Right now the Boston Pops  are concluding their holiday run. After Xmas-ing it up through Santaday, the  Pops have switched to a "Gershwin and Friends" program and on New Year's Eve, there's a 7 p.m. buffet dinner, champagne,and parking for audience members who purchase floor seats, as well as a dance floor. Lockhart conducts the Pops in their Gershwin program at 10:15 p.m., and the Brad Hatfield Combo and Ray Santisi Orchestra will provide dance music before and after the Pops. Now, none of the below pertains directly to what you might see through New Year's Eve, but it is our chat with conductor Keith Lockhart and our take on the Christmas show. So for what it's worth ...

 If Go to Symphony Hall  through Christmas to see Lockhart and the Boston Pops and you're going to hear  “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Let It Snow,” “Winter Wonderland,” and “Jingle Bells, ”“Sleigh Ride,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”   and, of course, Handel's “Hallelujah Chorus.” Among many other things. So we thought we'd ask conductor Lockhart where the orchestral joy came for him and his Pops, as they played these hoary old standards once again?
"Your satisfaction as a performer is in what (the songs) are doing for other people," says Lockhart. "Performers really do feel how an audience reacts to things, and people are primed to have a good time, get in the holiday spirit. Of course, you can only get the same high level thrill playing 'Sleigh Ride' hundreds of times." (We've always loved Lockhart's sense of wit and irony.) "But there are  always people hearing them for the first time and that makes it fun."
Now, let's face it: This is a Christmas concert, basically, and Christmas is not a word the PC-crowd bandies about lightly these days. It's all holiday, holiday, holiday. So, where is Jesus in this mix? "It's the eternal question these days," Lockhart says. "We do try. It’s a balancing act between the sacred and secular. The vast majority of the audience celebrates Christmas, and to ignore it makes no sense. That said, there's a fine line between celebrating Chrismas and dodging the reason there's a season to celebrate. We try to make them spiritual and affecting, in the way people would want, without having it become a church service.  The balancing acts one deals with ... The other is the balancing act between things people want to hear – and people want to hear things that moved them at 7 years old – and changing the mix." But the bottom line, the metaphor-minded conductor says is "Nobody wants to have salmon on Christmas."

Lockhart continues: "We have a new huge virtuosic version of 'The 12 Days of Christmas,'  artfully crafted. (If not) it can sound like '99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall.'" (See our comment below)." We have Peter, Paul & Mary's 'Light One Candle,' and Vaughn Willimas' song “Fantasia on Christmas Carols,” which is a 12-minute major chunk of the first, more serious half, of the concert."
Will Lockhart be donning Santa gear? "Santa will be there and he hates people who compete with him," says Lockhart. "He makes a visit, engages me in sprightly dialogue, stays for the singalong. He knows a lot of the words."

There will also be nightly readings of "'Twas The Night Before Christmas," as done - as tradition has it here at the Pops - mostly by TV news anchors-cum-celebrities. (Do ya think that might get a little play on the station where the newsreader is on the Symphony stage?) "It does have some resonance with the crowd," avers Lockhart. "They get a big thrill. It's done near the end, and anticipates Santa's arrival." Asked if Symphony Hall has a chimney, Lockhart, says, " Yes, but it's non-public access." (We told you - we love this guy's attitude.) We saw the kickoff show Dec. 10 and enjoyed it immensely, particulary "The 12 Days of Christmas," in a world premiere version you just have to hear. It bears very little resemblance to what you know and, we swear, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus worked in the operatic part of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" - as well as Beethoven and Mozart. A big standing O all around. Santa came and was ho-ho-ho, but a little edgy too, beginning to tell a cool story about elves and then halting abruptly. Why? "Writers strike," "White Christmas" was purely sublime. Really, the Pops pull this off - silly and serious, secularl and spiritual - all within two hours. Tickets range from $118 to $40. Shows tend to be at 8 p.m., but there are matinees and special performances. They're "America's Orchestra" remember? You really want to check the Pops website for show details.

301 Massachusetts Ave., 617-266-2378 www.bostonpops.org