Customer Reviews

Menotti - Amahl and the Night Visitors [VHS]

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

 

 

The most frequently performed opera in history, Gian Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors introduces a widowed shepherd woman and her crippled son Amahl, who are out of food, wood for the fire, and oil for their lamp, and will have to go begging the next day. Suddenly, the Three Kings, who are following a star to Bethelehem, arrive at their cottage needing a place to stay for the night. Though Amahl (Robert Sapolsky) is delighted by the excitement, his mother is in a state of extreme stress. Unless she gets help, she and Amahl may starve. In a powerful duet, King Melchior (Giorgio Tozzi) describes the child to whom they plan to give all their gifts, while the agonized mother (Teresa Stratas) sings about her own child, just as worthy and perhaps more needy. In the ensuing scenes, the first Christmas miracle occurs.

For someone unfamiliar with the story, this video beautifully captures the dynamics of the opera--the emotional tensions, the gap between the poor and the very rich, and the social milieu into which the Christ Child was born. The protectiveness of the mother, the enthusiasm of Amahl (a child who is constantly excited by life), and the lives of the shepherds are clearly portrayed. The problems with the video are a result of its age. The colors have faded, the voices are fuzzy, the sound quality, after thirty years, lacks the depth which newer recording equipment provides, and in the shepherds' ballet, the choreography does not fit the small screen.

For anyone who knows the opera or who may have access to the libretto, however, these are problems which are more than outweighed by the sheer drama of the live performance. Menotti has created a story with which mothers, fathers, and young children can identify because he succeeds in capturing the humanity of the characters--the child who exaggerates and does not come when he is called, the mother who will do anything to save her child, the kindness of one of the kings. Directed by Arvin Brown, and starring Teresa Stratas, Giorgio Tozzi, and Nico Castel, all of the Metropolitan Opera, Willard White of the New York City Opera, and a young boy soprano, Robert Sapolsky, the cast brings a classic opera to life for families who love music. Mary Whipple

"Amahl and the Night Visitors" is a great vehicle for introducing opera to young, English-speaking audiences. The music and story are very moving and accessible. The above mentioned video of "Amahl" is an adequate telling of Menotti's made-for-TV opera. The singing and performance by all involved is heartfelt, if not occasionally a little over the top. My complaint lies with the quality of the film (dark and muddy-colored) and the sound recording (clipped highs and fuzzy lows, especially apparent during the Mother's solos). These problems are probably due to the age of the film from which these videos had been transferred. I read (somewhere?) that this classic opera has recently been re-filmed, possibly during this year's Spoleto Festival. I look forward to a new video version being made available in the near future.

First, the positive: Every Christian should know this opera; when well done, it is lovely beyond expression. The inspiring and emotional story is sung in clearly understood English, and the entire work is less than an hour long. If you want to introduce others to this charming opera, this might do for your purposes. It may appeal especially to families with young children. It is not a "stage presentation", but looks like an ordinary movie.

Better would be to take the kids to a local theater production and get them the book (which I haven't seen); get yourself the right CD (keep reading).

Now, some of the many negatives: Beware, this product comes from a company that calls itself "KULTUR". That spelling alone tells the story.

The quality of the product is abysmal. The sound wavers and there is a blank spot and skip in the video image. It looks and sounds like a dubbed, worn out tape.

The music, both notes and lyrics, is not always what Menotti wrote; there is even a short piece, for Amahl's calling of the shepherds, that is not in the original. The tempos are much slower, agonizingly slower, than Menotti's.

Some action doesn't make sense with the music or with the emotion being expressed. For example, the light, skipping music for Amahl's trips to and from the door is instead played while he is standing at it, and the mother vents her rage at Amahl's presumed lies while bent over tying her sandal. Kaspar's voice is awful, and his role is trivialized to the point that he is often missing from the screen. And Balthazar is somewhat unkind to Kaspar, which jarringly undermines the image of the graciousness of the Three Kings. Even the transcendental "He walks" is marred by inappropriate action, though, despite the poor quality of the product, this moment in the opera still brought tears to my eyes.

