“A symphony must be like the world,” Gustav Mahler famously proclaimed. “It should embrace everything.”
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Okay, today is the birthday anniversary of the seething Austrian genius Gustav Mahler (1860-1911), who declared on a walk with Sibelius that “the symphony must be like the world; it must embrace everything” and confided to his wife, “My time will come.” We all know about him.
It is also the birthday of Italian-American Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007), a prolific composer of opera and the recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes (for “The Consul,” in 1950, and “The Saint of Bleecker Street,” in 1955); yet somehow Menotti is basically remembered for his one-act Christmas opera, “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” written for NBC in 1951.
“Amahl,” broadcast live on Christmas Eve, was the first opera commissioned for television. The composer continued to work on the score until perilously close to air time. In fact, his partner, Samuel Barber, had to be brought in to help complete the orchestrations. Despite the time crunch, the opera was a ratings smash, and for the next 15 years “Amahl” became a Christmas broadcast tradition.
Chet Allen, who originated the role of Amahl, was a chorister with the Columbus Boychoir, which was founded in Columbus, OH, in 1937. By the time of the opera’s telecast, the choir had relocated to Princeton, NJ. In 1980, the group would be renamed The American Boychoir. Since the opera fell a few minutes short of the top of the hour, the choir was brought on to perform carols appropriate for the season.
Though he wrote the work for television, Menotti shrewdly realized its potential for the stage. Allen would reprise the role of Amahl at the New York City Opera in 1952. Since then, “Amahl” has enjoyed a robust history of professional and community performances.
Menotti will always be remembered as an opera composer (in his day, he was regarded as the heir of Puccini, admiringly by some, derisively by others), but his concert works are certainly worthy of interest. Join me on WPRB 103.3 FM, or at wprb.com, this Thursday morning between 6 and 11 ET to hear Menotti’s Piano Concerto from 1945, in a 1961 performance by the great Earl Wild.
In the meantime, for you lovers of licorice, “This is my box”:
PHOTO: Menotti (right) and friend
I hadn’t realized until last night that John Cage transcribed “4’ 33”” for orchestra. I wonder if anyone ever thought to program this as an encore to Mahler’s “Symphony of a Thousand?”
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