Sweet nothings: a disappointing Hänsel und Gretel

By Hugo Shirley, 09 December 2017

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“Freyer’s staging sapped just about everything from Humperdinck’s joyous, life-enhancing work”

Reviewed at Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin on 8 December 2017

Humperdinck, Hänsel und Gretel

Staatsoper Berlin

Sebastian Weigle, Conductor

Vinzenz Weissenburger, Conductor

Achim Freyer, Director, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Roman Trekel, Peter / Father

Marina Prudenskaya, Gertrude / Mother

Katrin Wundsam, Hänsel

Elsa Dreisig, Gretel

Stephan Rügamer, Witch

Sarah Aristidou, Dew Fairy

Corinna Scheurle, Sandman

Sebastian Alphons, Lighting Designer

Hugo Reis, Video

Jakob Klaffs, Video

Larissa Wieczorek, Dramaturgy

Elena Garcia-Fernandez, Dramaturgy

Kinderchor der Staatsoper Berlin

Staatskapelle Berlin

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***11

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*****

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The Staatsoper's new production of Janáček's opera buzzes with life thanks to Sir Simon Rattle's conducting and an excellent cast led by Vera-Lotte Boecker and Magdalena Kožená.

****1

Pintscher’s Das kalte Herz premieres at Staatsoper Unter den Linden

Elena Luporini, 14th January

On a snowy January evening, the premiere of Matthias Pintscher’s new opera Das kalte Herz fails to warm up the Berlin public.

**111

Happy 100th birthday, Wozzeck! Thielemann leads Berlin revival

Elena Luporini, 14th December

The Staatsoper Unter den Linden celebrates the 100th birthday of Alban Berg's masterpiece with a stellar cast in Andrea Breth’s revived production.

***11

Low on laughs: Die schweigsame Frau in Berlin

Elena Luporini, 19th July

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Hugo Shirley

Hugo Shirley is a Berlin-based writer and musicologist. He has written widely as a critic in the UK, including for The Spectator, the Financial Times and Daily Telegraph, and has held editorial posts at both Opera and Gramophone. He was editor of 30-Second Opera (Ivy Press, 2015) and has a PhD in musicology from King's College London, where his thesis focused on Strauss and Hofmannsthal’s Die Frau ohne Schatten.

Sweet nothings: a disappointing new Hänsel und Gretel at the Staatsoper Berlin