Customer Reviews

Amahl and the Night Visitors

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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!

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!

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!

I'm currently studying the role of Amahl's mother, and I got this recording by the luck of the draw. Kaspar is horribly flat throughout, which is a shame. It was a difficult recording to listen to once, I dread bearing it the number of times I will need to over the next two months.

I'm going to try to return it this afternoon.

I saw the premiere of this work on television in 1950, and it was repeated every Christmas for ten or more years. It has pretty much disappeared these days on TV, as have old LP records of it. I am delighted it is again available.

The grasp that Menotti has on the deeper meaning of life and events is remarkable. While many will be satisfied to look at the surface story of this opera--a cripple boy is cured because of his faith--I find Menotti's view of "faith" to be unique and awe-inspiring in its simplicity.

Amahl is not thinking of himself when he is cured. In his poverty he wants to send a gift to the Christ-child, but having nothing, he thinks that just in case He might need a crutch, he will send his, that he made himself. "He just might need it," he sings, thinking not of himself, but of the need of the Christ-child. It is in this self-forgetting action that the cure comes--in his thinking of the needs of others, not of his personal needs. He is asking nothing for himself. It is in that moment of giving that he receives. A most perceptive awe-inspiring conception for a dramatic piece.

I love this opera. Have seen it on stage in New York, and in local productions. I never tire of the insight of the "miracle".

While I am at it, let me plug Menotti's "The Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore," another "divine insight" creation by the master.

I am also a singer and I find this recording much superior in every respect to the other old mono recording. Yes there are a few occasional questionable tuning but it has much less bad tuning when compared to the other recording, which in addition has inferior old mono sound. The performances in this recording are vivid, dramatic and musical, obviously much helped by the presence and direction of the composer, Menotti. If you want a recording of Amahl, this is the only and best recording of Amahl to get.

For those of us who searched for this recording in vain for a while, its reappearance on the scene is a delight. Lorna Haywood's performance is the reason I wanted this recording for so long. Her "mother" is passionate, moving, and superbly sung. Menotti himself, in the liner notes, voices his approval for her interpretation of this key role. The singing on the whole is wonderful, and the performance is even throughout the recording. One curiosity has to do with the printing of the jacket; the mother's famous aria "All that Gold" is misprinted as "All that Food!" Sort of a laughable mistake! But the recording makes up for this.

I have listened to the opera since I was born. The original televised version in 1954 is no longer available, this is a great substitute.

This is still and will always be a wonderful musical addition for the holidays. The original sound track brings back memories of my childhood and the holiday season...My daughter of 6 loves it too. It is based on christianity BUT it is bigger than that and can be interpretted as you like. Take a chance on it!

Gee - sorry to those who like this modern recording but I like the 1951 recording the best.I have both the LP which is quite scratched by now and the CD which is quite good except for the pauses between tracks. I recommend the 1951 version available from Amazon (or at least it was in 2001).