It concludes with the full performance of Gian Carlo Menotti's magical holiday classic Amahl & the Night Visitors. It is about a shepherd boy who meets the Three Kings as they travel toward Bethlehem.
The free 90-minute concert, titled Opera Philadelphia's Christmas in July, will feature almost 40 musicians and vocalists. It is part of the 2023 Twilight Concert Series to commemorate Cooper River Park's 100th Anniversary.
Amahl & the Night Visitors has been a popular family opera since 1951. NBC commissioned the opera to be the first television opera. It premiered on December 24, 1950, and became the first Christmas special broadcast yearly. Gian Carlo Menotti was inspired by Hieronymus Bosch's The Adoration of the Magi, displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and his childhood in Italy, where the Three Kings brought gifts at Christmas instead of Santa Claus.
Amahl & the Night Visitors is the story of Amahl - a shepherd who loves to tell tall stories - and his mother. Amahl tells a story about a star with a tail moving like a chariot in the sky. Amahl's fascination and delight grow when three strangers ask to stay in his tiny house. The description of the miraculous child moves him and Amahl's mother the visitors are looking for. Their humble faith brings about a miracle.
Opera Philadelphia's Christmas in July 2023
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- By Joy Franklin
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PHILADELPHIA- Opera Philadelphia will bring its talented singers, chorus, and orchestra to South Jersey for a family-friendly night of opera on Thursday, July 13, at 8 p.m., conducted by Collingswood Elizabeth Braden. The concert, free and open to the public at Cooper River Park near Pennsauken, begins with some of the most popular and beloved opera songs.
