Part of the reason for the enormous, and continuing, popularity of Hansel and Gretel lies in its irresistible combination of the children’s naïve, folk-song-like music with the drama and power of a Wagnerian orchestra. The libretto by the composer’s sister considerably softens the hard edges and even terror that are found in the original fairy tale as told by the Brothers Grimm. But Humperdinck’s orchestra conveys a sense of darkness and mystery that saves the opera from being too cute.
“We’re taking a somewhat dark approach to the opera,” says Edward Berkeley, director of Aspen Opera Theater Center. “We’re setting it in post-Katrina New Orleans, so the world Hansel and Gretel are living in is a sort of uninhabitable world. The frustrations of the mother and father trying to survive, the struggle to survive for any of them, is beyond the pale.
Full Story »
