Composer

Particularly intriguing is the diptych, presented at the Teatro Goldoni, composed of The Telephone by Gian Carlo Menotti and – staged for the very first time now in Venice – Trouble in Tahiti by Leonard Bernstein: two single acts, which satirise certain recurring quirks in American society around the middle of the twentieth century. The hilarious The Telephone ridicules one of the small vices of the time: telephonic prolixity. The absolute protagonist is Lucy who communicates, over the phone, with Margaret – singing neoclassical arias à la Stravinsky – or with Pamela – singing to the rhythm of a polytonal waltz – or with Ben – accompanied by a ‘romantic’ clarinet. Lucy’s melodic élan is accompanied by an extensively lively orchestra in a largely tonal context. In Trouble in Tahiti, his ‘operatic debut’, a young Bernstein offers a gloomy and disturbing picture of society and, at the same time, of his family, with hints of almost self-punishing sarcasm. Through the marital crisis of a well-to-do bourgeois couple, Dinah and Sam – who represent the musician’s parents – Bernstein not only publicly shames the post-war, consumerist and elitist American society, but the American Dream itself. In this short but rather ‘dark’ musical – where a vocal jazz trio comments on the vicissitudes of the two protagonists – the great Lenny stands out with the refined eclecticism of his language – which sees the Tahiti rumba side-by-side with American swing – foreshadowing masterpieces, such as Candide and West Side Story.

The telephone & Trouble in Tahiti

Teatro Goldoni

LOON’s popular production returns. This family-friendly classic stars Vicki Fingalson as the Mother. Come and be inspired by kindness and generosity all over again.

Amahl and the Night Visitors

The Depot Theatre

Reviving a classic holiday tradition, we invite you and your loved ones to witness a beautiful one-act opera from Giancarlo Menotti in celebration of the Christmas season. Amahl and the Night Visitors tells the story of a poor, crippled shepherd boy named Amahl, who is visited by three Magi seeking shelter for the night as they journey to Bethlehem to see the newborn baby Jesus. Join us for two special performances of this touching story of healing and joy. 

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Indianapolis Opera

Fort Worth Opera brings Gian Carlo Menotti’s beloved Amahl and the Night Visitors to Stage West in a new production directed by Anthony Pound, the Opera’s very own Director of Education and Community Engagement. With its message of generosity, faith, and miraculous joy, Amahl has become a favorite for audiences of all ages.

Stage West Theatre

Based on Italian folk tales of the Nativity and Epiphany, Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and The Night Visitors is a retelling of the story of the Magi from the point of view of a young disabled boy named Amahl. He sees a bright star in the sky one night and tells his mother, but she brushes him off, buried in concern over their poverty and bleak future. That night, three kings come across their hut, seeking shelter after a long journey following the star of which Amahl had spoken. They bring gifts to give to “the Child,” who has just been born and will reign over all.

Amahl and The Night Visitor

Tri-Cities Opera Center

A heartwarming holiday favorite, Amahl and the Night Visitors tells the story of a poor, disabled boy and his mother, who receive a surprise visit from three mysterious kings on their journey to meet the Christ child. With humor, tenderness, and moments of wonder, Gian Carlo Menotti’s beloved one-act opera reminds us of the power of generosity, faith, and love. Perfect for families and audiences of all ages, this opera brings the magic of the season to life.

Hjemkomst Center

Step into a world of gossip and intrigue in The Old Maid and the Thief by Gian Carlo Menotti, the visionary founder of Spoleto Festival USA. Produced by Spoleto, this comedic one-act — composed in 1939 as a radio opera and never before performed at the Festival — is reimagined as a live radio broadcast—complete with onstage Foley sound effects, object manipulation, and the thrill of storytelling in real time. Set in the golden age of radio, the singers become both performers and sound artists, crafting the opera’s world before our eyes and ears. Campy, inventive, and delightfully mischievous, this brand-new staging celebrates Menotti’s wit and theatrical flair in a vibrant homecoming to the Spoleto stage.

The Old Maid and the Thief

Dock Street Theatre

Join us for an unforgettable evening as Stanford Live presents the farewell tour of Natalie Dessay and Philippe Cassard on Saturday, March 1, 2025, at 7:30 PM at the Bing Concert Hall. This exclusive performance marks a significant moment in the careers of two of classical music's most revered artists.

