Friday, December 7, 2007

One of my absolute favorite memories from childhood



Amahl and the Night Visitors -- we listened to it every Christmas as we decorated the tree. I must have been about 3rd grade when I was allowed to take the record out of its sleeve, and carefully place it on the record player in the large console in our living room. It felt like a huge responsibility and honor. I would try to dance to the music, only to make the record skip. I don't know how young I was when I was able to sing many of the words. My mother somehow hit all of those high notes. I can't remember if my sisters sang too, but I'm sure they did.

I would giggle at the boy's questions of the kings and I loved the deaf King ("eh??"). I loved the painting on the record cover, Madonna and child. I loved the words of the young child -- it made sense to me. "mother, mother, mother come with me, I want to be sure that you see what I see"..."this is my box"... "Don't you dare ugly man, hurt my mother" ... "there is a king with a crown" ... "what did I tell you"... Oh I could go on and on but soon my hands would type the entire opera.

Last year, I found a record, the original version, at Goodwill. It was $1. I nearly cried right there in the store. I literally put everything down and hugged it to my chest.

Now, on a cold, quiet night, I have found the original telecast of the opera, thanks to YouTube. I can tell it is the original, and that it is the same cast that recorded the record I listened to as a child, now the same version I am sharing with my children.

The video below is long, but take just a moment, fast forward past the interviews at the beginning, and listen to just a few minutes of one of my favorite memories from childhood.
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Props to you for having the patience to rummage through all the "stuff" at good will and find such a cool treasure!

December 11, 2007 at 10:37 PM

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