Silent Night to air on PBS

Liam Bonner in Silent Night

The barihunk-laden production of Kevin Puts’ Silent Night from the Minnesota Opera will be broadcast nationally on PBS on Friday, December 13 at 9pm ET (check local listings). The opera was the first commission of Minnesota Opera’s New Works Initiative, a landmark program designed to invigorate the operatic repertoire with an infusion of contemporary works.

The Minnesota Opera presented the world premiere of Silent Night in November 2011 with a cast that included barihunks Craig Irvin as Lieutenant Horstmayer, Gabriel Preisser as Lieutenant Gordon,  Mike Nyby as William Dale, Liam Bonner as Lieutenant Audebert, Troy Cook as Father Palmer, Joseph Beutel as the British Major, Ben Wager as the General and Andrew Wilkowske as Ponchel.

Silent Night is conducted by Minnesota Opera’s Music Director Michael Christie and staged by Academy Award-winning director Eric Simonson. The opera was recently honored with a regional Emmy nomination.

Quartet from Silent Night:

Silent Night was co-produced with Opera Philadelphia, who presented the work in February of this year. It now travels to the Fort Worth Opera Festival on May 4 and 10 with barihunks Dan Kempson, Craig Irvin and Morgan Smith.

The opera is based on the screenplay Joyeux Noël by Christian Carion and recounts a miraculous moment of peace during one of the bloodiest wars in human history. On WWI’s western front, Scottish, French and German officers defy their superiors and negotiate a Christmas Eve truce. Enemies become brothers as they share Christmas and bury their dead.
 
You can listen to the entire opera online at composer Kevin Puts' website.