Reader Lockhart suggested that I post the legendary Christmas opera
Amahl and the Night Visitors this season, and I am happy to comply. Actually, Lockhart was looking both for this first recording and the stereo remake. I thought I had a copy of the latter edition, but it didn't turn up during a recent foray into the files, so we'll have to be content with this recording of the original cast.
Amahl was an important work - it was the first opera written for television, the first presented by the NBC Opera Theatre, and was immediately popular, so much so that it was repeated annually for many years.
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| Gian Carlo Menotti |
The words and music for the 45-minute work were the inspiration of the 40-year-old composer
Gian Carlo Menotti, already famous for his early works
The Old Maid and the Thief, commissioned by NBC for the radio, and
The Medium and
The Telephone, which had been presented on Broadway. His first full-length opera,
The Consul, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1950.
In the booklet included with this record (scans are in the download), Menotti says that his inspiration for
Amahl was seeing Bosch's painting
The Adoration of the Magi, depicted on the cover above, in the Metropolitan Museum.
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| Amahl and his mother, as the Three Kings approach upstage |
NBC presented the opera on Christmas Eve, 1951. The lead roles of Amahl, a shepherd boy, and his mother were taken by Chet Allen and Rosemary Kuhlmann, both excellent in this recording, which was made in January 1952. Allen, a former member of the Columbus Boychoir, later appeared in films and on television, but did not make a successful transition to adult actor. He committed suicide at age 45. Kuhlmann had been in
The Consul and
Music in the Air on Broadway, and continued to appear in both opera and musical theater - including replacing
Shannon Bolin as Meg in the national tour of
Damn Yankees. She was always identified with her role in
Amahl, however.
The televised production of
Amahl and this recording were conducted by the 21-year-old Thomas Schippers, who became closely associated with the music of both Menotti and Samuel Barber. He was highly regarded for his work with opera, but his neglected orchestral recordings are worthwhile as well. I hope to present some of them in the future.
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| Thomas Schippers |
This recording is exceptionally well performed and recorded, and fully deserves the fame accorded to it as a memento of the first performance. The 26-page booklet includes a synopsis and the libretto, in addition to Menotti's notes. I've also included a
Life magazine article with photos from the 1952 City Center Opera production, which includes the production image above and several others.
Life proclaimed the work a "Christmas classic," and so it is. What a time that was for the arts in America.
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| Amahl and the Kings |
Link (Apple lossless):
ReplyDeletehttps://mega.nz/#!LR0zlaaa!geFw0nna2b3pT8KyyR_dm_eqO-F-eA8nBnv14OBWyUw
Love this stuff, Buster. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, Badgercat!
DeleteThank you very much, Buster.
ReplyDeleteRich
Reader Lockhart thanks you profusely.
ReplyDeleteI see this one a lot in it's various incarnations, but I've never taken the time to sit down and listen to it. Now maybe I can finally do so. :) Thanks, Buster!
ReplyDeletei believe i’ve already ranted elsewhere on the web about lincoln center’s shabby treatment of this during its 50th anniversary presentation which i attended some years ago. so i won’t go into that again. nor will i recant the old tale about the boy who saw the spanish version of this (“juan y los tres reyes”) and then wanted to see the english version; but his parents wouldn’t take him because they felt that if you’ve seen juan, you’ve seen amahl. you can find that whole story elsewhere as well. so i’ll just tell you about when i understudied the part of amahl as a boy soprano. fortunately, i never had to perform it in front of a real audience. i had a good voice. i also had deep-seated stage fright. i could sing songs. but act? i did a dress rehearsal and during the scene where amahl miraculously walks and holds out his crutch, the thing was visibly shaking in my outstretched arms. the kings started nudging each other and chuckled to the point where the director yelled cut, brought back the lead boy, and dispensed with the rest of my performance. at least i didn’t end up like chet allen. instead, i’ve ended up here. that’s much better.
ReplyDeletebarba - I suspect you have been saving that Amahl joke ever since your ill-fated turn as understudy in that production.
ReplyDeleteAll - thanks for the comments!
This reader also thanks you for posting this treasure.
ReplyDeleteI used to see this performed at the Museum of the City of New York. It was done with piano accompaniment but as a child it was a great intro to opera. I later stood through Parsifal at the Met.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Buster for this emblematic work by Menotti.
ReplyDeleteHistorical and fantastic cast under Schippers.
What a beautiful Christmas gift, Buster! Thank you, from my heart. This music has had the power to make me burst into tears ever since I was a kid; the opening, heartrending strains get me started and it never lets up. Blubbering like a baby listening to this every year: it's a Christmas tradition! LOL. I have long cherished the Stereo CD I'd purchased the moment it was released, but always wanted to have the opportunity to enjoy the original mono recording. And the inclusion of the libretto, etc. is the icing on the cake. Thanks once more and Merry Christmas to you and all of the visitors to your treasure of a blog!
ReplyDeleteThanks, luckymike, centuri, Eric, classicalduck and everyone for the wonderful comments!
ReplyDeleteLove this piece, and having it in its original mono is appreciated. I've only heard this performance before in its regularly released and rechanneled fake stereo. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Kwork, and thanks for all the comments!
DeleteThere are a couple of different versions (and three available choices) of the video of this at Archive. For all I know, the dates are wrong on one or two of them, and they could all be the same performance. The descriptions--including mention of a choir performance after that gets cut off--make me suspect that it's possible.
ReplyDelete1951: https://archive.org/details/AmahlNightVisitors12241951
1955: https://archive.org/details/AMAHLANDTHENIGHTVISITORS1955
I've also seen this on a streaming channel--one of the free services that specializes in old live dramas (including a Pirandello drama and a medieval mystery play). Naturally, I don't remember its name at the moment.