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It's no small feat to make the 20,000-seat LDS Conference Center seem as cozy as your living room, but Rolando Villazón has the gift.

Villazón, a Mexico-born tenor now residing in France, played the role of party host on Thursday at the first of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's 2016 Christmas concerts. From his generously ornamented rendition of "Deck the Hall" to his operatic narration of the Hans Christian Andersen tear-jerker "The Little Match Girl," Villazón's ebullient personality brought an air of convivial spontaneity to the highly choreographed affair. His renditions of two Spanish villancicos, sung in his native language, were among the highlights of the evening. Villazón also brought in a surprise guest — Angela Brower, a Grammy-nominated Mormon mezzo-soprano whom he befriended when she sang Nicklausse to his Hoffmann in a Munich production of "The Tales of Hoffmann" — to fulfill her lifelong dream of singing with the Tabernacle Choir. Brower's rich mezzo voice shone on a bilingual arrangement of "Il est né, le divin enfant." She then joined Villazón in a medley of secular Christmas songs.

The choir took the spotlight in three well-chosen "Alleluias" by George Frideric Handel, Giulio Caccini and Alberto Ginastera under the baton of its music director, Mack Wilberg, and associate conductor Ryan Murphy led the Orchestra at Temple Square in the Miniature Overture from P.I. Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" Suite and Leon Jessel's "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers."

This year's production features one of the most attractive set designs in recent memory, with giant windows depicting scenes from beloved carols such as "We Three Kings" and "Carol of the Drum" in jewel-bright folk-art style. Dancers added to the charm, but three life-size camel puppets threatened to steal the show.

Perhaps the best surprise of the evening, though, came from organist Richard Elliott, who enlisted fellow Tabernacle organists Clay Christiansen and Andrew Unsworth in his spectacular arrangement of "We Three Kings." —

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

The choir presents its Christmas concert with the Orchestra at Temple Square and Bells on Temple Square.

With • Tenor Rolando Villazón, mezzo-soprano Angela Brower, conductors Mack Wilbert and Ryan Murphy, and organists Richard Elliott, Clay Christiansen and Andrew Unsworth

When • Reviewed Thursday, Dec. 8; repeats Friday and Saturday, Dec. 9 and 10, at 8 p.m.; Villazón also will appear on the choir's broadcast of "Music and the Spoken Word" Sunday, Dec. 11, at 9:30 a.m.

Where • LDS Conference Center, 60 W. North Temple, Salt Lake City

Running time • About 90 minutes; no intermission

Tickets • Free, but "sold out"; standby line starts at the Temple Square flagpole (no tickets required for Sunday's broadcast)