Previews: Brett Mitchell leads The Cleveland Orchestra
CLEVELAND — Cleveland Classical has published a preview of The Cleveland Orchestra’s upcoming holiday performances, including an interview with guest conductor Brett Mitchell:
“What gets me excited about holiday concerts? Honestly, everything about them,” conductor Brett Mitchell said during a telephone conversation. “Every performance is for the audience, but these concerts really are for them. There’s so much opportunity for banter, and every crowd feels different.”
Mitchell pointed out a favorite quote of his from the late Stephen Sondheim, who said, the audience is the final collaborator. “And that is what we have been missing for the last two years in general, but particularly for this kind of program.”
Beginning on Thursday, December 9 at 7:30 pm, Brett Mitchell returns to Mandel Hall at Severance to lead The Cleveland Orchestra and Cleveland Orchestra Chorus in a holiday program devoted to music of the season. The concert also features director of choruses Lisa Wong as well as vocalist and Northeast Ohio favorite Capathia Jenkins. Performances continue through December 19. See our Concert Listings page for dates, times, and guest choirs. Tickets are available online.
Mitchell noted that the concerts are also a family affair where everyone in the audience gets dressed in their holiday finest. “It’s a special occasion for them, and to look out and see the kids and the magic in their eyes when ‘you know who’ makes his special entrance is so heartwarming.”
The conductor said that this year’s program is full of musical selections that will appeal to everyone. “The longest piece is only seven minutes — the ‘Waltz of the Flowers’ from Nutcracker. So if you’re not into one piece, just wait, because the next one is coming.”
He said that the selections are also intended to evoke the feeling of a homecoming, beginning with the first piece — Oh Come all ye faithful — which by tradition, serves as the opener for the Orchestra’s holiday concerts.
“It starts with just the voices and builds and builds,” Mitchell said. “Then there’s a big key change, and that’s when all the wreaths and bows and all of the other holiday finery lights up. Even though we’ve done it hundreds of times, it always has an emotional effect.”
Asked if he has a favorite piece on the program, Mitchell said that since one of his last projects as associate conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra was leading fully staged performances of The Nutcracker at Playhouse Square, “Waltz of the Flowers” is his sentimental favorite.
“But as a guy who was eleven years old in 1990 when Home Alone came out, getting to do ‘Somewhere in My Memory’ is very special, and it’s one the great holiday songs of all time. And right before that is another piece from Home Alone, ‘Holiday Flight.’ Getting to conduct both of these John Williams songs couldn’t be more exciting. It just takes me back to being an eleven-year-old again every time I hear that music. And if you can’t embrace that during the holidays, I don’t know when you can.”
Read additional brief previews from the Plain Dealer, cleveland.com, WKYC, and ideastream, and watch Mr. Mitchell preview these performances in the video below or on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.