HÄNSEL UND GRETEL, MÄRCHENOPER & FOLK MUSIC

Today, The Grandma continues relaxing at home. She has been listening to one of her favourite operas, Hänsel und Gretel, the masterpiece composed but Engelbert Humperdinck that was first performed on a day like today in 1893.

Hansel and Gretel, in German Hänsel und Gretel, is an opera by nineteenth-century composer Engelbert Humperdinck, who described it as a Märchenoper, a fairy-tale opera.

The libretto was written by Humperdinck's sister, Adelheid Wette, based on the Grimm brothers' fairy tale Hansel and Gretel. It is much admired for its folk music-inspired themes, one of the most famous being the Abendsegen or Evening Benediction from act 2.

The idea for the opera was proposed to Humperdinck by his sister, who approached him about writing music for songs that she had written for her children for Christmas based on Hansel and Gretel. After several revisions, the musical sketches and the songs were turned into a full-scale opera.

Humperdinck composed Hansel and Gretel in Frankfurt in 1891 and 1892.

The opera was first performed in the Hoftheater in Weimar on 23 December 1893, conducted by Richard Strauss. It has been associated with Christmas since its earliest performances, and today it is still most often performed at Christmastime.

Hansel and Gretel was first conducted in Weimar by Richard Strauss in 1893, followed by its Hamburg premiere on 25 September 1894, conducted by Gustav Mahler.

Its first performance outside Germany was in Basel, Switzerland, on 16 November 1894.

The first performance in England was in London on 26 December 1894, at Daly's Theatre and its first United States performance was on 8 October 1895 in New York.

The first performance in Australia was on 6 April 1907, at the Princess Theatre, Melbourne.

In English-speaking countries, Hansel and Gretel is most often performed in English. The long-time standard English translation was by Constance Bache. In the United States, the opera was often performed in a translation by Norman Kelley written for the Metropolitan Opera's 1967 production by Nathaniel Merrill and Robert O'Hearn.

In 1987 a darkly comic new production with English translation by David Pountney was created for the English National Opera in London. Since 2007, the Met has performed the work in a production originally created for the Welsh National Opera using Pountney's translation.

More information: All That Is Interesting

Opera is the ultimate art form.
It has singing and music and drama
and dance and emotion and story.

Diane Paulus