Not staged at the Royal Opera House since 1937, Humperdinck's fairytale opera Hänsel und Gretel has finally returned in a warmly entertaining if slightly bland staging by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier. An all-star cast, headed by two of the world's leading singers, combine with outstanding conducting and playing to make for a magical night out.
Though in recent years there has been a tendency to probe the opera for psychological insights, Leiser and Caurier's take is relatively traditional, with only a few directorial impositions. The opening scene takes place inside Hansel and Gretel's bedroom, a tiny set placed in the middle of the stage with the main woodland scenery behind it. When the children escape and enter the forest, all the adventures they experience take place, in effect, in a transformed version of their home and familiar surroundings. In a way, that seems to be the point of the piece: the adventures of Hansel and Gretel are a way of exorcising their latent fears about childhood, growing up, and their familial situation.
Christian Fenouillat's designs for the woodland are beautifully conceived, with a scrolling panorama leading the children's way through the trees. The midget-sized gingerbread house seemed a bit of a cop-out, but the scenic transformation into the Witch's kitchen is brilliant, with hefty-looking ovens and a large cupboard containing the dead children at the back. Less welcome for me is the less-than-magical depiction of the Sandman (wonderfully sung by Young Artist Pumeza Matshikiza, however), the silly pink costume for the Dew Fairy, and the rather unterrifying presentation of the Witch. I also wondered whether anything was gained by the modern costuming of Peter and Gertrud, Hansel and Gretel's parents; clearly this is an attempt to make their poverty and depression more veristic, but for me it comes at the expense of their fear about their children. However, Hansel and Gretel themselves are dressed more traditionally in lavish costumes by Agostino Cavalca, and during the woodland an
d kitchen scenes there's a real sense of atmosphere.
The biggest intervention concerns the ballet sequence at the end of the second act. When Hansel and Gretel have sung the Evening Prayer about being protected by angels, they fall asleep on the floor. Nutcracker-esque fairies with animal heads and sparkling wings come to visit them, and a warm fireplace is pushed into the set. Gertrud and Peter appear on armchairs and give the children large gift-wrapped boxes which contain sandwiches. This expresses their deep-seated hunger quite brilliantly, and provides a potentially heart-tugging focus to the close of the second half. Yet for me, it was more interesting in the idea than in practice: somehow, the staging of the transformation isn't quite lavish or magical enough for it to hit home to the extent that it could.
The outstanding vocal performance came from Angelika Kirchschlager as Hansel, an absolutely riveting portrayal of the role that combined boyish acting and pathos with strong projection and innate musicality. By her side, Diana Damrau seemed understated in the first act particularly, but her singing was always beautiful and she really warmed up in the second act. Thomas Allen and Elizabeth Connell were excellent as the parents, but I found it hard not to be disappointed by Anja Silja as the Witch, simply not up to singing the role in spite of a commanding dramatic performance.
In the pit, Sir Colin Davis nurtured the warm Romantic glow of the work whilst keeping the pace moving throughout, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House played with great sensitivity and expression, especially during the large orchestral items.
In all, I'm sure that families would have a fine time with this production, and even if it's not the most interesting way of addressing the story, there's still much to enjoy.
Radio 3 will be broadcasting Hansel and Gretel LIVE on Tuesday 16 December and BBC TWO is televising it on Christmas Day at 3pm.
Read our interview with Sir Colin Davis about this production here.
Photo credits: Bill Cooper