French soprano Natalie Dessay, celebrated for her virtuosic abilities and dramatic flair, has captivated audiences worldwide with her performances on the most prestigious opera stages, including the Paris Opera, Vienna State Opera, Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, and more. For this special tour, she is joined by the highly acclaimed French pianist Philippe Cassard, known for his exquisite interpretations of Debussy's works.

The evening's program promises an enchanting mix of opera and song, featuring pieces by Carlisle Floyd, Gian-Carlo Menotti, André Previn, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Barber, and more. Highlights include selections from Floyd's "Susannah," Menotti's "Le Médium," Previn's "A Streetcar Named Desire," and Copland's "Four Blues," among others.

Tickets start at $32, offering a range of seating options to accommodate all attendees. The lobby opens at 6:30 PM, allowing guests to enjoy beverages, light bites, and snacks before the performance begins.

Don't miss this opportunity to witness the artistry of Natalie Dessay and Philippe Cassard as they bid farewell to the stage in this memorable performance at Stanford's Bing Concert Hall.

Natalie Dessay and Philippe Cassard

Stanford University

Opera "newbies" and aficionados alike will rejoice in the chance to experience this joint production of Gian Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, presented by the Southland Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of Ontario.

AMAHL and the Night Visitors

Bethel Congregational Church Sanctuary

These two charming Christmas works (one touches on the sacred side of the holiday, the other is secular and silly) will be staged with a live orchestra. Fun for audience members of all ages!

AHMAL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS follows a poor, disabled shepherd boy named Ahmal. One night he and his mother receive an unexpected visit from the three Wise Men on their way to Bethlehem to visit the newborn Jesus. Filled with charming exchanges that build to a powerful climax of grace, redemption and a miraculous healing.

This WEST COAST PREMIERE of THE FOUR LOST SANTAS features a quartet of Santas, lost and stranded by the side of the road with their broken-down car, missing their big break at SantaCon. A mother and son (Judy and Rudy), late to their performance of Ahmal and the Night Visitors, come across them and agree to help. Will the Santas make it to SantaCon? Do Judy and Rudy make it to the theatre on time? Join us to find out!

Gian Carlo Menotti Amahl and the Night Visitors

24th Street Theatre

Trinity Episcopal Church, Escondido

San Marcos Lutheran Church

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.

Central Presbyterian Church Denver

Bring the whole family to this classic one-hour opera, sung in English. Amahl tells the story of a child and his mother who encounter the three wise men on their way to Bethlehem, and how they experience a miracle of their own.

Fort Worth Botanic Garden

This is the tender, heart-warming story of Amahl, a poor shepherd boy, and his devoted mother. They are visited one night by three kings, who are following a star on their way to see the baby Jesus. It’s a knock at the door that will change their lives forever. Amahl and the Night Visitors was originally written for television in 1951 and has since become an annual tradition in the USA – becoming one of the most frequently performed operas of the 20th century.

Beccles Public Hall & Theatre

Southwold Arts Centre

 The Players Theatre

 St Peter's Church

St Mary Magdalene Church

The Telephone, or L’Amour à trois is an English-language comic opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti, both words and music. It was written for production by the Ballet Society and was first presented on a double bill with Menotti’s The Medium at the Heckscher Theater, New York City, February 18–20, 1947.

The Telephone

St Peter’s Church

The Players Theatre

The Salt Lake Symphony continues our collaboration with the University of Utah Opera and The Grand Theater at Salt Lake Community College for another set of performances of Menotti’s beloved Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors. This year will also feature music by Holst, Finzi and selections from Handel’s Messiah.

The Grand Theatre

A scam artist psychic finds herself and her innocent daughter caught in the repercussions of her fraud. Is it guilt, insanity, or a voice from the beyond? Sung in English, let yourself be drawn in by the romantic music, and the drama of a supernatural mystery.

The Medium

St. Peter's United Church of Christ

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was barely 12 years old when he composed his bucolic little opera, Bastien et Bastienne, which was performed at an “alternative location”, in the garden of a certain Doctor Mesmer whose studies of magnetism are referred to with such comical effect towards the end of Mozart's career as an opera composer, namely, in Così fan tutte. According to the sources, the young Wolfgang wrote Colas's wizard aria in gibberish himself (“Diggi, daggi, schurri, murri...”), and in the overture we can discover a real curiosity: the main theme is practically the same main theme in the first movement of Beethoven's Eroica composed much later…

BASTIEN UND BASTIENNE / THE TELEPHONE – MVM Piccolo Programme

Hungarian State Opera

This is becoming an annual tradition - a repeat performance of "Amahl and the Night Visitors" - with fantastic cast! Stay tuned and save the date...

