06.12.2025-18.01.2026 / Opera
Hänsel und Gretel
Engelbert Humperdinck
Content
Grimm's cross-generational fairy tale: Classic, enchanting, iconic!
Fairytale in three pictures
Text by Adelheid Wette after the Brothers Grimm
Text by Adelheid Wette after the Brothers Grimm
Of course, playing is much more fun than helping with the housework! Hansel and Gretel know that too. It’s just a shame that the siblings are caught by their mother whilst playing merrily and, in the heat of her scolding, she breaks the milk jug. So what will this penniless family eat now? The mother sends her children into the forest to gather berries. What begins as an adventure, however, quickly turns serious as dusk falls: the siblings get lost and soon fall into the clutches of the wicked witch. Now they must summon all their courage and wits to free themselves.
With catchy melodies and the rich orchestral colours of the late Romantic period, Engelbert Humperdinck creates an imaginative world in the fairy-tale forest – to be seen in the oldest and much-loved production of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein.
With catchy melodies and the rich orchestral colours of the late Romantic period, Engelbert Humperdinck creates an imaginative world in the fairy-tale forest – to be seen in the oldest and much-loved production of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein.
Musikalische Leitung
Inszenierung
Szenische Neueinstudierung
Bühne
Gerda Zientek
Kostüme
Inge Diettrich
Kinderchorleitung
Cast
Gretel
Gertrud
Peter
Sandmännchen
Taumännchen
Kinderchor
Statisterie
Statisterie der Deutschen Oper am Rhein
Katarzyna Kuncio (Hänsel), Heidi Elisabeth Meier (Gretel)
© Hans Jörg Michel
Heidi Elisabeth Meier (Gretel), Katarzyna Kuncio (Hänsel)
© Hans Jörg Michel
Heidi Elisabeth Meier (Gretel), Johannes Preißinger (Hexe), Katarzyna Kuncio (Hänsel)
© Hans Jörg Michel
Heidi Elisabeth Meier (Gretel), Katarzyna Kuncio (Hänsel)
© Hans Jörg Michel
Heidi Elisabeth Meier (Gretel), Katarzyna Kuncio (Hänsel), Bruno Balmelli (Peter), Sarah Ferede (Gertrud), Düsseldorfer Mädchen- und Jungenchor
© Hans Jörg Michel
Katarzyna Kuncio (Hänsel), Heidi Elisabeth Meier (Gretel)
© Hans Jörg Michel
Katarzyna Kuncio (Hänsel), Johannes Preißinger (Hexe)
© Hans Jörg Michel
Bruno Balmelli (Peter), Sarah Ferede (Gertrud)
© Hans Jörg Michel
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.
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.
