Hansel and Gretel

Engelbert Humperdinck (1854 – 1921)

23
Saturday
December
18:00 - 20:00
B-Prices: € 86,00 / € 66,00 / € 44,00 / € 26,00 / € 20,00
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Information about the work

Opera by Engelbert Humperdinck
Libretto by Adelheid Wette
First performed on 23rd December, 1893 in Weimar
Premiered at the Deutsche Oper Berlin on 13th December, 1997

2 hrs / 1 interval

In German with German and English surtitles

Pre-performance lecture (in German): 45 minutes prior to each performance

recommended from 8 years
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Cast
Our thanks to our partners

Kindly supported by Förderkreis der Deutschen Oper Berlin e. V. The children's chorus is sponsored by Dobolino e.V.

23
Saturday
December
18:00 - 20:00
B-Prices: € 86,00 / € 66,00 / € 44,00 / € 26,00 / € 20,00
Buy tickets
Cast
the content

About the work
Hansel and Gretel, children of a poor broom maker and his wife, are sent into the woods one day by their mother to pick berries – as punishment for larking around instead of doing their chores. When their father arrives home bearing a bag full of treats after a successful working day, he berates his wife, because the woods are home to an evil witch. The parents set off to look for the kids, who have meanwhile filled their baskets but then eaten all the berries themselves out of sheer hunger. They also realise darkness has fallen and they’re lost, so they lie down for the night and say their prayers, falling asleep and having a strange and wonderful dream. In the morning they wake to see a cottage made of gingerbread and other sweetmeats. Nibbling at the house, they are surprised by the witch, who takes them captive, planning to bake the children in her oven. Instead, they play a trick on her and push her into her own oven. The spell is broken and all the children who had been transformed into gingerbread by the witch regain their human form. The pair’s parents appear and the reunited family returns home.

For over a century Engelbert Humperdinck’s HANSEL AND GRETEL has enjoyed a reputation as one of the most popular operas for all the family. Humperdinck could not resist rendering the story – a dramatic tale for children and adults alike – as a piece of musical theatre, a two-hour symphonic masterpiece peppered with hummable tunes. Translated into over twenty languages, the work remains the first contact for many children with the world of opera. The score does not conceal its debt to Wagner but does not rely on his aura in attracting the uninitiated either. Evergreen numbers of the likes of “Ein Männlein steht im Walde”, “Abends wenn ich schlafen geh’, vierzehn Englein um mich stehn” or “Der kleine Sandmann bin ich” guide audiences through the exposition and remain lodged in the memory long after the auditorium has emptied.


About the production
Andreas Homoki and set designer Wolfgang Gussmann take a linear, child-friendly approach to the story, bringing a levity and poetic imagery to the opulent music that are best exemplified in the nocturnal woodland scenes. There is no shortage of excitement and spine-chilling moments, and the dramatic appearance of the witch, eagerly awaited by younger audience members in particular, includes a humorous touch. Children aged 8 and upwards can enjoy Humperdinck’s tale of good triumphing over evil, in which Gretel und Hansel, by virtue of pluck and imagination, free not only themselves but all the other kids from the clutches of the witch.

“Director Andreas Homoki is not about to exploit the opera to make precious psychological points or send ideological messages. He just wants to mount a musical play for kids. And that’s what he sets about doing – intelligently and playfully …” [DeutschlandRadio Köln]

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10
DEC

Adventsverlosung: Das 10. Fensterchen

Before Tobias Kratzer's third production of INTERMEZZO premieres on our stage in April 2024, you can win his debut production for your home DVD collection in today's Advent calendar: Alexander von Zemlinsky's DER ZWERG.

In today's Advent calendar window, we are giving away two DVDs of the Naxos recording of Alexander von Zemlinsky's opera DER ZWERG, which was nominated for the GRAMMY in the "Best Opera Recording" category and is one of the most successful new DVD productions of recent years. If you would like to take part in the prize draw, please send an e-mail today to advent@deutscheoperberlin.de with the subject line "The 10th window".

A vain, superficial princess - a dwarf artist: the protagonists could hardly be more different, but the story only becomes a tragedy when the dwarf, unaware of his appearance, misinterprets the mockery of court society as a sign of honour and the princess's coquetry as proof of love. When he finally recognises himself in the mirror, he cannot escape the glances of the others - and collapses dead. This fairy tale about an outsider has had biographical parallels in mind since its premiere: Zemlinsky was small and rather slight in stature and suffered from his brief but passionate affair with Alma Schindler for the rest of his life. A quarter of a century of trauma management passed between the liaison in Vienna and the first performance in Cologne, during which the once renowned artist gradually found himself sidelined: too avant-garde for the traditionalists, too traditional for the avant-garde ... Experience David Butt Philip, Mick Morris Mehnert, Elena Tsallagova and Emily Magee in the main roles under the musical direction of Sir Donald Runnicles in a production by Tobias Kratzer.

We would like to thank the Naxos label for the great collaboration of recent years, which - in addition to Zemlinsky's DER ZWERG - has documented recordings of DAS WUNDER DER HELIANE, FRANCESCA DA RIMINI, DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN, DER SCHATZGRÄBER and DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG, as well as ARABELLA and ANTIKRIST in the course of 2024.

Closing date: 10 December 2023, the winners will be informed by email on 11 December 2023. The DVDs will then be sent by post. Legal recourse is excluded.