I'm no opera snob, but I passionately love this work, which has been an integral part of my entire life. If you share my love, or want to, get the real thing the way the composer intended it: "Amahl and the Night Visitors / Schippers" is how Amazon lists the CD. It was recorded just days after the original NBC broadcast, which was produced under the direction of Menotti himself.

This video is better than nothing, but it is hard to hear and understand the words; I've had my 3 kids (ages 8, 11, 14) see the video, and they are confused by the hard to hear score. I hope that Hallmark releases the video of the original 1951 Hallmark Hall of Fame production of this Menotti TV opera; I remember it as very great. Check out the original score on CD, which I also got thru Amazon.com; it is well worth it!

It is unfortunate that the only video presentation of Amahl is so generously flawed in stagecraft and sound production. It is not necessary to enumerate specifics here since some were cited in Ms. Lynch's review. True, Ms. Stratas' voice was often subjugated by the orchestra, but there were also moments when her diction was less than perfect, during times which the orchestra had, gratefully, been relegated to a less prominent decibel level. Here, sound production staff must share blame. Menotti knew what he was writing. A brilliant orchestrator, he etched clearly, the differences between orchestral dialogue and accompaniment figures. Staging, at times, appears to have little to do with the music. When one thinks of Menotti and opera (almost synonymous), the marriage of music AND theatre is considered a perfect union. Sadly, Menotti's obvious musical intentions were overlooked. It is heartening to read that a new video of this opera may be produced. I would disagree with Ms. Lynch that it is a good introduction to this operatic work. The beginning, the introduction makes the strongest impression. It is lasting. This is one indelibility I would not welcome.

This video was wonderfully made. However, the sound is distorted (probably due to the mass reproduction of tapes). The setting and costumes are great!

This production features the talents of some superb singers who can act well. The outdoor scenes were filmed in the Middle East and are very authentic. The indoor scenes look like a poor persons house. The kings are very resplendent and resemble a renaissance painting. The singing is excellent. Teresa Stratis shows emotion both vocally and visually.

The original was produced on film and probably could be stunning if well transferred to DVD. Unfortunately the tape transfer is murky in many of the scenes with some color shift towards the green. The audio is in mono, and may have been quite good originally. But when it was transferred to tape it was very badly processed. A compressor was used to bring up the soft parts with the unfortunate result of raising the noise to a painful level. In addition a hard limiter squashed the crescendos so full orchestra with loud emotional singing is almost the same level as the quiet solos. The Hi-Fi stereo track also has a nasty high frequency hiss in stereo despite the sound being in mono.

I have recorded the tape and with some good processing it is possible to correct the color and tame some of the hiss. But it is still obvious when a low solo instrument plays because the hiss will pop in and out.

I would love to have a good transfer of the original film to DVD. If the old Beecham Tales of Hoffman from the early 50s can sound and look good when transferred to DVD, surely this more modern film could be resurrected. Until then I will have to be content with my partially fixed version.

This is one of the most beautiful and moving opera videos ever made The utter commitment and sincerity of all the principals make it a lesson in opera performing, and of course the music is exquisite I recommend it without reservation.

And as a side note to Ms. Lynch below, who claims "not to be an opera snob", the Kaspar that she dismisses as "awful" is played by Nico Castel, the thirty-year veteran of the Metropolitan Opera and the man who literally, WROTE THE BOOK on style and performance practices in opera. Many people, myself included, would disagree with her opinion of Maestro Castel as "awful".

As a lifelong fan of Amahl and Menotti alike, I wish I could say that this is the greatest opera video on earth. Sadly, there are sound and visual quality issues that make this production a disappointment, despite the appearance of the lovely Teresa Stratas.

Nevertheless, if this is your (or your children's) most convenient way of sampling opera, you'll enjoy the light style and humor in this timeless holiday classic. Better to buy it and watch it than to never experience it at all.

I purchsed this video a few years ago and was also very disappointed. I have nothing more to add to the other reviews posted here; just to agree that the sound was poor and the viewing quite fuzzy. I remember watching not only the first broadcast on NBC but several broadcasts years after that, with different casts. It was and still is my favorite Christmas story. I will certainly purchase the Schippers CD and hope to see another video or DVD in the future.