Seattle Symphony with Robert Spano, guest conductor
By Melinda Bargreen
Okay, the holidays can start now.
The Seattle Men’s Chorus is in residence at Benaroya Hall, purveying their annual seasonal treasury of the sublime and the ridiculous. Over the years, this Christmas tradition has marked the official start of the holiday season for the audiences who love the SMC’s message: peace, all kinds of love, tolerance, wacky humor, and lots of great music.
And every year, music director Dennis Coleman and his production team come up with a new and uniquely entertaining show, one that makes the audience think and ponder as well as laugh. Coleman doesn’t take shortcuts; this year there was an especially nice 11-piece combo with snazzy brass underscoring the “Cool Yule” theme. (Visitors to the opening shows also got to hear performances by Megan Hilty, soon to be featured in February’s premiere of the new NBC TV series, “Smash.”)
What really makes the SMC holiday shows work is not just the musical values, the comedy skits, the fun of dressing up, or the evocation of Christmases past – though all those factors are there in good measure. What whaps the listener right over the head is the sudden segue from the enjoyable silliness of a Captain Smartypants skit to the celestial a cappella harmonies of Morten Lauridsen’s “O Magnum Mysterium.” Coleman blended the choral sections like an expert winemaker, adding a little extra oomph to an interior dissonance here and there, and somehow keeping this enormous group from sagging in pitch – a minor miracle in itself.
On the side of levity, the SMC staged a reprise of the earlier “Winter Wonderland” parody, “Walkin’ Round in Women’s Underwear,” in which the sheer exuberant joy of doing so was made clearly evident (much to the audience’s entertainment).
The SMC is nothing if not timely, with nods in the program to everything from current political candidates and Broadway shows to the talking muse of the Apple iPhone 4S, Siri. (She responded to a query from four techno “researchers” in one skit with a deadpan “You are such a geek.”)
It wouldn’t be the Christmas show without an audience sing-along, where Coleman proved once again that he can make even an audience sound good. (His own tenor voice from the stage was a reminder that Coleman is a terrific singer, too.) And the group’s signature sign-language “Silent Night” appeared in yet another telling incarnation, in an inspired arrangement from Eric Lane Barnes.
Some of the arrangements, from a source identified in the program as “Sinozich” (most likely Patrick Sinozich, artistic director of the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus and a prolific arranger), were more variable in quality. Jackson Berkey’s creative arrangement of “O Come, All Ye Faithful” got a nicely nuanced performance.
There’s always an encore, and this year’s is literally a showstopper -- a version of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” that starts off as barbershop, and turns into something considerably snappier and more exciting. But this one you’ll have to see and hear for yourself, and luckily, there are plenty of chances to do so. The shows continue on Sunday, December 18 (7:30 p.m.); Monday, December 19 (7:30 p.m.); Thursday, December 22 (7:30 p.m.); and Friday, December 23 (2 p.m. and 8 p.m.).
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