The Italian-American Giancarlo Menotti was inspired by Hieronymus Bosch’s famous painting The Adoration of the Magi when he wrote his instant-hit chamber opera for Christmas, Amahl and the Night Visitors.

It tells of the Three Kings on their way to Bethlehem, getting sidetracked at the home of a young beggar boy Amahl and his mother. The wonder of the Christmas season, the earthiness of the nativity story and Menotti’s gift for storytelling combine in this charming theatre piece for children and adults, that has lost none of its freshness since it was first performed on US television in 1951.

In collaboration with the Bergen National Opera, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra is joined by conductor Gunvald Ottesen and singers young and old for a production of the opera by Victoria Bomann-Larsen just in time for Christmas. Let yourself and your family be transfixed by the story of Amahl and his Christmas gift greater than any other.