Category:Amahl--music (subject)

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People -> Amahl (Home Page)
People -> Amahl (Home Page)

Amahl.jpg


Amahl is a literary character--a boy living in Palestine at the time of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The character was created by Gian Carlo Menotti in 1951; see Amahl and the Night Visitors (1951 Menotti), opera.

This page is edited by Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan.

Amahl in Scholarship and the Arts -- Overview
Amahl in Scholarship and the Arts -- Overview

In 1951 Italian-American composer Gian Carlo Menotti was commissioned an opera to be broadcast on TV for Christmas. Menotti created the story of Amahl, a poor crippled boy living with his widow mother and being visited by the Magi on their way to Bethlehem.


Amahl -- Highlights
Amahl -- Highlights


Fiction
Fiction

Amahl is a fictional character, born for the opera. Menotti's work, however, was so successful that Amahl has become a popular character not only in music, but also in video productions, literary adaptations, and in visual art.




Performing Amahl

The character of Amahl was created by Gian Carlo Menotti to be performed on stage by a singer. Music is Amahl's original setting, and music is what defines his identity. Only secondarily he has become a literary character in children's books.

Menotti distinctly wanted Amahl to be performed by a boy soprano. In the "Production Notes" contained in the Piano-Vocal score he wrote: "It is the express wish of the composer that the role of Amahl should always be performed by a boy. Neither the musical nor the dramatic concept of the opera permits the substitution of a woman costumed as a child." Nonetheless, the increasing difficulty to find well-trained boy sopranos have led many productions to hire young women for the part, especially in the numerous amateurish performances in churches and schools.

It requires a lot of talent and a lot of training to be a boy soprano and achieve that strong and intoned voice, which is necessary for performing on stage. And when the voice has reached its peak, it quickly breaks with puberty. Amahl is not the role of a lifetime. Although the opera is frequently staged, it is rare that a boy singer take part in more than one production. Unlike the adult members of the cast, who can specialize in their role, the Amahls are recruited locally among those who at the moment of the performance can guarantee the best results.

In spite of these limitations, some boy singers have made a name for themselves as Amahl, especially the four who were personally selected and trained by composer Gian Carlo Menotti and conductor Thomas Schippers as protagonists of their productions in the 1950s. Menotti realized that on screen clarity, expression and acting skill were equally important than the strength and beauty of the voice. In 1951-52, the child actor and singer Chet Allen was the perfect choice for the premiere. He created the character of Amahl and set an high standard for those who would follow in his footsteps. Allen's understudy, James Sammarco (1952-53) proved to be particularly effective in stage productions, but already for the 1952 TV show Menotti preferred 9-year-old Bill McIver who until 1955 would become his favorite and more lasting Amahl. The last boy to take part in the original Menotti production was Kirk Jordan, from 1956 to 1958.

Other boy sopranos have been particularly praised for their singing in some of the most important professional productions, notably, Alvaro Cordova (Florence, 1953), Charles Vignoles (the first British Amahl in 1953-54), Kurt Yaghjian and Robert Sapolsky (protagonists of the two video-recordings of the opera, in 1963 and 1978, respectively), James Rainbird (Covent Garden, 1986), Pablo Strong (Newcastle, 2001), Ike Hawkersmith (Nashville, 2006), and Marius Theisinger (Gera, 2015).

@2017 Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan

1950s Amahl Film/play/opera Notes
1951 Chet Allen Amahl and the Night Visitors (1951 Schippers / @1951 Menotti), American (TV) production, video recording, world premiere (opera) <Dec 24>
1952 Ronald Jennings Amahl and the Night Visitors (1952 Hoffman / @1951 Menotti), Bloomington (stage) production (opera) <Feb 21>
Chet Allen Amahl and the Night Visitors (1952 Schippers, Allen / @1951 Menotti), New York (stage) production (opera) <Apr 9>
Amahl and the Night Visitors (1952 Schippers, Allen / @1951 Menotti), American (TV) production (opera) <Apr 13>
James Sammarco Amahl and the Night Visitors (1952 Schippers, Sammarco / @1951 Menotti), New York (stage) production (opera) <Sep 19>
Bill McIver Amahl and the Night Visitors (1952 Schippers / @1951 Menotti), American (TV) production (opera) <Dec 25>
1953 Piet Amahl und die nächtlichen Besucher = Amahl and the Night Visitors, German ed. (1953 Van Doorn / @1951 Menotti), German (TV) production (opera) <Jan 5>
James Sammarco Amahl and the Night Visitors (1953 Schippers, Sammarco / @1951 Menotti), New York (stage) production (opera) <Mar 22>
Alvaro Cordova Amahl e gli ospiti notturni = Amahl and the Night Visitors, Italian ed. (1953 Stokowski / @1951 Menotti), Florence (stage) production, sound recording (opera) <May 9>
Charles Vignoles Amahl and the Night Visitors (1953 Robinson / @1951 Menotti), British (TV) production (opera) <Dec 20>
Bill McIver Amahl and the Night Visitors (1953 Schippers / @1951 Menotti), American (TV) production (opera) <Dec 20>
1954 Amahl and the Night Visitors (1954 Schippers, McIver / @1951 Menotti), New York (stage) production (opera) <Apr 1>
Amahl and the Night Visitors (1954 Schippers, McIver / @1951 Menotti), American (TV) production (opera) <Dec 19>
Charles Vignoles Amahl and the Night Visitors (1954 Robinson / @1951 Menotti), British (TV) production (opera) <Dec 24>
1955 Carlo Scopetti Amahl e gli ospiti notturni = Amahl and the Night Visitors, Italian ed. (1955 Scaglia / @1951 Menotti), Italian (TV) production, video recording (opera)
Bill McIver Amahl and the Night Visitors (1955 Schippers / @1951 Menotti), American (TV) production, video recording (opera)
Malcolm Day Amahl and the Night Visitors (1955 / @1951 Menotti), British (TV) production (opera)
1956 Kirk Jordan Amahl and the Night Visitors (1956 Schippers, Jordan / @1951 Menotti), American (TV) production (opera)
1957 Anthony Monopoli Amahl and the Night Visitors (1957 Post / @1951 Menotti), Australian (TV) production (opera)
Kirk Jordan Amahl and the Night Visitors (1957 Schippers, Jordan / @1951 Menotti), American (TV) production (opera) <Dec 25>
1958 Amahl and the Night Visitors (1958 Schippers, Jordan / @1951 Menotti), American (TV) production (opera) <Dec 14>
1959 Christopher Nicholls Amahl and the Night Visitors (1959 Balkwill / @1951 Menotti), British (TV) production (opera)

