Engelbert Humperdinck - Hansel and Gretel [The Metropolitan Opera HD Live 2007] [DVD] [2008]

This is the Welsh National Opera's production of Hansel and gretel, staged by the Met in New York. I enjoyed it much more LIVE in Cardiff, but this recording is a reasonably good interpretation.

Sensational production with Philip Langridge as the witch having the time of his life. Amazingly choreographed dream pantomime and the link with food (eating and being eaten) is powerfully and sinisterly expressed. The singing all round is beautiful but Alice Coote rather overdoes the gawkish Handel with a singular line in boyish facial expressions. Christine Schafer as Gretel is stunning and captures the magic of a sister that is not to be intimidated by an older brother. (The psychologist Bruno Bettleheim always claimed that young girls identified with Gretel because the girl in the story turns out to be the hero).

But what makes this beautifully well-sung production so incredible is the amount of food that has to be eaten (or partially eaten) while singing this demanding Wagnerian-like score. And not a gingerbread house in sight - just a huge cake on an equally huge tongue.

And so we come to two negatives: I was uncomfortable with all the (erotic?)smearing of strawberries on faces in the forest scene (the children are supposed to be starving) and I could have done without the Hitler moustache in chocolate during the kitchen scene. An awful lot of good food (and much is real) is gobbled, thrown and splattered in a kitchen that outdoes any pantomime slosh scene. (I admit to having switched channels from starvation in Gaza and the move from famine to feast may have been too much).

But this is theatre that is very much pre-credit crunch with no expense spared! An added bonus is `what goes on behind the scenes', glimpses of which are seen during the overture and the witch's ride: it beats looking endlessly at the oboist's fingers and the gestures of the conductor.

Indulge yourself. Buy it. Feast on it. It makes the recent Covent Garden production - although beautifully sung - thin gruel.

PS And it was good to see the gorgeous Rosalind Plowright as a very slim attractive mother.

Having been blown away by a Met Opera direct screening at the cinema I was anxious to see how a DVD presentation of a Met Live production fared on my big Sony Bravia HD telly. The home product could not have the same impact as a cinema presentation in a full theatre but was one of the best TV/DVD experiences since the big telly came into the house.
Being a country resident in regional New South Wales with but rare opportunities to visit a proper Opera House, the Met's production of Hansel and Gretel is the first I have seen. Such a wonderful departure from reality with the over-sized sets making the 'children' appear child sized and the introduction of the amazing creatures in rubber skins had me intrigued - Sasha Cooke's Sandman had me imagining Edward Scissorhands.
I was delighted by the singing of the two children, Christine Schafer and Alice Coote - how could you possible expect real children to handle such difficult roles. Rosalind Plowright was a surprise - so young and slender looking for that great voice.
Then there was slightly build Philip Langridge in the rubber fat suit as The Witch. Unique, hilarious, brilliant.
Renee Fleming's talks backstage during the acts enhanced my enjoyment of the production.
Oh yes, Hansel and Gretel was well worth the money.