Review: 'Cleveland Orchestra kicks off 2023 holiday series with festive Severance concert'

Brett Mitchell introduces The Cleveland Orchestra’s 2023 Holiday Concerts from his living room in Denver, CO.

CLEVELAND — Cleveland.com has published a review of The Cleveland Orchestra’s 2023 Holiday Concerts, led by guest conductor Brett Mitchell:

It’s a safe bet to hold off on the Noëls and Fa-la-la-la-las until The Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus launch their Holiday Concerts. This year there are 14 of them, and these events are regarded as the true beginning of the holiday season. Let the celebrations begin!

And so they did on Wednesday evening, December 13, at Severance Music Center, when Brett Mitchell led The Cleveland Orchestra and Cleveland Orchestra Chorus (joined by the Cleveland State University Chorale and the College of Wooster Chorus) in a classy program of Christmas, Chanukah, and winter-themed music starring the formidable Capathia Jenkins, who brought her personal vocal rizz to the party (thank you, Oxford English Dictionary, for the gift of that new word).

The engaging playlist began with a hearty welcome by conductor/emcee Brett Mitchell, a former Cleveland Orchestra assistant conductor, and an elaborate version of “O Come, All Ye Faithful” by Mack Wilberg, director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, who contributed four arrangements to the program.

Mitchell went on to introduce two orchestral selections “from the classical canon,” an arrangement of the chorale that appears twice in Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cantata BWV 147 by Leopold Stokowski, long-time conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra and himself an organist, and the breath-taking Dance of the Tumblers from Rimsky-Korsakoff’s “The Snow Maiden,” tossed off at a daring tempo with astonishing clarity…

Mitchell gave a nod to another December celebration, the Jewish Festival of Lights, summed up in Jeff Tyzik’s ebullient “Chanukah Suite,” which featured the Orchestra’s gleaming brass section.

Brett Mitchell introduces The Cleveland Orchestra’s 2023 Holiday Concerts from the stage at Severance Music Center.

Then it was time to bring the audience into the celebration. Mitchell announced that “Away in a Manger” (arranged by Steven Amundson) would be its audition piece, and if things went well, the assembled multitudes would be invited to join in “Joy To the World.” Things did, and Admundson’s arrangement of Handel’s tune set the mood for the composer’s “Hallelujah Chorus” in Mozart’s orchestration, which brought the audience to its feet…

How do you follow such a class act? With an appearance by Saint Nicholas himself, who ho-ho-ho’d his way down the aisle looking untraditionally svelte, to hold a witty Q&A with Mitchell. His departure led to Leroy Anderson’s obligatory and delightful “Sleigh Ride,” and to the final piece on the printed program, Wilberg’s arrangement of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” prefaced by Mitchell’s concise (and accurate!) comments about the origin of Mendelssohn’s tune.

Not quite finished yet, Mitchell led the performers and audience in Carmen Dragon’s lovely and theatrical arrangement of “Silent Night” and the musical greeting card, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”

To read the full review, please click here.

Brett Mitchell leads The Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, and Wooster Chorus in Arthur Harris’s arrangement of ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ live at Severance Music Center on Dec 14, 2023.