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The genesis of this opera was unusual and more than a little fortuitous. Engelbert Humperdinck’s sister
wanted to put on a show for a family children’s party and hit on the idea of dramatizing the Grimm Brothers’
tale of H�nsel and Gretel. She asked her brother if he would write a little music for her project, and
he happily provided some musical numbers. The entertainment went off so well that the composer decided
to expand what he had written into a three-act opera.
He was fortunate also that he sent the completed score to Richard Strauss, who immediately recognized its
excellence. Strauss conducted the work’s premiere, and it vaulted instantly into fame; within a year there
was scarcely an opera house in the entire German-speaking world that had not performed it. The opera
was also produced in English in London, and the English company took their production across the
Atlantic to New York as early as October 1895.
Technically, the work is an intriguing construction according to Wagnerian music drama principles. There are
plenty of harmonic and orchestral devices inspired by Wagner, yet H�nsel und Gretel does not make an
impression of being at all Wagnerian in terms of solemnity, seriousness, or excessive length. The familiar tale
fits well with the musical universe originally developed by the colossus of the Ring cycle to represent a
supernatural world. Though the story is elaborated with a few additional characters, it is clearly
comprehensible even to young people with no prior exposure to opera. H�nsel und Gretel is regarded
as the leading children’s opera in the repertoire.
Sung in German. English libretto included.
Music Composed by
Engelbert Humperdinck
Played by the
Wiener Philharmoniker
With
Brigitte Fassbaender (H�nsel)
Lucia Popp (Gretel)
Walter Berry (Father)
Julia Hamari (Mother)
Anny Schlemm (The Witch)
And the
Wiener S�ngerknaben
Conducted by
Sir Georg Solti
"Notwithstanding a starry cast, this brightly lit reissue is Solti’s show, shared with a
Vienna Philharmonic at the top of its form. His is a weighty, Straussian performance
that takes seriously a work often relegated to the “children’s opera” category. Which
is to say that while rival versions may offer more charm, often to the work’s detriment,
Solti revels in its multitude of orchestral colors, aided by engineering that vividly
reproduces the orchestral contributions so the deep brass ring out with authority
and the strings, especially the warm cellos, sing with both delicacy and strength.
The singing, with the possible exception of Julia Hamari’s thin-toned, sometimes
shrill Mother, is uniformly excellent. Lucia Popp’s Gretel is just plain wonderful, her
silvery voice a joy to hear in every scene she graces. Brigitte Fassbaender, the
mezzo H�nsel, is almost at her level, if a more mature character than usual. At
times, especially with Solti’s Straussian approach, Act 2’s closing numbers sound
like Octavian and Sophie dueting in Rosenkavalier. Walter Berry may be the best
Father on disc, warmly sung, well-characterized. His entrance song is delightful
and he invests the Father’s worry about the lost children with convincing dread.
In the cameo roles, Norma Burrowes is a lovely Sandman and Edita Gruberova’s
gleaming top makes the Dew Fairy’s turn a worthy coloratura display.
That leaves the villainess, Anny Schlemm, whose wicked witch is broadly done,
even if she doesn’t display the over-the-top screeching we sometimes get. She’s
aided–or subverted, depending on your tastes–by engineering trickery that
adds echoes to her whoops and lends a not-inappropriate Disney touch to
her hocus-pocus scene."
Classics Today
Download Link – http://depositfiles.com/files/8hu0merj8
Source: Decca, 1978/1997 (my rip!)
Format: FLAC(RAR), ADD Stereo, Level: -5
File Size: 478 MB (incl. artwork, libretto)
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