Mannheim Steamroller Lights Up the Lyric

On December 11th, 2008 the Mannheim Steamroller performed a Christmas concert at the historic Lyric Opera House in Baltimore, Maryland. The concert was a hodgepodge of upbeat, jazzed renditions of classic Christmas music, flashing lights, and video. Unfortunately the creator, arranger, and producer of the Mannheim Steamroller, Chip Davis, was not in attendance as he was still recovering from neck surgery.

Luckily Chip Davis had the foresight to split the Mannheim Steamroller into two casts: one for the Midwest and one for the East Coast. The East Coast cast that performed in Baltimore was composed of 20-year band member Chuck Penington as conductor and on piano, keyboards, and percussion, Jeff Yan as concertmaster and on violin and recorders, Mark Agnor as another concertmaster and violinist, Glen Smith on bass and lute guitar, Tom Sharpe on drums, percussion, and recorder, and Joey Gulizia on percussion. After a video welcome and introduction by Chip Davis, the East Coast crew of Mannheim Steamroller grabbed control of the stage brilliantly.

Their first set of ten songs featured familiar Christmas songs such as “Feliz Navidad,” “White Christmas,” “Deck the Halls,” and “We Three Kings.” The light show that accompanied the music at times was reminiscent of technology decades outdated, but it was still visually appealing when the band members’ outfits were altered and decorated by dots of light. Chuck Penington and Jeff Yan made up for the somewhat cheesy light effects with old fashion stage presence: the former would jam on both keyboards and piano simultaneously, while the latter would spin in between notes on a lighted floor spiral. Unfortunately they could not distract me from the seemingly out of place video of a teddy bear, snowman, and elves ice skating during the playing of “Messengers of Christmas.”

After the intermission, the band returned on stage with a video backdrop featuring Mr. Davis presenting a history lesson on 15th century Renaissance chamber music. The video depicted a scene from a possible Christmas celebration in a castle during that period. The band then began to use traditional instruments from that time and began a set of interactive songs, featuring “Carol of the Birds,” “I Saw Three Ships,” and “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.”

The historical video ends rather abruptly, and the band regained their modern instruments and funky sounds, as the concert continued with more recognizable Christmas music, including “Carol of the Bells.” The concert ended with additional music not on the program – featuring a remarkable rendering of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” – with spacey video playing in the back to send them off. At the end of the concert the house gave the Mannheim Steamroller a standing ovation; which they deserved for them persevering through the loss of their creator and mentor to produce an unforgettable musical holiday experience.