Engelbert Humperdinck - Hänsel & Gretel (Wien 2015) (2015)

Since its premiere in 1893, Engelbert Humperdinck's fairytale opera »Hansel and Gretel« has awakened a passion for music theatre in generations of children. Even his great contemporaries – such as Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler or Johannes Brahms – were delighted by this work. It is the successful combination of seemingly folkloric simplicity and the complex musical language of Wagner’s direct successor, of simple melody and artful orchestration, and of socio-critical realism and atmospheric magic that makes the music to the Brothers Grimm’s famous story so captivating. And so the Vienna State Opera's production speaks to both children and adults alike, leading through wondrous projections of a magic lantern into the middle of the fairytale storyline.