1960s Amahl Film/play/opera Notes
1960 -- Amahl en de nachtelijke bezoekers = Amahl and the Night Visitors, Dutch ed. (1960 Silberman / @1951 Menotti), Dutch (TV) production (opera)
1961 -- Amahl et les visiteurs de la nuit = Amahl and the Night Visitors, French ed. (1961 Bruck / @1951 Menotti), French (TV) production (opera)
1963 Kurt Yaghjian Amahl and the Night Visitors (1963 Grossman / @1951 Menotti), American (TV) production, video recording (opera)
1967 Paul Boucher Amahl and the Night Visitors (1967 Lockhart / @1951 Menotti), British (TV) production (opera)
1968 Mathias Misselwitz Amahl and the Night Visitors (1968 Kuntzsch / @1951 Menotti), Hamburg (stage) production (opera)
1969 Robert Puleo Amahl and the Night Visitors (1969 Wilson / @1951 Menotti), New York (stage) production (opera)

1970s Amahl Film/play/opera Notes
1970 Robert Puleo Amahl and the Night Visitors (1970 Keene / @1951 Menotti), New York (stage) production (opera)
1971 Jacques Nierlé Amahl et les visiteurs de la nuit = Amahl and the Night Visitors, French ed. (1971 Marty / @1951 Menotti), Geneva (stage) production (opera)
1973 Anthony Corretto Amahl and the Night Visitors (1973 Bruschi / @1951 Menotti), New York (stage) production (opera)
1974 Gifford Cummings Amahl and the Night Visitors (1974 Manos / @1951 Menotti), Ann Arbor (stage) production (opera)
Paul Maurel Amahl and the Night Visitors (1974 Braithwaite / @1951 Menotti), British (TV) production (opera)
1976 Christian Dettmers Amahl und die nächtlichen Besucher = Amahl and the Night Visitors, German ed. (1976 Wedekind / @1951 Menotti), Bremen (stage) production (opera)
1978 Robert Sapolsky Amahl and the Night Visitors (1978 López-Cobos / @1951 Menotti), American (TV) production, video recording (opera)

1980s Amahl Film/play/opera Notes
1980 Johannes Strassel Amahl und die nächtlichen Besucher = Amahl and the Night Visitors, German ed. (1980 Schwarz / @1951 Menotti), Vienna (stage) production (opera)
1986 James Rainbird Amahl and the Night Visitors (1986 Syrus / @1951 Menotti), London (stage) production, sound recording (opera)

1990s Amahl Film/play/opera Notes
1996 Benjamin Hall Amahl and the Night Visitors (1996 Abel / @1951 Menotti), Spoleto (stage) production

2000s Amahl Film/play/opera Notes
2002 Pablo Strong Amahl and the Night Visitors (2002 Hickox / @1951 Menotti), British (TV) production, video recording (opera)
2006 Ike Hawkersmith Amahl and the Night Visitors (2006 Willis / @1951 Menotti), Nashville (stage) production, sound recording (opera)
2009 Solal Sananes del Castillo Amahl et les visiteurs de la nuit = Amahl and the Night Visitors, French ed. (2009 Fellay / @1951 Menotti), Geneva (stage) production (opera)

2010s Amahl Film/play/opera Notes
2010 Eric Illick Amahl and the Night Visitors (2010 Illick / @1951 Menotti), Santa Fe (stage) production, video recording (opera)

External links

Pages in category "Amahl--music (subject)"

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