Jim and I attended one of the performances of the world premier opera, Silent Night, recounting the Christmas Eve truce of 1914 during World War I. "Based on Christian Carlon's screenplay for his 2005 film, "Joyeux Noel," it tells the parallel and eventually intersecting stories of opposing soldiers who step out of Belgian trenches to celebrate Christmas together in 1914." The Opera was spectacular and I have never been part of a more enthusiastic audience...anywhere, even at the Santa Fe Opera! The third performance which we saw was totally sold out, based upon well-deserved reviews. The composer, a very young and very handsome Kevin Puts, has created a sizeable body of works for orchestra, but this is his first opera. Mark Campbell, the librettist, is described as "one of the most in-demand librettist in opera today."
The lobby of the beautiful Ordway Center for the Performing Arts had show cases that displayed authentic uniforms and artifacts of the French, German, and British (Scottish troops) Armies of World War I.
Click here and here (this one is a fascinating article on Puts, the composer) to read reviews of "Silent Night" in one of our local newspapers. Read the background and fascinating account of the Christmas Truce here at firstworldwar.com.
