A 1910 painting of Hans Pfitzner.

Who’s in the mood for a Christmas opera? It’s a strange question because there aren’t any Christmas operas, are there? Yes, yes there is. There are several Christmas operas. Ok. There are a handful of Christmas operas.

First, there are the Die Hard Christmas operas. These operas, set during Christmas, don’t really have anything to do with Christmas. The obvious one is La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini. The first and second acts are set on Christmas Eve. The other Die Hard Christmas Opera is Paul Bunyan by Benjamin Britten. This opera concludes with a Christmas party. Good luck trying to get to the end. I find Paul Bunyan to be an insufferable opera.

There are three straight-up Christmas operas. It’s a Wonderful Life by Jake Heggie, El Niño by John Adams, and Das Christelflein by Hans Pfitzner. They are diverse.

I listened to the opening scene of It’s a Wonderful Life as that’s the only section of the opera that is available. I tend to be a Jake Heggie fan but this wasn’t working for me. In this version, Clarence the angel is now Clara the angel which creates some vocal variety.

El Nino is available on YouTube and if you like the style of John Adams you might enjoy his Christmas creation. I, myself, do like John Adams but not for Christmas.

My favorite, of course, was Pfitzner’s Das Chrstenlfein. The story is hard to find but there is a nice summary of the plot on the personal blog of a singer who performed an English version of the opera.

Elfein is not one of Santa’s elves but rather a forest elf who is curious about the human traditions of Christmas. Tannengreis, the spirit of an old tree, warns Elfein regarding humans. Humans cut trees down for Christmas after all.

A brother and sister come through the woods on their way to the doctor because the sister, Trautchen, is very sick. Some of their servants also show up with the task of chopping down a Christmas tree. A living version of the Christ Child also arrives and promises to bring a tree to Trautchen.

The opera concludes with the Christ Child arriving at Trautchen’s home with the tree but also with the news that he must now take her to heaven, her time has come. Elfein is moved to pity and asks if he can take Trautchen’s place. The Christ Child agrees. Trautchen lives. Tannengreis, the tree spirit, is reconciled to humankind and Tratchen’s brother regains his faith. Elfein is allowed to return to earth to visit every year on Christmas and his new name is Christelfein––Christ’s Elf. The story is told with a narrator.

Pfitzner’s music is in my wheelhouse. It is post-romantic and pre-The Right of Spring. It is full of beauty and splendor. The final chorus is all anyone could ask for.

I plan to listen to it repeatedly over the coming days because why not? Is it the greatest music ever written? It’s not even close but it is charming and atmospheric and feels like Christmas.