For quite a number of years now, it’s been a holiday tradition for some in our immediate neighborhood to join with one another for the fantastic dinner buffet at The Roof Restaurant in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, with its marvelous view over Temple Square. Afterwards we attend the annual Christmas concert of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Orchestra at Temple Square, and the Bells on Temple Square and enjoy the hundreds of thousands of splendid Christmas lights.
We did it again tonight.
This year’s special guest artist was the Mexican tenor Rolando Villazón. Whereas, in the past, they’ve typically had a singer and a narrator (e.g., Laura Osnes and Martin Jarvis, Alfie Boe and Tom Brokaw, Deborah Voigt and John Rhys-Davies, Natalie Cole and David McCullough, Renee Fleming and Claire Bloom, Gladys Knight and Roma Downey, Audra McDonald and Peter Graves, and so forth), he performed both roles this year. He was funny and personable, and he has a magnificent voice.
This has been a remarkable series of programs, including such past guests as Bryn Terfel, Frederica von Stade, Sissel, Walter Cronkite, Jane Seymour, Brian Stokes Mitchell, the King’s Singers, and Angela Lansbury.
It must surely rank among the finest Christmas concerts in the world. This is a tradition that I really enjoy.
(And, by the way, Joseph Smith wasn’t mentioned a single time tonight.)
Posted from Salt Lake City, Utah
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