#1
Posted: 12/24/07 at 5:48pm
I absolutely adore this opera, and have ever since I was about eight or nine years old. My dad always played the original recording of it for us every year at Christmas.
Imagine, an opera written for television! 55 minutes long (allowing for five minutes of commercials, and station announcements) Gian Carlo Menotti was so brilliant, so young and so talented. He wrote AND staged it. His partner Thomas Shippers conducted it.
Commissioned by NBC and sponsored by Hallmark. In fact, this was THE FIRST "Hallmark Hall of Fame" presentation.
The strings playing in the opening moments always bring tears to my eyes. I think it's some of the most beautiful music ever written.
It was so popular its first year (1951) that they continued to perform it "live" for broadcast on Christmas Eve for many years to come. With most of the cast intact. The original Amahl (Chet Allen) only did the first year. Then his voice changed. He had a very troubled sad and short life, I'm sorry to report.
BUT... a brand new DVD of the 1955 live broadcast has just been released! I watched it today and cried through the whole damn thing. The Amahl in this production (Bill McIver) took over right after Chet, and played it for the next four consecutive Christmases. This was his last time "on air" as Amahl, and he's wonderful.
And Rosemary Kuhlmann as the Mother has the voice of an angel. To think that she was only in her 20s when she played this role! Her control and phrasing as a singer are perfection. (What SHE could have done with the Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd!!)
Here is a clip of Rosemary and Bill from the live telecast. (Yes, it's a Kinescope, so the quality is "okay" but the content is priceless!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_03iA_QvfWw
And for those of you, like me, who have been hoping for a decent non-bootleg DVD of "Amahl" to be released, here is a link to get it. It includes a very recent (and lengthy) interview with Rosemary Kuhlmann, shot in July of this year from her home in Rhode Island... She looks and sounds GREAT for someone who first created and sang this role 56 Christmas Eves ago.
Amazon link
Imagine, an opera written for television! 55 minutes long (allowing for five minutes of commercials, and station announcements) Gian Carlo Menotti was so brilliant, so young and so talented. He wrote AND staged it. His partner Thomas Shippers conducted it.
Commissioned by NBC and sponsored by Hallmark. In fact, this was THE FIRST "Hallmark Hall of Fame" presentation.
The strings playing in the opening moments always bring tears to my eyes. I think it's some of the most beautiful music ever written.
It was so popular its first year (1951) that they continued to perform it "live" for broadcast on Christmas Eve for many years to come. With most of the cast intact. The original Amahl (Chet Allen) only did the first year. Then his voice changed. He had a very troubled sad and short life, I'm sorry to report.
BUT... a brand new DVD of the 1955 live broadcast has just been released! I watched it today and cried through the whole damn thing. The Amahl in this production (Bill McIver) took over right after Chet, and played it for the next four consecutive Christmases. This was his last time "on air" as Amahl, and he's wonderful.
And Rosemary Kuhlmann as the Mother has the voice of an angel. To think that she was only in her 20s when she played this role! Her control and phrasing as a singer are perfection. (What SHE could have done with the Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd!!)
Here is a clip of Rosemary and Bill from the live telecast. (Yes, it's a Kinescope, so the quality is "okay" but the content is priceless!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_03iA_QvfWw
And for those of you, like me, who have been hoping for a decent non-bootleg DVD of "Amahl" to be released, here is a link to get it. It includes a very recent (and lengthy) interview with Rosemary Kuhlmann, shot in July of this year from her home in Rhode Island... She looks and sounds GREAT for someone who first created and sang this role 56 Christmas Eves ago.
Amazon link
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
And this is such a talented cast.
