Amahl and the Night Visitors (1955 Schippers, McIver / @1951 Menotti), American (TV) production, video recording (opera)

Amahl and the Night Visitors (1951) is the premiere and first filmization of Amahl and the Night Visitors (1951 Menotti), opera, by Gian Carlo Menotti (mus. and libr.). Directed by Kirk Browning and Gian Carlo Menotti, and conducted by Thomas Schippers.

Abstract

On their way to Bethlehem, the three Kings stop at the house of a poor crippled boy and his widowed mother.

Cast

• Chet Allen (original cast), Bill McIver (video), etc. as Amahl
• Rosemary Kuhlmann as Amahl's mother
• Andrew McKinley, David Aiken, Leon Lishner as the Three Kings

Production

The first opera specifically composed for television in America was broadcast on 24 December 1951, at the NBC studios, and became immediately a popular Christmas classic, widely performed on stage and television. The original cast included Ched Allen (Amahl), and Rosemary Kuhlmann (Amahl’s mother). The NBC Symphony Orchestra was conducted by Thomas Schippers. The composer Menotti directed himself the production and briefly introduced it.

In the following ten years, until 1962, the opera was staged live every Christmas on NBC, with only slight modifications in the cast and the staging.

In 1963 NBC recorded a new production of the opera (see ) and the original production was not staged any longer.

In 2007 the 1955 performance was released on video (Video Artists International, 2007).

External links

• Wikipedia