Their frequent applause signaled the enthusiasm of a potential audience that ASO would do well to court.
