It usually takes a while for a tradition to be accepted, yet in its fifth year, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's yuletide extravaganza has established firm roots in the Tristate's cultural soil.

        That explains why more than 1,439 of your neighbors took precious shopping time (with barely a week before Christmas) to enjoy Cinergy's Home For the Holidays presentation.

        CSO associate conductor John Morris Russell did triple duty, hosting the festivities directing the orchestra and narrating throughout the program. Along with the CSO Yuletones, the performance was long on family-oriented appeal that contributed to an multigenerational audience.

        An opening video montage of Santa's arrival included footage of the jolly one heading toward the brightly lit Taft Theatre marquee, before he bounded through the main floor audience and onto the stage.

        The Anderson High School Chorus contributed a huge measure of youthful exuberance with its selections, including strong solos from Jackie Dima and Scott Hayward. The chorus concluded its segment with a energetic “Hallelujah” from Handel's Messiah (A Soulful Celebration).

        A staple of Holidays, a se quence patterned after Babes in Toyland, outfitted the Yuletones as toys while sixth-grader Erin McCamley was spotlighted in “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.” Keeping with the spirit of the season (and inclusion), Mr. Russell read a Hannukah story while accompanied by the Cincinnati Klezmer Project.

        The program seemed to include nearly every popular Christmas song ever written, including “I'll Be Home For Christmas,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Let it Snow,” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” It featured men in fins dancing to “Trepak” from The Nutcracker played by the Miami University Steel Drum Band, a tropical “Santa Does the Mambo” and hula dancers extending a Hawaiian Mele Kalikimaka (“Merry Christmas”).

        Sacred songs were also included, with the highlight a stirring solo of “O Holy Night” from tenor Mark Panuccio, garnered a standing ovation and bravos for his performance.

        Another staple, “Cincinnati's Twelve Daze of Christmas” (complete with “three greats, two scoops of Graeter's and a ride on the Delta Queen”) and the audience sing-along rounded out the program.

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