Review: WINTER SONG: A HOLIDAY EVENING WITH INGRID MICHAELSON Plays Carnegie Hall

Singer/songwriter Ingrid Michaelson had one heck of a debut at Carnegie Hall last week. The popular recording artist that also played Broadway in Natasha, Pierre... didn't just get to do one concert for her Carnegie bow, she did two - the first on December 16th (read Bobby Patrick's review HERE) and one on the 17th. Working alongside Steven Reineke and The New York Pops, Ms. Michaelson's first night, ROCKIN' AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE, was described as being more traditional Christmas music, while the following night, WINTER SONG: A HOLIDAY EVENING WITH Ingrid Michaelson, was touted as being more secular. Bobby Patrick having a religious background, he was the ideal choice for the carols, while this writer, a non-believer, was better suited to the secular. And, after what I saw at Carnegie Hall on Saturday night, I couldn't be happier about the way that worked out.

Ingrid Michaelson is an absolute delight. She has charm, wit, personality, and a youthful exuberance that matches conductor Reineke's take-no-prisoners approach to his conducting and performance. Both artists are so joyful and charming, yet in different ways, so talented and accomplished (in complementary ways), that there was no chance for the evening to be anything other than wonderful, which it was. Performing songs like "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" and "I'll Be Home For Christmas" or "It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year" can't be easy for musicians and singers because everybody sings them - how do you make them different? How do you make them your own? You do that with a one-two punch of authenticity and great arrangements. Not one composition performed during the concert came across as rote or dull or recycled - every entry was personally informed by Ingrid's aesthetic (it didn't hurt that she brought her fantastic colleagues with her to the show - Allie Moss on guitar and vocals and Hannah Winkler on keyboard and vocals), and Steven's work with the Pops provided lush, full, gorgeous musical support. It has to be said that The New York Pops really are a boon to this city, to Carnegie Hall, and to the artists that appear with them. Ingrid Michaelson would have sounded amazing with a three-piece combo, or even a lone piano, but with those magnificent musicians making merry behind her, her Christmas concert was more like a Christmas miracle. The entire musical experience was as majestic as the name Carnegie might suggest. And when Ingrid was off of the stage for five numbers, Mr. Reineki and The Pops performed genuinely impressive (and, again, not at all ordinary) arrangements of songs we have all heard so many times that we don't want to hear them again. In The Pops' hands, "Deck The Halls," "Sleigh Ride," and "Jingle Bell Rock" were fresh, new, and thoroughly entertaining. Also new and entertaining was a spectacular (and very oddly sexy) traditional Christmas Carol re-named "Little Bolero Boy" (guess why), and the performance of "Mis Zeh Hidlik (Behold The Lights)" was an evening highlight, leaving the entire audience sighing with wonder. It was a special night for everyone, particularly Ingrid Michaelson.

Although the programming of Ms. Michaelson's setlist featured all those lovely Christmas songs (like a "Winter Wonderland" that included the proper second verse, instead of the oft-repeated first verse) that we hear year in and year out (like a gorgeous "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" that included the original lyric sung by Judy Garland in Meet Me In St. Louis), the most rewarding part of the evening was hearing Ingrid Michaelson sing her own compositions.

The audience was full of Michaelson fans who were elated to hear her marvelous "Be OK" and her cute "Christmas Valentine" (as a duet with writing partner Jason Mraz), and the beyond beautiful "Winter Song" (another evening highlight). Some of the audience members were such fans that they came prepared, as witnessed when Ingrid Michaelson used her stage time to highlight a mid-performance proposal between two women whose Christmas got so much better when (after the entirety of Carnegie Hall watched one blonde head bob up and down excitedly and vigorously), Ingrid Michaelson dedicated "The Way I Am" to the newly-affianced couple. The whole thing evening was joy personified, especially with Ingrid's real-life partner, Will Chase, sharing some duet action with her and her pre-teen niece running out onstage to tell the crowd Merry Christmas.

There was, though, one little snag in the evening that left the tiniest of blots on what would have been a perfect night out. There seemed to be some issues with the soundboard at times. When Ingrid's writing partners, Chad Vaccarino and Ian Axel, joined her and the other two ladies for the song "It's Almost Christmas," Mr. Axel's vocals were lost somewhere in the air, and much of the time that Ingrid spent talking during the evening, it became a strain to hear what she was saying - fortunately, the technical issue didn't affect the ability to hear her sing because hers is a lovely and unique voice that demands listening. It is a pleasure and (during certain high notes) a thrill to hear Ingrid Michaelson sing, especially in a place like Carnegie Hall. One hopes that this becomes a yearly tradition for Reineke and Michaelson - they work well together and the end result is pure holiday heaven. What a lovely way to celebrate the season.

Visit the Carnegie Hall website HERE and the New York Pops page HERE.

THIS is the Ingrid Michaelson website.

Richard Termine's photos are from the Ingrid Michaelson show that played Carnegie Hall on December 16th.