Opera North

Inspired by a true story – as depicted in the 2005 film Joyeux Noël – Silent Night tells the story of the 1914 Christmas truce, when peace spontaneously broke out between French, German and Scottish troops in the trenches during the First World War. Lyrical, cinematic and expressive, the Pulitzer Prize-winning score by American composer Kevin Puts is combined with a multilingual libretto by Mark Campbell to create a richly textured, deeply affecting contemporary work.

German opera singer Nikolaus Sprink, now a soldier, is ordered to perform for the Crown Prince Wilhelm, behind the front line on Christmas Eve, 1914. Back at the front later that night, upon hearing some of the Scottish soldiers singing, Sprink responds with a rousing song, and raises a Christmas tree above the bunker. Yet the moment of hope and humanity that follows proves to be only a brief respite from the futility and horror of the War.