Press Room
BAROQUE CONCERTI
AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS
Constitution Records Opera Theatre is pleased to present a semi-staged concert performance of Gian Carlo Menotti’s Christmas themed opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, on Nov. 27 at 7:30 PM at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 5692 North Kendall Drive , Coral Gables. The performance will include a number of Miami based professional singers including and introducing boy soprano Joshua Safont as Amahl; Mezzo-soprano, Sarah Tsai; Bass-baritone, Johan Hartman; Tenor, Dale Kitchen and Baritone, Lovell Rose. Additional Miami based performers with long standing musical ties to Constitution Records include Dr. Eugene Greco, Choirmaster and Organist at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, piano and countertenor Edgar Sanfelice- Chorusmaster. The choreographer for the extended dance sequence is Miami-Dade College Professor Michelle Grant-Murray. The performance will include the Constitution Records Opera Theatre Orchestra and Chorus.
The purpose of this performance of Amahl and the Night Visitors is to bring the joy and wonder of opera back to South Florida residents and to mark a kind of emergence from the gloom and paucity of live performance of the past year and a half. Amahl is a wonderful work on many levels and at its heart it is a story of a Mother’s love for her only son and the faith universally engendered by the birth of Jesus Christ.
An important element of this performance is that Bass-baritone Johan Hartman will bring his extensive performance background in the opera to serve as Stage Director. He will also serve as vocal and dramatic coach for Josh Safont. Mr. Hartman impressed audiences and fellow performers with his talent when he sang the role of Amahl in Hartford, CT as an 11 and 12 year-old boy soprano in fully staged presentations with orchestra. Subsequently, and after a change of voice to a tenor, Mr. Hartman assumed the role of the Page. In later performances as a bass-baritone he also sang the role of Balthazar in performances at the New England Conservatory of Music where be obtained his undergraduate degree.
