Opera: Hansel and Gretel

OPERA: HANSEL AND GRETEL

Opera by Englebert Humperdinck (1854-1921)

Purpose: Enjoy opera by listening to excerpts from a great performance of Hansel and Gretel. Discover that opera is fun, a story told by singers and instruments with stage sets, lights and costumes

Picture Books from Elmhurst library (always fun to have some visuals!)

• Hansel and Gretel; Moses, Will. (J398.20943 Mos)
• Hansel and Gretel; Piumini, Robert (J398.20943 Piu)
• Hansel and Gretel; Rylant, Cynthia (K398.20943 Ryl)

Background for Presenter

Composer (use your discretion in terms of amount to share)

Englebert Humperdinck (1854-1921) was a German composer, teacher and an opera critic. He began piano lessons when he was seven years old. By the age of 18, he was studying at a music school. He liked towrite in a very simple way so his music sounds as if it is based on folk songs. He wrote Hansel and Gretel in the 1890's when his sister, Adelheid asked him to set to music the Brothers Grimm fairy tale.. His work was so well received by the audiences at his sister’s home that he transformed it into a complete opera. Upon reviewing it, the important composer Richard Strauss proclaimed the opera a masterpiece. Strauss himself conducted the first performance in Weimar; and soon the opera toured throughout the nation – even the emperor praised its Berlin premiere. The following year it was seen in England, and in 1923 Hansel and Gretel became the first opera broadcast from London’s esteemed Covent Garden. Although Humperdinck went on tocompose six more operas after this initialsuccess, Hansel and Gretel remainshis only opera that is regularly producedtoday.

Introduction

Have you ever been to an opera? We are very lucky to have one of the best opera companies in the world right downtown – the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Who can tell me what an opera is? (Allow children to guess what elements make up an opera. How is different from a play? A musical?) An opera is a story told with music. It has everything! In fact, opera is a Latin word that means “the works.” Opera is performed on a stage with sets and props (talk about what these words mean in stage “lingo”), in costumes and with an orchestra. The actors sing what they say in an opera. Their voices are beautiful instruments, trained to produce singing voices that can fill an opera hall without a microphone. Only people with exceptionally beautiful singing voices become opera singers. Many times, operas are performed in languages other than English. Italian is pretty popular, as is German. Opera goers receive a “libretto” – a special booklet which translates the words the actors are singing into English, but mostly, because operas are so dramatic, you can tell what’s going on even if you can’t understand the words.

The opera we’re going to talk about today was originally written and performed in German, but we have an English version to share. You may still have difficulty understanding the words.

(Note to parent: with each of the songs, you’ll have to play just a few minutes or even less or else the presentation will get too long.)

The opera

Who can start us off by telling the beginning of Hansel and Gretel? (Share some of the pictures or picture books to pass around.)

The opera, like many musical productions, begins with an overture, which means “opening” in French. The overture is played by the orchestra. The curtain is down, so there is nothing to see yet. The audience listens to the music and many of the tunes that will be heard later are previewed. Let’s listen to a bit of the overture.

Play Excerpt 1: “Overture” (play just a bit of this)

Now the curtain goes up. Hansel and his sister Gretel are alone in their home deep in the German forest. The children have a longlist of chores to do. Hansel is making brooms, while Gretel is knitting socks. They are hungry. Gretel shows him some milk that a neighbor has given them for supper, but will not let him drink it. Thechildren begin dancing and forget about their chores.

Play Excerpt 2: "Brother, come and dance withme."

Their Mother returns home from work and scolds them for playing instead of working. She chases them and in the confusion,she accidentally knocks over the milk.

Play Excerpt 3: “My Jug is all in bits”

Angry, she sends the children into the forest to pick strawberriesfor supper.The Father returns home from work in good spirits because he has sold all his brooms. He is in a good mood.

Play Except 4: “Ra la la”

When he finds out the children have gone to forest, he is concerned because he has heard tales of a Witch living in the forest who likes to eatchildren.

Play Excerpt 5: “There is a Crone who lives in the Forest”

Worried, the parents rush into the forest to look for their children.

Meanwhile in the forest, the children are looking for strawberries and Gretel makes a garland of flowers. Hansel finds a patch of strawberries and fills his basket, but soon they have eaten them all. It is getting dark and it is too late to go home. (See accompanying color picture from an opera production). They find a nice, warm place to go to sleep and they know their guardian angels are close by to keep them safe. The children sing their Evening Prayer.

Play Excerpt 6: "Now I lay me down to sleep."

In the morning the mist lifts and reveals a gingerbread cottage, decoratedwith candies. The children rush to the house and Hansel beginsnibbling at it.

Play Excerpt 7: “Keep Still No Sound”

Out comes the witch with a hideous laugh. (See accompanying color picture from an opera production).

Play Excerpt 8: “Greedy Little Mousy. Who’s that Nibbling on my Housy?”

She captures them and casts a spell on the children. (See accompanying color picture from an opera production). Her plan is to fatten up Hansel, since he is too skinny to cook and eat yet. The Witch keeps feeding Hansel and checking his finger to see how fat he is getting. Since the Witchcannot see well, Hansel holds out an old chicken bone instead of his finger. Tired of waiting for Hansel toget fat, the Witch decides to eat Gretel first.

The Witch tells Gretel to open the oven and see if it is hot enough for baking. The Witch is planning totrick Gretel and push her in the oven. Gretel is smart and pretends that she does not know how to checkthe oven. Angry, the Witch shows Gretel how to check by opening the oven door. Using the Witch's magic stick, Gretel frees Hansel and they both push the Witch into the oven—whichexplodes!

Hansel and Gretel celebrate their freedom!

Play Excerpt 9: “Hooray the Witch is Dead!”

What happens at the end of the story? (The children return home and are reunited with their mother and father.)

Some people think operas are only for old people and “stuffy” – what do you think? If someone invites you to go see a real opera, will you go? You should! Just be well rested. A full opera can last 3 hours long or even longer).

If you liked this opera, try checking out other operas at the Elmhurst Public Library. They have many you can check out and listen to.

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