Little brother, dance with me,
Take both my hands.
Once this way, once that way,
Round and round it’s not hard.(Brüderlein, komm tanz mit mir,
Beide Hände reich ich dir,
Einmal hin, einmal her,
rundherum, das ist nicht schwer.)－ Germany folk music 《Little Brother Dance with Me》 (Brüderlein, komm tanz mit mir)
Discover the handpicked quarantine theatre schedule.
1893, directed by Richard Strauss, Engelbert Humperdinck’s fairytale opera “Hänsel Und Gretel” had made a success in Germany.
This is an opera in 3 acts that Humperdinck and his sister, Adelheid Wette, adopted from the story of Brother Grimm, “Hänsel Und Gretel”, or “The Candy House”. Even though the content is slightly different from the original work, the opera had made this fairytale well known by the world.
The apprentice of Wilhelm Richard Wagner. 》
Although, several arias in “Hänsel Und Gretel” were adopted from German folk music, Humperdinck was deeply influenced by Wagner during his apprenticeship with him. In “Hänsel Und Gretel”, there is no intermission between the acts. With the intermezzos, the audience will experience continuous feelings and music throughout the opera.
The other notable character that could show how Wagner impacted Humperdinck, is that Humperdinck also used preludes to indicate what will be happening soon. At the beginning of Act II, Humperdinck created a prelude to tell the story of how the wicked witch is haunting the forest and eating the lost children; by that time, Hänsel and Gretel had just gone to the forest searching for the raspberries when the witch hasn’t even shown up.
A horrifying and comedic witch. 》
The wicked witch in “Hänsel Und Gretel” is a sweet tooth; yet, she is not sweet by heart at all.
Monika Bohinec‘s witch is a successful performance. Although she is singing the comedic melodies, she spells a devilish atmosphere for me in front of the TV, which is not only because of the apron that is splashed with terrifying blood handprints of the children who are cooked and eaten.
Monika’s facial expression tells an obsessive witch. Her performance reminds me of those creepy characters from some movies and series: characters with hidden mania pretend to be sweet and friendly with the smile or words. What’s even worse, is that they don’t even think that their behaviour is horrible and problematic.
Wait,
why do I feel so familiar with this kind of person that I just described?
Ah,
Joe, from “YOU”.
A Märchenoper created to bring the adult back to their childhood memory. 》
Märchenoper, which means a fairytale opera, is what Humperdinck’s “Hänsel Und Gretel” is. It was initially composed to let children enjoy the beauty of the opera as the adults do; hence, the arias are easier to understand than the grand operas.
However, since Hänsel and Gretel sing in almost the whole opera and they are the ones carrying the performance. Considering the quality of the opera, the moral issue of teaching the acting for the new auditioned singers and the parents who accompany their children to watch this opera, Hänsel and Gretel are still performed by the adults.
Well, if the adults couldn’t enjoy it, how would they want to bring their kids to watch this opera, right?
Therefore, “Hänsel Und Gretel” is an opera that can also encourage the grownups to go back to their childhood fantasy.
As for my part, I especially admire the stage design by Anthony Ward. There weren’t many transitions in this opera; instead, they use different light colours and silhouettes to create various tones of voice. I feel like watching a wonderful popup illustration book.
Without any doubt, Wiener Staatsoper’s “Hänsel Und Gretel” is a magical piece of work.
