Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – A look back at the holidays at The Met: Breathing new life into AMAHL & THE NIGHT VISITORS and the return of THE MAGIC FLUTE

• By drediman
• January 7, 2026
• No Comments

This past holiday season, The Metropolitan Opera doubled down on the spirit of the season by presenting not one, but two family-friendly offerings — one a reliable staple at the opera house, the other a smart collaboration with Lincoln Center Theater to bring back a once familiar Christmastime occurrence. As always, read on for my thoughts.

AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS
Lincoln Center Theater in association with The Metropolitan Opera
Closed

Of the two, the one that really laid a claim to my heart was Lincoln Center Theater and The Metropolitan Opera’s co-production of Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). Once an annual holiday presentation circa the mid 20th century, the televised one act opera all but disappeared from the public eye in the last few decades (at least here in New York). Despite its slight running time of under an hour, the performance packs in a lot of genuine emotion in the telling of the story of a destitute mother and her crippled son who are visited by the three Magi — on their way to the site of the Nativity — in their hour of greatest need. Director Kenny Leon’s intimate Off-Broadway production has breathed new life into the work and is just the right re-introduction of the opera to contemporary audiences, highlighting the generous humanity of the piece without shying away from its inherent religious aspects. With just enough suggestive visual cues to give a vague indication of time and place, the staging also boasts the kind of inclusive universality that invites all viewers, regardless of backgrounds and beliefs, to bask in the cozy glow of a tale that’s both heartwarming and heartrending. Although a part of me missed the opera’s full symphonic sound, the truncated orchestrations for two pianos — and the occasional soulful oboe — are nonetheless lovely in their own right. Leading the cast as the mother was opera superstar soprano Joyce DiDonato, whose dramatic and vocal conveyance of distress and joy were almost too overwhelming as funneled through the immediate acoustics of the Newhouse. As the resilient son, Albert Rhodes, Jr. was an irrepressible, disarming presence and sang like an angel. Last but not least, the trio of Phillip Boykin, Bernard Holcomb, and Todd Thomas brought vocal gravitas and not an insignificant amount of humor and goodwill as the three kings. Now can we please reinstate Menotti’s charming opera to its former status as an annual holiday tradition?

THE MAGIC FLUTE
The Metropolitan Opera
Closed

For those seeking a more secular and traditionally grand night at the opera during the holiday season, The Metropolitan Opera’s regularly programmed mounting of Julie Taymor’s staging of The Magic Flute (RECOMMENDED) is probably your best bet. Sung in English and abridged more than ever this past holiday season, the production is an ideal gateway to opera for younger audience members, many of whom have likely not been exposed to the extravagant art form before in their lives. Although some of the more mature themes of Mozart’s fantastical opera may fly over heads, Taymor’s vision is irresistible in its scale and invention. Like her stage adaptation of The Lion King — which continues to sell out on Broadway and around the world all these years later after its storied premiere — her production of The Magic Flute, with its towering set pieces (on a massive turntable) and whimsical use of puppetry, is chock full of wonder and theatrical invention. Indeed, the experience is a theatrical storybook feast whose progression of stage pictures is in and of itself worth the price of admission. Indeed, I’m glad The Met as decided to retain the spectacular production, even if it is no longer used for the company’s full renditions of Die Zauberflöte (that would be Simon McBurney’s monochromatic production, which was unveiled in 2023, replacing Taymor’s celebrated version). Even if the performances veered towards excessive broadness, the return of this holiday production — at least in the hands of cast that I saw — boasted uncommonly fine singing from the likes of Erin Morley (Pamina), Joshua Blue (Tamino), Aigul Khismatullina (Queen of the Night), Joshua Hopkins (Papageno), and Matthew Rose (Sarastro). Leading the mighty Met Orchestra was conductor Erina Yashima, who confidently articulated and shaped the recognizable musical landscape of Mozart’s beloved singspiel. Thankfully, audiences were not shortchanged musically.