Classical MPR’s Mindy Ratner talks with 11-year-old Nathaniel Irvin of Maple Grove , who has the the title role in Gian Carlo Menotti’s “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” performed by the Minnesota Orchestra with the James Sewell Ballet.
Written for television in 1951, the opera has become a modern Christmas classic. It tells the story of a young boy who encounters the three kings on their way to Bethlehem.
[JOYFUL MUSIC] HOST: Tonight, the Minnesota Orchestra performs Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti. Written for television in 1951, the opera has become a modern Christmas classic. It tells the story of a young boy who encounters the Three Kings on their way to Bethlehem.
11-year-old soprano Nathaniel Irvin sings the title role. Despite his age, the sixth grader from Cedar Island Elementary School in Osseo is already a veteran performer. He sang in the Guthrie production of Merrily We Roll Along. He performed an Aaron Jay Kernis work, "Garden of Light," with the Minnesota Orchestra in September. And in the spring he'll play the Little Prince in the world premiere of a Houston Grand Opera production based on Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's novel. Irvin told Minnesota Public Radio classical music host Mindy Ratner that Amahl changes as the story progresses.
NATHANIEL IRVIN: I think he's special, even in the beginning, where he always is telling these lies and stuff. And so he's got like a feisty side to him. And he's always lying and, oh, mom, I don't like this. But then he's got this other side that's really sweet and just wants to make everybody happy and all that.
MINDY RATNER: And maybe he's not really a liar. Maybe he's just a kid with an exceptionally active imagination.
NATHANIEL IRVIN: Yeah, maybe. Like me!
[LAUGHS]
No, I'm joking.
MINDY RATNER: How do your classmates view you?
NATHANIEL IRVIN: Well, they think I'm kind of weird because I sing. And they say, you sing like a girl. Well, yeah.
And then I go through the whole thing. Well, a violin is smaller than a bass, and a bass plays lower than a violin, and my vocal chords are smaller. And then when I get older, they'll get longer like a bass.
And they just-- they look at me and they're like, oh, my gosh, he's weird. He sings and he's-- they're like, oh, you get to leave school just because you're going to sing? You get paid just because you're singing?
MINDY RATNER: Does that bother you?
NATHANIEL IRVIN: No, not really because I have a group of five or six friends who really-- they really do appreciate it. And they're like, this is what he wants to do so I'm not going to bug him about it. And so they're just really there for me.
And I'll be outside and I'll sing at recess. I won't even know it, but I'll just sing. And then all of a sudden they'll be like, you're singing again.
And I'll be like, oh, I'm sorry. They're like, no, it's all right. Keep on doing it.
MINDY RATNER: Let's talk a little bit, if you will, about the big news that has just come down about you. And that is that you are going to, as they used to say, create the title role of the Little Prince with the Houston Grand Opera. That's coming up pretty soon, isn't it?
NATHANIEL IRVIN: Yeah. And I get to-- because they said that they want everything to look like the illustrations in the book. So I have to dye my hair blonde.
And it's going to be fun. I'm not mad about it or anything. I think it'll be fun to see where I am as a blonde, but yeah.
And I get to fly. It's going to be really fun. I get to fly. I get to go on a harness and fly around the stage.
This should be probably pretty difficult music for me. The thing that I did for my audition wasn't that hard. But it's by Rachel Portman, so it might be kind of difficult.
MINDY RATNER: Are you familiar with her music?
NATHANIEL IRVIN: Yeah, she's been nominated for Oscars for The Cider House Rules and Chocolat. And then she won the Academy Award for Emma, her new thing.
MINDY RATNER: So how does that feel to do music by a really famous living composer?
NATHANIEL IRVIN: It should be fun. It's just like Aaron Jay Kernis when I know that since-- like, when you sing a piece that the person's dead, they're not going to be there, which if you do something, they're going to be there and they're going to watch. And they're going to take notes.
And I'm sure that I'm going to sing and they'll be like, oh, that's great just like Aaron did. And then but yee bee-zhu bee-zhu bee and then have this long list. And I think it's good for the singer to know because it's just you need to know. And I think it's going to be fun to say, oh, yeah, I did a piece by this person and I got to meet this person. And it's fun.
HOST: 11-year-old soprano Nathaniel Irvin sings the lead role in Amahl and the Night Visitors tonight with the Minnesota Orchestra. There will be two more performances on Sunday. He spoke with Minnesota Public Radio classical music host Mindy Ratner.
[JOYFUL MUSIC]
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