Amahl and the Night Visitors in Adelaide

In excess of half a century is a long time to wait, but at last Adelaide audiences have a chance to enjoy the full glory of Amahl and the Night Visitors, a classic I’m told has not been performed as a fully staged production in South Australia since 1958.

Gian Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors stands alongside Dicken’s A Christmas Carol as a beloved Christmas story and will be brought to life at the Space Theatre in December by Adelaide producers Emma Knights and Karen Lettice.

The one act opera/musical is one of the most performed operas in the world today. An enchanting and inspiring fable about the transformative power of love, it tells the story of what happens on the night Amahl, a disabled shepherd boy, receives an unexpected visit from the Three Kings.

Originally written for television, not the stage, Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors premiered on the NBC network on Christmas Eve 1951. As a result of its success, the program rescreened every year for the next sixteen years. 

Adelaide’s production will be produced, directed, costumed, choreographed, designed, conducted, sung and performed excusively by locally based artists.

Well known singer Karen Lettice, the production’s co-producer and one of its artists, was born into a family of opera singers. Her parents studied and sang many works, but Amahl and the Night Visitors was a family favourite every Christmas. Karen’s father, Adelaide singing teacher the late John Morgan, sang the role of King Melchior in a New Zealand production in 1964. 

Lettice has dreamed of singing the role of Amahl's mother since she was in her teens and now she has her opportunity. She said,  "This opera is a passion project for me. In the same way that it was written straight from the heart of the composer’s childhood experience, my part in producing and singing in it is a natural evolution that stems from the heart of my own growing up.”

Co-producer Emma Knights is a graduate of both the Elder Conservatorium and the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) and is a pianist, musical director, film composer, songwriter, orchestral musician, repetituer/accompanist and producer.

I asked Knights what it is about Amahl and the Night Visitors that makes it a perfect way to introduce opera to children and what they can expect to gain from the experience.

“The story and the characters of Amahl and the Night Visitors are what makes it so endearing to children,” she said. “The cheekiness of Amahl to his mother is something most children can relate to. The way Amahl speaks to the strangers that appear on his doorstep is full of childish curiosity and innocence. I think these things are what also endears the opera to adults. It has a childlike innocence about it that we can all relate to. The comedy in the opera reaches into that childish humour where the smallest thing can cause you to laugh out loud.”

Knights added, “The opera is shorter in duration that most other operas, being only an hour in length and it is sung in English. Both of these facts make it more appealing to families and children. The lush score, whilst complex, has a familiarity about it and is easy to listen to and enjoy. Having a young teen in the main role also captures children’s attention.”

The Adelaide production showcases the talents of twelve-year-year-olds, Finn Green and Aidan Hutson-Hill. In casting Finn and Aidan to share the lead role of Amahl, Emma Knights was very conscious that the role is a demanding one and that Amahl is present on stage for the entire opera.

“We needed to find young boys with dedication and a hard working nature,” she said. “As it is a delicate age for boys we needed to be sure that they were at the age where their voices were likely to stay in the boy soprano range until the production reached completion. Vocal technique was another thing we spoke of and looked for, as the stamina required to sing the role is high. There also needed to be a maturity to be able to work with the rest of the adult cast, something which our ‘Amahls’ have done wonderfully. They needed to show enough potential at the auditions to be able to sing the role, as well as evoke emotion from the audience and fellow cast members in their acting. These two boys and their understudy, Sebastian Skubalas, showed great potential and through the process have become great friends. So much so that we have nicknamed them the three trebles!”

In addition to Karen Lettice as Amahl’s mother, highly successful Adelaide opera singers Branko Lovrinov, Andrew Turner and Keith Hempton round out the adult cast as the three kings.

Currently undertaking his Masters at Elder Conservatorium, Lovrinov was awarded the Australian Postgraduate Award, the George Boland Scholarship and first prize in the Recitals Australia Performance Awards in 2013. He performs with Co-Opera and State Opera. Another graduate of Elder Conservatorium, Turner undertook post graduate studies at Conservatoire de Luxembourg de Musique and has sung with State Opera and Co-Opera. Hempton has an impressive history with a range of internationally recognised opera companies and also lectures extensively on opera.

Co-producer of Amahl and the Night Visitors, Emma Knights said, “It is very important to be able to showcase this artform to younger generations and to also show that there are opportunities for local artists to do what they love in Adelaide. It is a great honour to be able to create these opportunities.”

With stunning music, vibrant costumes, electrifying choruses, dancing and laughter, this opera is a perfect way to introduce children to the artform.

It’s also a great way to put the whole family in the right mood for Christmas.

Lesley Reed

WHERE:         Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre.

DATES:        Thu 4 Dec at 7pm. Fri  5 Dec at 7pm. Sat 6 Dec at 2pm and 7pm.

BOOKINGS:   BASS Tickets http://www.bass.net.au/events/christmas-opera.aspx

PRICES:         $36 (Children) $48 (Concession) $55 (Adult).

                        Group concessions available $52 per ticket (8+).

DURATION:   50 mins (no interval).