Menotti's simple one-act opera about a Three Kings stopover on their way to meet the Christ Child is widely beloved, family-level funny, and tidily offers a clear moral message. No surprises, there. But when some established opera reviewers began to mark its libretto as one of the finest of all time, my dubious eyebrow took note.

Best libretto?  To be sure, I have many nostalgic memories of this work, having served as a percussionist for an annual local performance for several years. Watching a local youth master the timing of the show's humor, hearing Balthazar sing about his treasured box, always seeking more complexity of motive in the mother's thievery--all these are firmly lodged in memory along with the often stretched and yearning melodies and harmonies.

So I recently read the libretto again. Yes, the story is fairly easy to follow for any child above the age of, say, six. But there is little here that is what might be called poetic or nuanced, layered or enlightening. The closest the story comes to a more mature theme is the Mother's decision to take some of the gold intended for the Boy-King, a choice immediately reversed after she is caught and her son assaults the kings who attempt to stop her. Drawn to the promise of a divine change in the world, Amahl and Mother want to offer gifts themselves. Finally, after a miracle, the boy leaves with the kings on their journey.  So, when the poor themselves wish to give away their earthly possessions, the faith is true. It's a fine enough--if predictable--narrative moment, but I would hardly mark it up there in dramatic enlightenment with Parcifal or even Rent.

None of this is meant to disparage Menotti's work. I think what makes this opera work best is neither its reading or its staging alone, but the combination of this, of course, with its fine musical composition. Menotti did all of it, and he intended it to be experienced as a single performance. For that, I admire the show, enhanced more by my own nostalgia. Just don't look here for a fabulous libretto.