Fairytale opera in three pictures by Engelbert Humperdinck / Libretto by Adelheid Wette / After the Brothers Grimm German with German surtitles
Adelheid Wette wrote a fairytale play for a family performance in 1892. When she asked her brother Engelbert Humperdinck whether he would like to set a few verses to music, neither of them had any idea that it would become a worldwide success. None other than Richard Strauss conducted the world premiere of Hansel and Gretel, and Abendsegen, Knusper, knusper knäuschen and Brüderchen, komm tanz mit mir! have become popular hits. The two siblings, children of the poor broom-maker and his overburdened wife, have to go looking for berries so that there is anything to eat at all. They are afraid of nightfall, but the Sandman and, the next morning, the Taumännchen protect them. The crunchy witch's house, on the other hand, looks quite friendly at first... By the way: with Suse, dear Suse, was raschelt im Stroh and Ein Männlein steht im Walde , Humperdinck has also included two real, pre-existing children's songs in his famous opera!
In-house director Daniel Pfluger, who was successful in music theater last season with Merlin or Das wüste Land and Cabaret, among others, brings the classic to the Volkstheater stage with imagination and attention to detail - and asks himself and us the question of what role the forest actually plays here.