The opera tells the story of a young boy named Amahl who lives in poverty with his mother. One night, their home is visited by the Three Kings, who are seeking shelter on their way to Bethlehem. This heavenly story about giving to others perfectly captures the Christmas spirit, no matter the time of year!

Tulsa Performing Arts Center

Amahl and the Night Visitors is a family-friendly opera and has been enduringly popular since its premier in 1951. Commissioned by NBC as the first opera written for television, Amahl and the Night Visitors debuted on December 24, 1951 becoming 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.

BARN OPERA has developed a reputation over the past 4 years for their heartwarming and poignant, “Community-Christmas-Card,” production of Amahl & the Night Visitors at the Salisbury Congregational Church. This year, for the first time, the production will be traveling to Williston Federated Church and introducing this wonderful event to the Williston and Chittenden County community as well. The acclaimed production is to be headlined by the dream team of Sopranos Helen Lyons and Ambrose Cusick, Baritones (and Music Director/Associate Director of BARN OPERA) Cailin Marcel Manson, Nicholas Tocci, Tenor (and Artistic Director of BARN OPERA) Joshua Collier, and Cameron Wescott, with Kristen Carr leading the production from the piano.

Amahl & the Night Visitors (Williston Federated Church #2)

Barn Opera

Amahl and the Night Visitors by Menotti

Union County Performing Arts Center

Amahl and The Night Visitors

Hill-Stead Museum

A holiday family favorite, this classic tale tells the story of a poor young child who encounters the three wise men on their journey to visit the newborn Christ-child. Brought to you in association with Botanic Research Institute of Texas and performed at Fort Worth Botanic Garden.

Amahl & The Night Visitor

The Salt Lake Symphony enthusiastically continues our collaboration with the University of Utah Opera and The Grand Theater at Salt Lake Community College for another set of performances of Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors and Leavitt and Buck’s A Christmas Carol. The holiday spirit is guaranteed! Ticket information TBA.

We will feature Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation Teen Talent Competition Finalist, pianist Cindy Yan. Cindy will perform Toccata on a Theme from The Old Maid and the Thief by Gian Carlo Menotti.

Chamber Music for People in a Hurry

560 Music Center

This beloved Christmas opera by Gian Carlo Menotti, tells the story of Amahl, a shepherd boy who has a propensity to tell tall tales, and his mother. Amahl’s most recent story is about a star with a tail that moves across the sky like a chariot on fire. When three splendid strangers knock on the door and ask to rest in their tiny home, Amahl is thrilled and fascinated. When the visitors describe the miraculous child they are seeking, both Amahl and his mother are moved to give reverence to the child as well. Their humble faith conjures a miracle. Sung in English with English supertitles.

Mannoni Performing Arts Center Auditorium

The Medium is a one-act opera by Gian Carlo Menotti set in the early 20th century. The story revolves around Madame Flora, a fraudulent medium who pretends to communicate with the dead, along with her two assistants, Monica and Toby. Madame Flora begins to experience a series of terrifying events during her seances, including physical contact from an apparition she cannot see. In a desperate attempt to prove her sanity, Madame Flora stages a fake seance with Toby disguised as the ghost of a murdered child. However, the real ghost of the child appears and Madame Flora is driven to the brink of insanity. Come see this chilling opera, performed in Spanish with English titles.

La Médium

Rose Marine Theater

In Menotti’s chilling opera The Medium, fake seances are business as usual for Madame Flora. However, on a fateful night, the usual façade shatters, leading to a series of events that promises to send shivers down your spine.

Studio 308

A lighthearted and humorous mini-opera that focuses on the communication failure that arises in the encounter between a man, a woman… and her telephone.

Knute on the Wire

Brygga Kultursal

The stakes of Angels Vocal Art’s upcoming presentation of Gian-Carlo Menotti's The Consul are high. A political dissident, John Sorel, is on the run from the secret police. His wife, Magda Sorel, will do everything to protect him, even travelling to the consulate, desperate to obtain a visa. She joins a crowd of hopefuls waiting for a response, only to face more obstacles. Meanwhile, John’s mother sings to comfort the sick child, and even a magician entertaining the secretary does not succeed. Magda’s journeys take her to the edge of despair, and a desperate race against time. Witness the heart-rending story of a courageous family's struggle for freedom when Angels Vocal Art presents The Consul, starring Elizabeth Baldwin, Jacob Bowman, Laura Zahn, Victoria Livengood, Sejin Park, and Chris Hunter. Don't miss a single moment!

