Humperdinck: HÄNSEL & GRETEL - Act 2 (4/4)

Humperdinck: HÄNSEL UND GRETEL

Act 2 (4/4)

- Lied des Sandmann, Abendsegen & Traumpantomime
- Sandman´s Song, Evening Prayer & Dream Pantomime

Sasha Cooke (Sandmann)
Alice Coote (Hänsel)
Christine Schäfer (Gretel)

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Vladimir Jurowski

Stage Director: Richard Jones
Set and Costume Designer: John Macfarlane

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Humperdinck
• Hänsel
• Gretel
• Alice
• Coote
• Christine
• Schäfer
• Sasha
• Cooke
• Metropolitan
• Met
• Opera
• Vladimir
• Jurowski
• Abendsegen
• Traumpantomime
• Sandmann
• Evening
• Prayer
• Dream
• Pantomime

[Strollingplayer]

I loved this magical, moving, and beautifully designed, sung and acted production of Hansel and Gretel from the Met's 2007/8 Christmas season. I feel sorry for the opera nazis who are so blindly unaccepting of an wonderfully imaginative new production like this. It is charming, fresh, funny and a little bit frightening. The Met broadcasts this production to movie theaters around the Christmas holday. I highly recommend you check your local theaters and see it next Christmas!

[tomtolibi]

This scene made me cry. Although the angel pantomiming was elegant and magical, there is something so uniquely touching of this rendition. Two starving and lost children dreaming of finally having a chance to eat... think of all the children who die of starvation every year. This scene although absurd (a walking fish!) brings to life the reality of starvation. The angel is no longer some supernatural flying thing with wings, but one who feeds the starving child. We need more angels like these.

[mountblanck]

@mountblanck And finally one has to say, that it is a romantic opera for children. The final sciene implies quite canibalistic ideas which is to be expected from modern interpreters who think, without provocation they gain no attraction. However in the reality many theaters have lost a lot of their customers by it. Finally one should not forget that it is an opera for children!

[mountblanck]

@mountblanck Designing instead of the romantic night in the forest a dream to eat is fancy idea, but has nothing really to do with the original. Probably it comes from the "dreams" of overweight interpreters who think that this is a good dream.

About the music: A brilliant performance even from the singers, however especially in the romantic night music the tempi are too fast and the melodies are not guided at all and continute too quickly.

[mountblanck]

Probably it is part of all modern interpretations to ignore the orignial. In fact this interpretation looks quite funny on the first view but at a closer look the weaknesses are obvious: "little Sandman (Der kleine Sandmann)" cannot be transformed into the witch. It definitely breaks any part of the romantic idea behind. Maybe it is part of modern times that romantism is not wanted anymore and needs to be destroyed. It can be a lack of the interpreters of just having no idea about this feeling

[Natturs]

Beautiful.

[al1936ful]

When I see the Dream Pantomime from this opera, I want to see angels wearing beautiful costumes out of a storybook, not a bunch of chefs that look like Tweedledee and Tweedledum or worse yet, the Duchess with the baby that turns into a pig!

[Poet2916]

Where's Act I?

[DogwoodRicky049]

I guess angels might be too scary for young children, so instead let's have a dozen Jabba the Hutts masquerading as James Beard.

[thamestango]

I love it.. why can't we have different interpretations ? The fairy stories are full of scarey moments, and the monkeys in 'The Wizard of Oz' had me bawling as a child. If they're dreaming and they've been so hungry then it would be normal to dream about food!