THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 4, 1994 TAG: 9412020267
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
A Christmas extravaganza with the 34-piece Mantovani Orchestra and the eight-person Mantovani Chorus will range from traditional carols and the Hallelujah Chorus to holiday pop songs and ``Auld Lang Syne.''
The Mantovani musicians, under the direction of English conductor Barry Knight, will appear at 8 p.m. Dec. 10 at Willett Hall under the auspices of the Portsmouth Community Concert Association.
The program will open with overture to ``Die Fledermaus,'' followed by a group of Christmas carols arranged by Stanley Black and including ``Adeste Fidelis,'' ``Joy to the World,'' ``Silent Night,'' ``Away in the Manger'' and the ``First Noel.''
``Santa's Workshop Suite'' includes Mantovani's Toy Shop Ballet, a work he composed for his own children. ``Do You Hear What I Hear'' and ``Carol of the Bells'' will be sung a capella by the chorus followed by an orchestral rendition of Sleeping Beauty Waltz by Tchaikovsky. The orchestra and chorus then will join together for a group of popular songs celebrating the season, songs such as ``Winter Wonderland,'' ``Let It Snow'' and ``Santa Claus is Coming to Town.''
The first half of the program also will include ``March of the Toys'' from Victor Herbert's ``Babes in Toyland,'' the Bach-Gounod ``Ave Maria'' and Handel's Hallelujah Chorus.
The second part of the program will open with selections from The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky and continue with a suite covering a variety of familiar songs: ``God Rest, Ye Merry Gentlemen''; ``O Holy Night'' sung in French; J.S. Bach's ``Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring''; ``The Little Drummer Boy'' and Cesar Franck's ``Panis Angelicus'' sung in Latin; ``Dance of the Hours''; ``Once in David's Royal City''; ``I Saw Three Ships''; ``Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas''; and ``Christmas Bells,'' an original Mantovani composition.
The lively Happy Holiday Suite will include parts of familiar songs ending with ``Auld Lang Syne.'' The audience will be invited to join in singing ``White Christmas'' at the end of the holiday show.
The original orchestra was formed more than 50 years ago by Venice-born Annunzio Paolo Mantovani, who retired after an illustrious career in this country in 1975. He died in 1980 and, three years later, the orchestra was resurrected by his children and John Giattino, a former bassoonist with the orchestra who now serves as operations director.
Knight, who for many years was editor of live music broadcasts for BBC Radio 2, was the first to produce simultaneous stereo radio and television programs for the BBC. In 1990, he made his Royal Festival Hall debut conducting the BBC Concert Orchestra and later the same year, he directed the BBC Concert Orchestra and Singers and the Central Band of the Royal Air Force in six concerts. by CNB