Hänsel und Gretel

The combination of German folk songs with refined Wagnerian orchestration resulted in a masterly formula for establishing Hansel and Gretel, one of the first Märchenopers or classic fairy tale operas of the nineteenth century, among the most widely performed of the lyrical repertoire. Brought to the stage in 1893 in Weimar by Richard Strauss, who called it “a masterpiece of eminent quality, original in everything, new and authentically German”, this sweetened version of the tale by the Brothers Grimm, which Humperdinck composed at the urging of his sister, who wrote the libretto, very quickly won over the audience.

It was the first to be broadcasted in its entirety on the radio from Covent Garden and pioneering also in that it was transmitted live from the Met. The two clever brothers, the gingerbread children, the Sleep Fairy, the witch and the house of marzipan and chocolate return on this occasion through Laurent Pelly as stage director and costume designer and the set designs of Barbara de Limburg, in a production of the Glyndebourne Festival.