Opera on 3

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Music: Classical: Opera

Programme presenting rare and fascinating operatic performances

Programme presenting rare and fascinating performances and vividly communicating the immediacy of the live experience

Opera on 3: Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel

Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel

BBC Radio 3 - Opera on 3, Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel

Angelika Kirchschlager and Diana Damrau are the Grimm siblings in this seasonal favourite.

Sir Colin Davis conducts an all-star cast including Angelika Kirchschlager and Diana Damrau as the Grimm siblings, Thomas Allen as their father and Anja Silja as the Witch.

When Engelbert Humperdinck's sister asked him to write music based on Hansel and Gretel for her children to sing at Christmas, she started her brother on the path to one of the most enduring and best-loved operatic classics.

After its 1893 premiere, Humperdinck's fairy-tale opera immediately became a holiday season perennial.  In a seamless thread of memorable tunes, the perfectly crafted, lush post-Wagnerian score (which never takes itself too seriously) effortlessly evokes the careless joys and dreams of childhood, as well its darkest fears. And, of course, in the end the none-too-frightening forces of evil are triumphantly overcome. 

In this archive recording of the acclaimed 2008 Royal Opera House production, a starry cast is headed by Angelika Kirchschlager and Diana Damrau as the siblings at the heart of the Grimm tale, Thomas Allen is their hapless father and, in one of her signature roles, Anja Silja plays the Witch. Strauss and Mahler were among the first conductors to champion Hansel and Gretel and it was a great favourite, too, of Sir Colin Davis who was in the pit for this performance.

Presented by Suzy Klein in conversation with John Deathridge.

Engelbert Humperdinck: Hansel and Gretel

Acts 1 & 2

7.35 pm
Interval
Including novelist and cultural historian Marina Warner who explores the background, evolution and continuing resonances of the Grimm fairy tale.

7.55 pm
Act 3

Hansel......Angelika Kirchschlager (mezzo-soprano)
Gretel......Diana Damrau (soprano)
Gertrud......Elizabeth Connell (soprano)
Peter......Thomas Allen (baritone)
Witch ......Anja Silja (soprano)
Sandman/Echo......Pumeza Matshikiza (soprano)
Dew Fairy/Echo......Anita Watson (soprano)
Tiffin Boys' Choir
Tiffin Children's Chorus
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Colin Davis (conductor)

Image: © Bill Cooper / ROH 2008

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