Hänsel und Gretel in a classic Volksoper production

By Snapdragon, 12 December 2012

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Reviewed at Volksoper Wien, Vienna on 9 December 2012

Humperdinck, Hänsel und Gretel

Volksoper Wien

Karl Dönch, Director

Guido Mancusi, Conductor

Gertrud Ottenthal, Gertrude / Mother

Sebastian Holecek, Peter / Father

Elvira Soukop, Hänsel

Anja-Nina Bahrmann, Gretel

Kurt Schreibmayer, Witch

Claudia Goebl, Sandman

Sera Goesch, Dew Fairy

An empty glitter bomb: Aschenbrödels Traum at the Volksoper Wien

Chanda VanderHart, 4th December

A dizzying premise from Martina Eisenreich and Axel Ranisch, loosely drawing on Johann Strauss II’s unfinished ballet Aschenbrödel, which tries to be everything, all at once.

***11

Death, interrupted: KaiserRequiem moves at the Volksoper

Chanda VanderHart, 25th January

Omer Meir Wellber’s Mozart-Ullmann mash-up sounds like a terrible idea, but absolutely hits the mark.

****1

Paging Dr Freud! Iolanta and the Nutcracker at the Volksoper Wien

Mark Pullinger, 5th December

When is The Nutcracker not The Nutcracker? When's it's mashed together with Tchaikovsky's Iolanta to represent the blind princess’ inner world in a dark interpretation.

****1

Ella Milch-Sheriff’s Alma emerges as a dark triumph at the Volksoper

Chanda VanderHart, 31st October

A haunting, musically compelling impression of a woman whose life was shaped by creation, loss, and unfulfilled thirst for personal expression.

****1

Femicide! A controversial Carmen from Lotte de Beer at the Volksoper

Chanda VanderHart, 6th October

Lotte de Beer’s new retelling at the Volksoper reintroduces the element of shock into Bizet's popular opera.

****1

The subconscious at play: Lady in the Dark at the Volksoper

Chanda VanderHart, 18th December

Kurt Weill's musical, with its focus on psychoanalysis, makes its Austrian premiere in the city of Sigmund Freud.

****1

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Snapdragon

Snapdragon is an experienced concert- and opera-goer in Vienna and other music metropoles. Musical emphases include opera (especially Baroque opera) and piano music. As an Austrian native, Snapdragon can’t resist an operetta every now and then.