Hänsel und Gretel
Opera in three acts
Libretto by Adelheid Wette based on the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm
in German with English and German surtitles
Libretto by Adelheid Wette based on the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm
in German with English and German surtitles
Hunger and dreariness reign in the house of the Besenbinder family: Hansel and Gretel have neglected their chores, and in a scuffle smashed a valuable pot of milk. Their mother then sends them out into the forest as a punishment for the broken pot and to find something to eat. Their father, however, knows that there is nothing left in the forest; he also knows who is lurking there: the witch! She enjoys catching children and eating them. But before the parents are able to rescue their children, Hansel and Gretel have already fallen prey to the Witch’s false promises. But clever as they are, they stick together and soon the witch finds herself in the oven instead one of the children. In the end, children and parents are happily reunited, but with regard to the lack of food, nothing seems to have changed at all. Or has it?
StgtHaensel
World premiere
1893 in Weimar
Premiere
February 6, 2022
1893 in Weimar
Premiere
February 6, 2022
Recommended age
from grade 5
from grade 5
There will be an introduction 45 minutes before the performance at foyer I. floor.
Dec 2022
Hänsel und Gretel
Cast
Jan 2023
Hänsel und Gretel
Cast
Musical Direction Killian Farrell
Direction Axel Ranisch
Stage Design Saskia Wunsch
Costume Design Alfred Mayerhofer
Choreography Janine Grellscheid
Video Philipp Contag-Lada
Light Design Reinhard Traub
Children's Chorus Bernhard Moncado
Dramaturgy Franz-Erdmann Meyer-Herder
Direction Axel Ranisch
Stage Design Saskia Wunsch
Costume Design Alfred Mayerhofer
Choreography Janine Grellscheid
Video Philipp Contag-Lada
Light Design Reinhard Traub
Children's Chorus Bernhard Moncado
Dramaturgy Franz-Erdmann Meyer-Herder
Gretel Josefin Feiler
Hänsel Ida Ränzlöv
Witch Rosie Aldridge
Father Christian Miedl
Mother Catriona Smith
Sand-/Dewman N.N.
Kinderchor der Oper Stuttgart, Staatsorchester Stuttgart
Hänsel Ida Ränzlöv
Witch Rosie Aldridge
Father Christian Miedl
Mother Catriona Smith
Sand-/Dewman N.N.
Kinderchor der Oper Stuttgart, Staatsorchester Stuttgart
Hänsel und Gretel
Cast
Hänsel und Gretel
Cast
More about the production
Even in fairy tales, the world sometimes looks as if it is about to go to pots: In the house of Besenbinder, where the siblings Hansel and Gretel grow up, there is rarely more to bite into than dry bread. And even outside, edible food can only be found fairly deep in the dark forest, because the immediate domestic environment yields nothing. But what to do with such a broken world? In director Axel Ranisch’s production, the wicked witch solves the problem of supply as a Charity Queen distributing delicious and colourful sweets. The catch, however: Hansel and Gretel discover in this "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory gone wrong" fantasy that the sweet stuff is really made from rather unusual ingredients. When the wicked witch herself finally ends up in the oven, no more children disappear – but the problem of food shortage still remains. But it would not be the world of a fairy tale if at the end hope were not to be found somewhere. Though Engelbert Humperdinck and his sister Adelheid Wette originally planned to create only a small Christmas play, the opera ended up as one of the most popular and large-scale family plays in the history of music theatre. Axel Ranisch, who landed a real hit with audiences in Stuttgart in 2018 with his Love of three oranges, takes Humperdinck's fairy tale opera with a great deal of narrative relish mixed with crude humour. They also incidentally raise the question of what other transformations the world will still have to go through before we realize how the good life could look like.