L.A. Master Chorale Spices Holiday Chestnuts

Has anyone noticed that classical holiday programs in general aren’t as limited and corny as they used to be?

Yes, the Los Angeles Master Chorale held its “Messiah” sing-along Monday, and you could still hear some chestnuts at its holiday concert Sunday night at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. But music director Grant Gershon’s focus in the first half was on J.S. Bach’s invigorating Magnificat in D, and carols familiar and not were illuminated under various 20th century lights in the second half.

First, there was Conrad Susa’s “The Chanticleer’s Carol,” whose introduction brazenly evokes Copland’s “Quiet City.” Then you could sample Vaughan Williams’ relatively straightforward treatments of three carols for male choir and indulge in nine of Lutoslawski’s amazing settings of Polish Christmas carols, where the tunes are undercut by his strange, luminous, haunting orchestrations made four decades after his 1946 voice-piano versions.

The mainstream carols weren’t the usual thing, either, as arranger Jackson Berkey toyed with the rhythms and lines of “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “Joy to the World,” and Susa weaved audience participation seamlessly into his “A Christmas Garland,” treating us with respect as part of a double chorus with the Master Chorale.

While there were some problems in synchronization between chorus and orchestra in the swiftly paced opening sections of the Magnificat, the crisp, world-class articulation of the Master Chorale soon asserted itself, and contralto Helene Quintana was the smoothest of the five vocal soloists.