Amahl and the Night Visitors is a family-friendly opera of enduring popularity since its premiere. Commissioned by NBC and debuting on December 24, 1951, Amahl and the Night Visitors was the first opera written for television, as well as the first network television Christmas special to become an annual tradition. Composer Gian Carlo Menotti drew inspiration for the opera from Hieronymus Bosch’s The Adoration of the Magi, which hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and from his childhood in Italy where gifts were brought at Christmas by the Three Kings instead of Santa Claus.
Amahl and the Night Visitors is an inspiring tale of kindness, generosity, and hope. Named “one of the 10 great holiday shows that aren’t The Nutcracker or A Christmas Carol” by the Denver Post, Amahl and the Night Visitors has quickly become a holiday favorite for Denver families and opera lovers alike.