The Consul

Manoukian Performing Arts Center

Step into the world of the celebrated composer Menotti, as Angels Vocal Art presents his masterpieces, "The Old Maid and the Thief" and "The Telephone". Witness the captivating storylines come to life through the powerful voices of our talented performers. Join us on July 21st and 22nd, 2023 at the Munson Hall in Azusa Pacific University, for a whirlwind evening of music and drama. Don't miss out on this spectacular event!

The Old Maid and the Thief The Telephone

Azusa Pacific University

A lighthearted and humorous mini-opera that focuses on the communication breakdown that occurs when a man and a woman meet… and her telephone.

Knute på tråden

Café Magenta

Opera Philadelphia brings its multitalented singers, orchestra, and chorus to the Twilight Concert Series at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken for a family-friendly night of opera conducted by Collingswood’s Elizabeth Braden. The free, 90-minute concert begins with some of opera’s most beloved and popular songs and concludes with a full performance of Gian Carlo Menotti’s magical holiday classic Amahl and the Night Visitors, about a little shepherd boy who encounters the Three Kings on their way to Bethlehem.

Dubbed Opera Philadelphia's Christmas in July, the concert is part of a special 2023 Twilight Concert Series lineup to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Cooper River Park. Patrons are encouraged to bring their own chairs. There is free parking on site.

Amahl and the Night Visitors is a family-friendly opera and has been enduringly popular since its premiere in 1951. It tells the story of Amahl, a shepherd boy who has a propensity to tell tall tales, and his mother. Amahl’s most recent story is about a star with a tail that moves across the sky like a chariot on fire. When three splendid strangers knock on the door and ask to rest in their tiny home, Amahl is thrilled and fascinated. When the visitors describe the miraculous child they are seeking, both Amahl and his mother are moved to give reverence to the child as well. Their humble faith conjures a miracle.

Opera Philadelphia’s Christmas in July

Cooper River Park

Performers include: Jenna Lange, soprano; Willa Albrecht, mezzo-soprano; Theo Kokonas, tenor; and Aaron Wu, baritone. Plus, Megan Chang and Serena Li, violins; Ella Moriarty and Emily Zhu, celli; Se Ho Kwak, trumpet; Hannah Guo and Saomai Nguyen, piano; along with a trio with Saomai Nguyen, clarinet; Hanah Park, viola; and Samson Zhang, piano. Kyungmi Kim is the assisting pianist.

Student Recital 2023 Concert 1

Pomona College

Danielle Roach (M.M. '23, vocal pedagogy) presents a voice recital.

Student Recital: Danielle Roach, Voice

Boston Conservatory at Berklee

STAR Repertory Theatre

The SLS happily returns to our holiday collaboration with the UofU Opera and the SLCC Grand Theatre for 4 performances of Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors and Leavitt and Buck’s A Christmas Carol. A holiday tradition for the entire family!

Amahl and the Night Visitors & A Christmas Carol

The holiday season begins with Fort Worth Opera’s return to Stage West Theatre on Saturday, December 12 and Sunday, December 13, 2026, for Gian Carlo Menotti’s beloved Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors, a heartwarming family tradition for local audiences. This quietly magical work has been cherished since its historic premiere, broadcast live on NBC on Christmas Eve 1951 as the first opera ever composed for television.

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Directed by Anthony D. Pound, this new production features the company’s talented Hattie Mae Lesley Resident Artists, including tenor Cecil Garrison as the warm and whimsical King Kaspar, bass Noah Mond as the noble King Melchior, and mezzo-soprano Lauren Salazar as the Page and Shepherdess. This timeless production honors the opera’s enduring legacy as a work that speaks with clarity and compassion to audiences of all ages.

Composer

Gian-Carlo Menotti

Events

Upcoming events

12 - 13 Dec, 2026

Amahl and the Night Visitors · Fort Worth Opera

Dec 17, 2026

A Christmas Festival · Symphony Arlington

Past events

9 - 14 Oct, 2026

The telephone & Trouble in Tahiti · Teatro La Fenice

23 - 25 Jan, 2026

Amahl and the Night Visitors · Lyric Opera of the North

About

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