Samuel Chotzinoff, music director at NBC, commissioned Menotti to compose an opera for television broadcast at Christmas time in 1951. (In 1939, Chotzinoff had commissioned from Menotti The Old Maid and the Thief.) The first opera written for television, Amahl and the Night Visitors has become the most frequently performed opera of all time, with over 500 performances annually across the world.

Menotti's inspiration for Amahl and the Night Visitors sprang both from his own childhood and from his viewing of Hieronymous Bosch's The Adoration of the Magi at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. In Italy, children receive gifts not from Santa Claus, but from the Three Kings who in the New Testament visit the baby Jesus. After Menotti moved away from Italy, he forgot about the Three Kings concept until he saw the Bosch painting, began to hear music, and conceived the story. This happened in November 1951, and the opera was ready for broadcast on the evening of December 24, 1951. It was first performed on stage on February 21, 1952, directed by the composer.

Menotti has confessed that he "hardly thought of television at all" while composing Amahl and the Night Visitors: "As a matter of fact, all my operas are conceived for an ideal stage." Menotti's story focuses on Amahl, a young handicapped boy, and his mother, who are visited by three Kings—Balthazar, Melchior, and Kaspar—on their way to find Jesus. The Kings stay the night, during which Amahl's mother tries to steal some of the Kings' gold and is caught in the act. Melchior suggests that she keep the gold, because the child they are visiting will rule his kingdom with love, not riches. Amahl's mother gives back the gold, wishing she had something to give of her own. Amahl offers his crutch as a gift and suddenly is able to walk. He decides to follow the Kings so that he himself may give his crutch to the Christ child.

The inspirational story of Amahl and the Night Visitors is certainly one of the reasons for its unparalleled popularity. Just as important, however, are its brevity, its lack of scene changes, and the exploitation of its limited musical forces. In addition to strings, Menotti calls for two oboes and one each of flute, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, and horn. Percussion, harp, and piano round out the score. Diatonic and highly melodic, the music is continuous throughout, the text set according to the flow of spoken English. Portions of the work are often performed separately, particularly the pleasant Introduction, the March of the Kings as they approach Amahl's home, and the lively Shepherd's Dance.

Organized in "numbers," Amahl and the Night Visitors gives each principal a chance to shine, either in a solo or an ensemble. Examples are the "Good Night" duet for Amahl and his mother and Kaspar's "This is My Box." Humorous moments fill the score, some springing from Amahl's need to repeat everything he says to Kaspar because the King is hard of hearing—a characteristic suggested to Menotti by his brother's reminiscences of a costumed king of their boyhood in Italy.

© All Music Guide