Amahl und die nächtlichen Besucher DVD
Last year's family opera from the Musiktheater an der Wien, Amahl und die nächtlichen Besucher, by Gian Carlo Menotti, is being released on DVD and Blu-Ray by the Naxos label just in time for Advent. The opera is a moving Christmas story centred around the boy Amahl. After its first American broadcast in 1951, Amahl and the nocturnal visitors became a popular Christmas tradition in many countries - almost the equivalent of Hansel and Gretel.
Director Stefan Herheim relocates the story to the present day, but endows the young title character with a fantasy that springs from hope and magically illuminates the darker side of life. Under the musical direction of Magnus Loddgard, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Arnold Schoenberg Choir and a high-calibre ensemble of singers perform on the large stage in Halle E of the MuseumsQuartier: Tempu Ishijima (soloist with the Vienna Boys' Choir) in the title role, Dzhamilja Kaiser as Amahl's mother and Paul Schweinester, Nikolay Borchev and Wilhelm Schwinghammer as the kings Kaspar, Melchior and Balthasar.