It's not a very trendy thing to do, but I want to wish happy 50th birthday to "Amahl and the Night Visitors." It was first performed on TV, Christmas Eve, 1951. I caught up with it later (no TV or capitalist opera in Budapest) while it was still an annual tradition, and - blush - I became very fond of it. Menotti, 90, was interviewed on NPR today on the occasion. Janos Gereben/SF [log in to unmask]