April 25, 2024
Review
Holy Night: an opera in three scenes and an epilogue
"The two operas Della's Gift and Holy Night offer us intimate examinations of that difficulty (of sustaining real love) from either side of a century's divide, in a meager fifth avenue apartment in 1905, and the same apartment, much refurbished, today... In both, the Christmas setting exposes how we sometimes need to make a statement of our love through gift or action at that time of year, how we have twisted the holiday from an occasion for offering some part of ourselves to one when we have to prove something of our love with a gift. Ultimately, both Della's Gift and Holy Night show us a way beyond that, to forgiveness and the shedding of self that allows lovers to unite. In this expression of the meaning of true love, these lovely new operas merge together; two become one."


Austin Chronicle
Robert Faires