17 Dec 2024
Continue the Christmas spirit and come and enjoy Gian-Carlo Menotti’s tale of Amahl and the Night Visitors, staged in the splendid setting of the newly-restored nave of St Peter’s Church in St Albans.
Composed with children in mind, this makes a wonderful introduction to opera for anyone. Short in length, at under an hour long, there are tuneful melodies, colourful characters, humour and dance.
The heartwarming plot tells the story of Amahl, a disabled shepherd boy with a vivid imagination and a penchant for exaggeration, who lives with his poor widowed mother. The Three Kings visit their home, following the star on their journey to find Jesus. The kings show compassion when Amahl’s mother tries to steal their gold and, in turn, his mother wants to send a gift to Jesus from her and Amahl. Realising that they are too poor to have anything to send, Amahl gives his crutch to the Kings – and then, miraculously, finds that he can walk! He goes with the kings to find Jesus and give him his crutch in person.
St Albans Chamber Opera (SACO) will be celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2025 – and their first ever production was Amahl and the Night Visitors, conducted by David Ireson – who will be conducting this special production too. Tim Armstrong-Taylor is the director with Robert Berry-Roe as Amahl and Deborah Holborn as Amahl’s mother. They are joined by three dazzling kings, a page, plus the SACO Chorus and Orchestra.
Performances are on Friday January 3 (6pm and 8pm) and Saturday 4 January 4 (4pm and 6pm). Tickets are available from TIcketsource (www.ticketsource.co.uk/saco), £15 for adults/£5 for under 16s.
