Berlioz L’Enfance du Christ (The Childhood of Christ)

NMSC & OSW: Berlioz L’Enfance du Christ (The Childhood of Christ)
Sunday, November 15, 2026
2:00 pm

NHCC | Albuquerque Journal Theatre

Opera Southwest Presents: The New Mexico Symphonic Chorus with the Opera Southwest Orchestra

In 1850, Berlioz slipped a gentle chorus into a Paris concert and credited it to “Pierre Ducré,” a 17th-century church composer he’d invented outright. Parisians who couldn’t stand his music were charmed: one declared that “Berlioz could never write a tune so beautiful”. He spent the next four years building a full oratorio around that little piece: L’Enfance du Christ, tracing the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt across three parts and ninety minutes. Most people know only its one famous excerpt, “The Shepherds’ Farewell”; the complete work is rarely performed, which makes hearing the whole of it a real occasion.

Featuring John Tiranno, Javier Ortiz, Cecilia Violetta López, and Ashraf Sewailam, conducted by Zoe Zeniodi.

Sung in French

$23, $39, $54, $69, & $87 with discounts anyone 30 years old and younger and Opera for All with a WIC or EBT card. (Opera for All tickets are limited to 2 per ID and must be purchased at the NHCC box office by calling 505-724-4771 or in person.)