Review: EPSO celebrates the holiday season with a bit of whimsy, laughter and nostalgia
Leah Romero reflects on the El Paso Symphony Orchestra’s A Christmas Fantasia, a festive concert featuring holiday favorites, guest soprano Erica Spyres and spirited audience participation
El Paso Symphony Orchestra opens its holiday concert series with sing-alongs, guest vocalists and a festive mix of Christmas classics.
Leah Romero
It’s officially that time of year when temperatures drop, leaves change color and holiday decorations spring up on every corner. Further setting the mood for a magical season, the El Paso Symphony Orchestra presents its A Christmas Fantasia concert series this weekend.
When Maestro Bohuslav Rattay stepped out onto the stage Friday night with a decorated baton, I knew the audience was in for a lively evening. And with over 20 pieces on the program and a stage packed with more than double the usual number of musicians, I was definitely right.
The EPSO was joined by the UTEP Choral Union and Concert Chorale, directed by Elisa Fraser Wilson. The symphony jumped right in with We Need a Little Christmas and Sleigh Ride and it was quickly clear that the concert was also going to be a sing-along. Audience participation was encouraged.
Rattay and Wilson handed off the baton and weaved together a program of Christmas favorites like Let It Snow! and my favorite, Leroy Anderson’s A Christmas Festival, with a cappella numbers and other takes on the classics. And the symphony’s performance of Hanukkah! and Trudging Grimly Through the Snow spotlighted lovely melodic clarinet and oboe solos.
Guest soprano Erica Spyres flew in from New York City for this weekend’s performances and brought with her Jingle Bells à la Streisand, Once Upon a December and some surprise violin playing. Her Broadway chops fit right in with the program.
There were grand moments during the concert that brought out the whimsy of Christmas, and moments when the pace slowed and nostalgia set in. Between the amusing handing off of the decorated baton, Wilson’s dance-like way of conducting from the podium, the splendor of a very full stage and several costume changes (not just by Spyres. Keep an eye on the trumpet section during Sleigh Ride!), audiences enjoyed a wonderful start to the holiday season.
The ensembles brought the concert to an impressive close with the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah and We Wish You a Merry Christmas, which, with the audience singing too, filled the Plaza Theatre to the brim.
If you go:
A Christmas Fantasia
Who: El Paso Symphony Orchestra
When: Saturday, Dec. 6, at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Plaza Theatre, 125 W. Mills Ave., El Paso
Tickets: Available through the El Paso Symphony Orchestra and the Plaza Theatre box office
Leah Romero is a freelance writer based in southern New Mexico. She can be reached at www.LeahRRomero.com.
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