The University at Albany Department of Music is pleased to present Amahl and the Night Visitors on Sunday, December 9, 2007 at 7pm in the Main Theatre of the Performing Arts Center on the uptown campus.

First performed in 1951 as the premiere opera composed for television, Amahl and the Night Visitors tells the story of a destitute widow and her kind-hearted, disabled son who makes up tall tales to soften his own reality. Amazingly, the one about three kings knocking on their front door one night turns out to be true, and the one gift he can offer the kings for the newly born Christ child, his crutch, changes his life. It is a warm and humorous story of the triumph of spirit and the healing power of love and generosity.

Amahl and the Night Visitors was written by the Italian composer Gian Carlo Menotti who as a young boy became lame. The doctors had no cure for him. He was taken to be blessed at the holy Sanctuary of Sacro Monte and thereafter, miraculously, the young Menotti was cured of lameness.  Menotti died this past February at the age of 95.

In 1951 when NBC commissioned the 40 year old Menotti to write a Christmas opera he could not come up with a subject. He despaired until one day, while strolling through the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, he chanced upon and was inspired by the famous painting “The Adoration of the Magi.” The idea of the Night Visitors was born and in less than two months Menotti finished the score. He wrote into it some of the magical sounds he remembered from his youth during St. Nicholas's festive visits to his mountain village in Italy where he was born.

Only an hour in length the one act opera with its beautiful score and touching libretto (the opera is sung in English) is appealing to all ages and musical backgrounds. It was written specifically for young imaginations which can easily relate to a child with a head full of dreams. It remains an inspiring story of how faith, charity, unselfish love and good deeds can work miracles.

This production is directed by Kristina Bendikas (previously of UAlbany’s Theatre Department) and conducted by David M. Janower (UAlbany Music Department) with stage design by Tamas Szalczer (New York Institute of Technology) and choreography by Debra Pigliavento (Orlando School of Dance). For this local performance with professional chamber orchestra, the director and conductor have assembled an all-star cast from local professional singers. It stars Colin Foster (a sixth grader at O’Rourke Middle School), Jean Johnson Foster (a featured performer with Schenectady Light Opera Company), Adrien Gleason (recently seen in Miss Saigon at Cohoes Music Hall), David Sutton (a recent performer with Lake George Opera), Allan Kirk (a member of Opera Excelsior) and Tom Johnson (who has appeared in local productions of Amahl for the past two years). The Schenectady County Community College Vocal Chamber Ensemble, under the direction of Yiping Wu, will also perform.

Bendikas and Janower will offer a pre-concert talk at 6:15 in the Recital Hall of the Performing Arts Center.

Tickets are $5 for the general public and may be purchased through the Performing Arts Center Box Office. Admission is free for students but a ticket is required. For further information, contact the Box Office at (518) 442-3997 or visit the Performing Arts Center website at www.albany.edu/pac.

Amahl and the Night Visitors will be repeated at Proctors Theater in five performances from December 20-23.

This performance is cosponsored by the Departments of Music and Theatre

and made possible by a grant from University Auxiliary Services.

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