It is the well-known story of the two poor broom-maker children who got lost in the forest and lost in the forest and fall into the clutches of the wicked witch Rosina Leckermaul. The music also lingers in the ear, as the composer Engelbert Humperdinck has embedded popular, catchy melodies in the richness of a late-romantic orchestral apparatus.

"Hänsel and Gretel" belongs on the pre-Christmas opera programme like gingerbread to a gingerbread house. As irresistible as the sweet pastry is the cult production by Andreas Meyer-Hanno, which, after its scenic revitalisation a few years ago, is once again spreading festive splendour this season.

Musikalische Leitung

Harry Ogg/Péter Halász/N. N./Vitali Alekseenok

Inszenierung

Andreas Meyer-Hanno

Szenische Neueinstudierung

Esther Mertel

Bühne

Gerda Zientek

Kostüme

Inge Diettrich

Kinderchorleitung

Ricardo Navas Valbuena

Cast

Hänsel

Simone McIntosh/Alexandra Yangel/Kimberley Boettger-Soller

Gretel

Anke Krabbe/Heidi Elisabeth Meier/Lavinia Dames

Gertrud

Renée Morloc/Romana Noack

Peter

Stefan Heidemann/Richard Šveda

Hexe

Morenike Fadayomi/Florian Simson/Cornel Frey

Sandmännchen

Anna Sophia Theil/Verena Kronbichler

Taumännchen

Mara Guseynova/Bogdana Bevziuk

Spielleitung

Lotte Zuther/Mara Ludwig

Kinderchor

Düsseldorfer Mädchen- und Jungenchor

Orchester

Duisburger Philharmoniker/Düsseldorfer Symphoniker

Katarzyna Kuncio (Hänsel), Heidi Elisabeth Meier (Gretel)

Heidi Elisabeth Meier (Gretel), Katarzyna Kuncio (Hänsel)

Heidi Elisabeth Meier (Gretel), Johannes Preißinger (Hexe), Katarzyna Kuncio (Hänsel)

Heidi Elisabeth Meier (Gretel), Katarzyna Kuncio (Hänsel)

Heidi Elisabeth Meier (Gretel), Katarzyna Kuncio (Hänsel), Bruno Balmelli (Peter), Sarah Ferede (Gertrud), Düsseldorfer Mädchen- und Jungenchor

Katarzyna Kuncio (Hänsel), Heidi Elisabeth Meier (Gretel)

Katarzyna Kuncio (Hänsel), Johannes Preißinger (Hexe)

Bruno Balmelli (Peter), Sarah Ferede (Gertrud)

Synopsis

AT HOME
Hansel and Gretel live in a poor hut with their parents on the edge of the forest. The children are alone at home. Instead of doing the chores they were told to do and helping their father tie a broom, they start playing. The mother reprimands them and spills the milk for dinner. As punishment, the mother sends Hansel and Gretel into the forest to gather berries. The father returns with a rich dinner and misses the children. The parents worry that they might have met the wicked witch on the Ilsenstein and set off in search for her.

IN THE FOREST
The children progress deeper and deeper into the forest and get close to the Ilsenstein. In the darkness they can no longer find their way home. Sleep overcomes them and the sandman promises them sweet dreams. The children pray the evening blessing and fall asleep protected by 14 angels.

THE WITCH HOUSE
In the morning, the little dew man wakes the children. They discover a gingerbread house and begin to nibble on it. But a wicked witch lives in the house. She lures them in with her delicacies. When the children enter the witch house, she shows her true face. She fattened Hansel in a cage to eat him as a feast. Gretel is told to heat the oven. With a trick, she manages to push the witch into the oven herself. As a result, all the children who have been turned into gingerbread by the witch are redeemed. Accompanied by their jubilant singing, the parents embrace their children.

Hänsel und Gretel

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