The opera “Hansel and Gretel” was given its first performance on this date in 1893, at the Hoftheater in Weimar, with Richard Strauss conducting. Engelbert Humperdinck’s magnum opus – which features a sandman, a dew fairy, a witch, and the imminent threat of cannibalism – has been associated with the Christmas season ever since.
The Brothers Grimm inspiration is the best known of a wave of Märchenopern (fairy tale operas) that swept Germany in the 19th century. Less fortunate was Hans Pfitzner’s “Das Christ-Elflein” (“The Christmas Elf”), with its charming mix of Christian and pagan symbols, including the title character, an old tree spirit, Saint Nicholas’ sidekick, Knecht Ruprecht, and even the Christ Child Himself!
Here’s the overture:
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf with Irmgard Seefried in an excerpt from “Hansel and Gretel,” with Josef Krips conducting, in 1947:
My favorite recording of the “Dream Pantomime,” with Otto Klemperer:
A lovely staging, the old one, from the Met:
IMAGE: If you can’t stand the heat, etc., etc.
