Track Listing

1. Amahl and the Night Visitors, opera: Prelude/Opening
2. Amahl and the Night Visitors, opera: What was keeping you outside
3. Amahl and the Night Visitors, opera: Don't cry mother dear
4. Amahl and the Night Visitors, opera: From far away we come
5. Amahl and the Night Visitors, opera: Amahl, Go see who's knocking
6. Amahl and the Night Visitors, opera: It's nice here
7. Amahl and the Night Visitors, opera: I was a shepherd
8. Amahl and the Night Visitors, opera: This is my box
9. Amahl and the Night Visitors, opera: Have you seen a child?
10. Amahl and the Night Visitors, opera: Shepherds, shepherds
11. Amahl and the Night Visitors, opera: Dance
12. Amahl and the Night Visitors, opera: Thank you good friends
13. Amahl and the Night Visitors, opera: All that food
14. Amahl and the Night Visitors, opera: Thief! Thief!
15. Amahl and the Night Visitors, opera: I walk mother
16. Amahl and the Night Visitors, opera: What to do woth your crutch?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53522 in Music
• Released on: 1998-09-15
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Album Description
The only digital stereo recording currently available of this beloved family opera! The recording was made in the presence of the composer, Gian-Carlo Menotti, with the cast and orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden from a production directed by him. Features the great dramatic soprano Lorna Haywood.

Amahl and the Night Visitors, opera Composed by Gian Carlo Menotti Performed by Royal Opera House Orchestra Covent Garden with Curtis Watson, Lorna Haywood, John Dobson, Donald Maxwell Conducted by David Syrus

Customer Reviews

Your Best Amahl Choice
Just a note to those trying to decide which Amahl and The Night Visitors CD to buy. Get this one! Menotti participated in making it and was happy with the result (sez so on the liner notes). Not that I am any kind of big time exprt or anything, but I had to learn the Amahl role for our Y2K community choir concert, so I listened to the video, the Schippers version + and also this one, and this was the best quality recording, plus the boy soprano was so much better + everyone else just fab. Enjoy!

Bravo!
I am a professional Mezzo Soprano and I purchased this CD to study the role of the Mother more closely. I found Lorna Haywood to be exceptional. Her voice is gorgeous and full of vibrant colors, her diction is astounding. I have learned so much from her performance that I hope to put into my own. The young James Rainbird also does a great job with the challenging role of Amahl - very expressive and very few pitch problems. Bravo all! A must for the opera lover's collection!

Very Poor Ensemble Performance of a Classic
Reading the reviews of others I was excited to get this CD. I know the work well having been "Amahl" some thirty year ago and now studying to to do "Melchior" this Christmas.

Score in hand I sat down to listen to the recording [recorded "in the presence of Gian Carlo Menotti -- he must have been asleep for some of it].

First the good:

The mother and Amahl are both excellent. What a nice vocal chemistry we have here, really a pleasure.

Now the bad:

The ensemble parts are weakened tremendously by the trio of kings which sound woefully under rehearsed. Since Menotti writes all of their ensemble singing in a somewhat modal manner this requires absolute perfect tuning among the three of them.
This is not the case and they are out of tune throughout. Melchior [the middle baritone part] is barely heard when singing with the other two kings. Badly done.

The ugly:

The chorus and orchestra ensemble is really poor. There are serious intonation problems throughout. Tenors in the chorus are flat as is brass in the orchestra -- especially glaring during some quiet moments.

I'm thinking about asking for my money back!