Difference between revisions of "Category:Amahl--music (subject)"

Amahl (Home Page)

Music (Home Page)

Marius Theisinger

Works of music on Amahl

• Amahl and the Night Visitors (1951 Menotti), opera

Overview

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.

Performing Amahl (singers)

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, 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), and James Rainbird (Covent Garden 1986).

@2017 Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan