List of Christmas operas facts for kids
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Christmas operas are special musical plays that tell stories about Christmas. These stories can be about the birth of Jesus (called the Nativity) or other fun Christmas tales. Operas started in the early 1600s, and Christmas operas appeared soon after.
In the beginning, Christmas operas were mostly about religious themes. This was because during the time leading up to Christmas, called Advent, many public theaters were not allowed to show plays that weren't religious. By the mid-1800s, these rules changed. Then, operas started to tell all sorts of Christmas stories, like those about Santa Claus or King Wenceslaus.
Many operas have been inspired by Charles Dickens' famous book A Christmas Carol, written in 1843. Composers like Bernard Herrmann and Thea Musgrave created operas from it. The story of the Three Wise Men has also inspired several operas. One famous example is Gian Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors from 1951. This opera was first made for TV. It's the only modern Christmas opera that is still often performed live today. In the 2000s, Kevin Puts' opera Silent Night (2011) became very popular and won a big award called the Pulitzer Prize in 2012.
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History of Christmas Operas
The very first Christmas operas appeared in the early 1600s. Their stories, called librettos, were about the birth of Jesus. These early operas were usually performed in private homes. For a long time, public theaters in places like Italy were closed during Advent. This is the four weeks before Christmas Eve. The opera season would usually start again on December 26, St. Stephen's Day. Many new operas had their first shows on this day, but they were not about Christmas.
To get around the rules, people performed "sacred actions." These were operas with religious themes, but they had amazing stages and costumes. One of the earliest Christmas operas like this was Il gran natale di Christo salvator nostro (The Great Nativity of Christ, Our Saviour). It was first performed on Christmas Day in 1622.
After the mid-1800s, the rules about Advent changed. New operas began to appear with many different Christmas themes. These often premiered during the Christmas season. This tradition continues today. Some operas are directly about the Nativity or figures like the Three Magi. Others focus on Christmas parties or traditional characters like Father Christmas.
The short story Christmas Eve by Nikolai Gogol inspired three Russian operas. These include Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Vakula the Smith (1876) and Cherevichki (1887), and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Christmas Eve (1895). At least nine Christmas operas have been based on Charles Dickens's book A Christmas Carol.
On Christmas Eve in 1950, Gian Carlo Menotti's opera Amahl and the Night Visitors was shown on TV. It was the first opera made especially for television. It became very popular. Life magazine even called it a "Christmas Classic" in 1952. Menotti wanted the opera to be performed live too. Since then, Amahl and the Night Visitors has become the only Christmas opera that is still performed regularly on stage. It's especially popular with smaller opera companies and at colleges. Even though big opera houses don't perform it as often, it has been shown by The Royal Opera and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The success of Amahl also led to many more Christmas TV specials in America.
Even with the success of Amahl and the Night Visitors, no Christmas opera has become as widely loved as Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker or Handel's Messiah. Still, some composers in the 2000s have tried to create popular Christmas operas. Mark Adamo's Becoming Santa Claus was well-received in 2015. John Adams's El Niño (2000) has also been performed by many opera companies. Kevin Puts's Silent Night (2011) won a Pulitzer Prize. It has been performed by several American opera companies. The first show of Silent Night in 2011 was even filmed for the TV show Great Performances.
Some operas are not about Christmas but are often performed during the Christmas season. These include fairy tale operas like Massenet's Cendrillon, Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, and Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland. Hansel and Gretel first played in Germany on December 23, 1893. It has been a Christmas favorite at the Metropolitan Opera since 1905. On Christmas Day 1931, it was the first opera ever broadcast live on the radio from the Met. Puccini's La bohème also takes place during Christmas Eve in its first two acts. It is often performed during the Christmas season, especially at the Metropolitan Opera and London's Royal Opera House.
List of Christmas Operas
Here is a list of operas that are clearly based on Christmas themes. It's not a complete list, but it includes some important ones.
17th and 18th Centuries
- Il gran natale di Christo salvator nostro (The Great Nativity of Christ, Our Saviour), by Giovanni Battista da Gagliano and Jacopo Peri, was first performed on December 25, 1622, in Florence. The story is set near Bethlehem.
- Per la festività del Santo Natale (For the Celebration of the Holy Nativity), by Giovanni Battista Costanzi to a story by Metastasio, was first performed on January 2, 1727, in Rome. It had amazing sets, including a cloud machine!
- The Christmas Tale, by Charles Dibdin and David Garrick, premiered on December 27, 1773, in London.
- Die Weihnacht auf dem Lande (Christmas in the Country), a funny Singspiel by Johann Baptist Schenk, premiered on December 14, 1786, in Vienna.
19th Century
- El turrón de Nochebuena (The Turrón of Christmas Eve), a zarzuela by Cristóbal Oudrid, premiered on December 24, 1847, in Madrid.
- La nuit de Noël, ou L'anniversaire (Christmas Night, or The Anniversary), by Henri Reber, premiered on February 9, 1848, in Paris. It's a comic opera about a couple who argue a lot.
- Vakula the Smith, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, premiered on December 6, 1876. It's based on Gogol's story "Christmas Eve".
- Cherevichki (also known as The Tsarina's Slippers) is Tchaikovsky's updated version of Vakula the Smith. It premiered on January 9, 1887.
- Christmas Eve, by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, premiered on December 10, 1895. It's also based on Gogol's "Christmas Eve" story.
20th Century
- Ein Weihnachtsmärchenspiel (A Christmas Fairy Tale), by Sigwart zu Eulenburg, premiered on December 22, 1900, in Hamburg.
- Yolka (The Christmas Tree), a children's opera by Vladimir Rebikov, premiered in 1903 in Russia. It's based on Dostoevsky's story "A Christmas Tree and a Wedding".
- In Knecht Ruprechts Werkstatt (In Knecht Ruprecht's Workshop), by Wilhelm Kienzl, premiered on December 25, 1907, in Austria.
- Les cadeaux de Noël (The Christmas Gifts), by Xavier Leroux, premiered on December 25, 1915, in Paris.
- Das Christ-Elflein (Christ's Little Elf), by Hans Pfitzner, premiered on December 11, 1917, in Dresden.
- The Christmas Rose, by Frank Bridge, was first performed on December 8, 1931, in London.
- Amahl and the Night Visitors, by Gian Carlo Menotti, premiered on December 24, 1951, as a live TV show. It was the first opera made especially for American television.
- A Christmas Carol, by Bernard Herrmann, premiered on December 23, 1954, on TV. It was based on Charles Dickens's famous book.
- Das lange Weihnachtsmahl, by Paul Hindemith, premiered on December 17, 1962, in Germany. It's based on a play by Thornton Wilder.
- A Christmas Carol, by Thea Musgrave, premiered on December 7, 1979. It was also based on Dickens's A Christmas Carol.
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- Jesličky svatého Františka (The Nativity Scene of Saint Francis), by Pavel Helebrand, was first performed on December 12, 1996, in Ostrava, Czech Republic. It's based on the writings of Saint Francis.
- Gift of the Magi, by David Conte, premiered on December 7, 1997. It's based on O. Henry's short story "The Gift of the Magi".
21st Century
- El Niño, by John Adams, premiered on December 15, 2000, in Paris. It combines Bible stories with poems.
- God Bless Us, Every One!, by Thomas Pasatieri, premiered on December 16, 2010. Its title comes from the end of Dickens's A Christmas Carol. The story continues 20 years after Dickens's book.
- Silent Night, by Kevin Puts, premiered on November 12, 2011. It's based on the 2005 movie Joyeux Noël about the Christmas truce in World War I. This opera won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2012.
- A Christmas Carol, by Iain Bell, premiered on December 5, 2014. It's a short opera for one singer who plays many characters from Dickens's story.
- Becoming Santa Claus, by Mark Adamo, premiered on December 4, 2015, in Dallas.
- It's a Wonderful Life, by Jake Heggie, premiered on December 2, 2016. It's based on the classic 1946 Christmas movie.
- The House Without a Christmas Tree, by Ricky Ian Gordon, premiered on November 30, 2017. It's based on a TV film and book.
See also
- Gilbert and Sullivan's operas The Sorcerer and Thespis, which were originally staged as Christmas entertainments but whose plots have nothing to do with Christmas itself.
- Berlioz's L'enfance du Christ (The Childhood of Christ) which premiered on December 10, 1854, and is often performed at Christmas time. Although composed as an oratorio (a concert piece) and intended for concert performance, its story has many dramatic parts like an opera. It has sometimes been performed on stage, especially in 1911 in Brussels.
