How Joyce DiDonato's childhood inspired her role in 'Amahl and the Night Visitors'

NEW YORK — It seems all but unthinkable today: A major TV network hires a famous composer to write an original opera and broadcasts it live in prime time on Christmas Eve.

But it was a different world in the early days of television back in 1951 when Gian Carlo Menotti's ''Amahl and the Night Visitors'' premiered on NBC to an estimated audience of 5 million children and adults.

With its tuneful score and uplifting story of a Christmas miracle, the opera — broadcast from a studio at NBC headquarters in Rockefeller Center — proved an immediate hit with viewers and critics. For many years it was repeated annually on TV, and to this day it's a favorite holiday offering for universities, churches, community theaters and professional companies across the U.S. and internationally.

Now it's coming to New York's Lincoln Center Theater in a production that stars mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, who normally displays her talents next door at the Metropolitan Opera House.

''Amahl'' opens Dec. 16 and runs through the holidays for 23 performances, The title role is played by 12-year-old Albert ''AJ'' Rhodes Jr., who did a stint on Broadway as the young Simba in ''The Lion King.''

For director Kenny Leon, ''Amahl'' combines all the elements one could want from a holiday entertainment — and, for young children, it has the added benefit of being relatively short.

''It has everything great storytelling has,'' Leon said. ''It has humor and laughter, it has drama, it has heart, it has dance, music, all packed together in less than an hour. That's a full evening.''

For DiDonato, portraying Amahl's mother is not just another job. It's an emotional connection to a deeply personal memory that dates back to her childhood in Kansas.

''It really is my favorite opera,'' DiDonato said. ''From as early as I can remember my father would pull out the original LP recording and play it Christmas morning. To this day, Christmas is not complete without that.''

A couple of years ago she told Peter Gelb, the Met's general manager, that she would love to sing the role of Amahl's mother. But the cavernous, 3,800-seat opera house didn't seem the right place for a small-scale work that runs less than an hour, is scored for a chamber orchestra, and has a cast of just six soloists, two dancers and a small chorus.

''Gelb rightly noted it's too intimate a piece for the Met,'' DiDonato said. ''But he worked with me on it quite closely to find the right spot for it.''

That turned out to be the Mitzi Newhouse, a 300-seat house that is part of Lincoln Center Theater, where the new artistic director, Lear deBessonet, is eager to present family-friendly programming.

How Menotti was inspired to compose ‘Amahl'

Menotti, who wrote both the music and libretto for ''Amahl,'' had composed a number of successful operas, including ''The Consul'' and ''The Medium,'' when NBC commissioned him for the Christmas broadcast. But, as he recalled at the time, he was struggling to find a story as the deadline approached.

Then a chance encounter with Hieronymus Bosch's ''The Adoration of the Magi'' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art unlocked memories of his childhood in Italy.

The title character in ''Amahl'' is a disabled child who lives in poverty with his mother. When the three Wise Men stop by on their way to present gifts to the baby Jesus, Amahl offers them his crutch in case the infant might need it. Instantly, he is able to walk without it.

''It's a story of selflessness and giving from the heart,'' DiDonato said. ''How important is that in today's world? The important-est.''

The two-piano accompaniment had been used successfully in an earlier opera performed at the Mitzi Newhouse, ''Intimate Apparel,'' a co-commission with the Met.

''The wonderful discovery of that show was that the sound created by two pianos and voices in that space was incredibly powerful, and you didn't really need something else,'' deBessonet said.

More family programming planned for Lincoln Center

Though this is the theater's first family offering, deBessonet is determined it won't be the last. Repeating ''Amahl'' in future years is one possibility, the way two other Lincoln Center institutions have annual holiday offerings: ''The Nutcracker'' at the New York City Ballet and an abridged version of Mozart's ''The Magic Flute'' at the Met.

But deBessonet also sees part of her mission as commissioning new works for the holiday season.