Track Listing

1. Amahl! Amahl!
2. Amahl and the Night Visitors
3. Amahl and the Night Visitors
4. Amahl and the Night Visitors
5. Amahl and the Night Visitors
6. Amahl and the Night Visitors
7. Amahl and the Night Visitors
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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9995 in Music
• Brand: RCA
• Released on: 1990-10-25
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Cast Recording
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.com
Back in the days when the forces that controlled television actually cared about art, it was perfectly normal to see original plays and live musical performances right in your living room. In 1950, Menotti was commissioned to write an opera for television, and on Christmas Eve, 1951, Amahl and the Night Visitors was performed by the NBC Television Theater. This recording, under the composer's personal direction, was made a few days later, and it remains the definitive version, even though the sound is very dated and rough in places. This story of a poor shepherd boy's encounter with three kings and the miraculous healing of his crippled leg when he offers his crutch as a gift has captured audiences around the world ever since its premiere. Its charming mix of tuneful melody, dancing rhythms, delightful choruses, humor and poignancy, and an English text makes this work immediately accessible to audiences of all ages and musical tastes. --David Vernier

Customer Reviews

An Oldie,but a goodie!
Christmastime and watching the HallMark Hall of Fame production of Amahl were never a separate thing for us when we grew up... Imagine a time when real art was on TV? When quality was paramount? There was a time,and we waited for it like waiting for Santa: First came Amahl on Christmas Eve,then we went to bed trying very hard to hear whether or not we,too would be able to hear the 3 kings in the distance....... I own both this recording,and the new one that came out a couple of years ago by the gang at the Royal Opera. While the most recent recording may be technically a better recording, for me there will never be another person singing that mother's part except for that lady on the live recording....her voice is so light,yet strong. Perhaps what someone trying to scrape by on nothing would have to be. I love the first recording, and I like it even better digitally remastered. It's never going to sound as "perfect" as the newer digital one,but that's probably one of its most endearing qualities. None of live music is ever completely perfect.Like humanity. The newer one sounds too much like a recital: Too perfect(for me). This one,for me was spontaneous,like life: Full of real emotion. Spend the money,go for it...you won't be sorry. Allow yourself to believe,just as that little boy believed........and if you have a chance, go in person to one of the many performances presented this christmas in your area. You'll appreciate this live recording even more. You won't be sorry.

By far the best
This is the only recording of Amahl & the Night Visitors worth having. As other reviewers have stated, there are other recordings with more technical clarity, but absolutely no other compares to the purity, warmth, and feeling present in this original cast production. I am not an opera fan but have loved "Amahl" since childhood - it brings tears to my eyes every year. Give it a try!

AN OLD FRIEND
How wonderful to re-visit an old friend after many years and find that he or she has not only survived, but has grown more interesting and beautiful with time. This is exactly how I feel about Gian Carlo Menotti's lovely opera AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS.

As a child, I not only watched it on television, but saw it on the stage in various venues, including Hunter College, even as recently as about one dozen years ago when a friend played Amahl's mother in a semi-staged concert version in New York's Avery Fisher Hall.

Written originally as an opera for children, it certainly also speaks to adults. As to why children, even children who are totally uninterested in opera, appreciate AMAHL..., it is pretty easy to figure out that no character in the opera ever sings just for the sake of singing. All of the music comes naturally out of the simple characters, so that the beautiful music can be listened to without thinking that the characters are "putting on airs" or "showing off their vocal skills." The libretto, also, is simplicity itself: all of the words seem totally fitting for the five characters: a mother, her crippled son and their three royal visitors. Even the dance music does not overstay its welcome. One wishes that other opera composers would take a lesson from Menotti: say what you want to say and don't repeat it ad infinitum.

This "original cast" 1952 recording can be enjoyed thoroughly even though the sound is not as sharp as a newer recording might have. The entire cast is terrific and Chet Allen as "Amahl" is completely believable, sweet and absolutely touching when he asks his mother if he may visit Christ in the manger. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR BOTH ADULTS AND CHILDREN.