Hansel and Gretel is the second of Opera North’s three new productions of fairy-tale operas.
With a perfectly balanced cast and with the orchestra under Christoph Altstaedt making the most of Engelbert Humperdinck’s post-Wagnerian orchestration and wonderful writing for brass and woodwind, this is an excellent way to spend an evening – but sometimes the magic is elusive.
The story, based on the Brothers Grimm, is simple. Hansel and Gretel are the children of a poor broom-maker, Peter, and infuriate their mother, Gertrud, by breaking the jug that contains the milk that is almost their only food.
Sent into the forest to collect berries, they get lost and come upon the Witch’s gingerbread house. When they frustrate her attempts to shove them in the oven and do the same to her, they bring back to life all the children she has already turned into gingerbread men. Peter and Gertrud find them and the always present Christian sub-text surfaces in a final hymn.
Hansel and Gretel is a sturdy work that can withstand tinkering. It survives the parody casting of a man as the Witch, as sometimes happens, and the doubling of the Mother and the Witch is effective psychologically as well as being entertaining.
So Edward Dick’s contemporary production works well. Hansel and Gretel as 21st century kids in a block of flats are all too convincing, especially in David Pountney’s vernacular translation.
The problem is the consequence of a bold move on the part of Opera North. Mounting three new productions in a month is not easy, especially with two performances of different operas on the same day, so Giles Cadle’s all-purpose set has to serve for all. The drab flat is perfect, but that’s where we stay. Hansel and Gretel’s tendency to film each other’s every move produces all sorts of clever video effects, from their own expressive faces to covering the walls of the Witch’s house with chocolate and cakes when the fridge door is opened, but some magical moments are lost. T
the angels who protect the children in the forest at night are replaced by a rather nice film of happy days at Scarborough and the de-gingerbreading of the children never really happens, though ultimately the ending is as moving as ever.
However, there is still so much to enjoy in this most lovable of operas. Katie Bray (Hansel) and Fflur Wyn (Gretel) are a convincingly youthful pair of siblings, their voices combining admirably, Bray proving again that she is an outstanding new talent (and a pretty good comedian), Wyn a little underpowered in the lower register, but with a lovely brightness at the top of her range. Susan Bullock has great fun as Gertrud and the Witch, putting the heavy Wagnerian roles to one side to explore kitchen sink and exploding oven and Stephen Gadd’s sonorous and animated Peter seizes every moment of his brief appearances.
Performances are on February 4, 15 and 18 at Leeds Grand Theatre and March 8 and 11 at The Lowry, Salford Quays.
