Silent Night

Following his smash-hit company debut with The Hours, composer Kevin Puts returns to the Met with his Pulitzer Prize–winning first opera, inspired by the true events of the 1914 Christmas truce, when soldiers spontaneously set aside the horrors of the First World War and crossed the trenches to mingle, exchange gifts, and sing carols with the enemy. A poignant depiction of shared humanity in the most inhumane circumstances, Puts’s grand, cinematic opera—with a libretto by Mark Campbell based on the film Joyeux Noël—has been widely acclaimed since its 2011 premiere, hailed as “an overwhelming emotive experience” by The Guardian. Silent Night receives an evocative staging by James Robinson that takes the audience directly to the battlefields of the Western Front. The star-studded cast, featuring soprano Elza van den Heever and tenors Ben Bliss and Rolando Villazón, among many others, is conducted by debuting maestro Dalia Stasevska.

Please note that video cameras will be in operation during the March 16 and 20 performances, as part of The Met: Live in HD series of cinema transmissions.

Music by Kevin Puts
Libretto by Mark Campbell

Based on the screenplay for Joyeux Noël by Christian Carion for the motion picture produced by Nord-Ouest Productions

Production a gift of Alexa and Michael Chae

The Met gratefully acknowledges the support of the Laidlaw Opera Trust

Silent Night is part of the Neubauer Family Foundation New Works Initiative

A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera and Houston Grand Opera