Opera In English - Humperdinck: Hansel & Gretel / Mackerras

$27.99
Label
Chandos
Release Date
June 1, 2007
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      HUMPERDINCK, ENGELBERT
    • PERFORMER
      Montague, Henschel, Larmore, Evans, Hayward, Plowright, Coopen, Tynan
    Product Details ⌄
    Works ⌄

    1. Overture

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    2. Act I: Goosey goosey gander, the mouse in the straw (Gretel, Hansel)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Rebecca Evans, Jennifer Larmore

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    3. Act I: Down with the dumps, out with the grumps (Gretel, Hansel)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Rebecca Evans, Jennifer Larmore

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    4. Act I: Little brother dance with me (Gretel, Hansel)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Rebecca Evans, Jennifer Larmore

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    5. Act I: Hansel! (Mother, Gretel, Hansel)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Rebecca Evans, Jennifer Larmore, Rosalind Plowright

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    6. Act I: My Jug all in bits (Mother)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Rosalind Plowright

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    7. Act I: Ral-la-la-la, ral-la-la-la, light the fire (Father, Mother)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Robert Hayward, Rosalind Plowright

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    8. Act I: But wait, say where are the children? (Father, Mother)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Robert Hayward, Rosalind Plowright

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    9. Act I: But there's one, a crone, who lives alone (Father, Mother)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Robert Hayward, Rosalind Plowright

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    10. Act I: Prelude to Act II: the Witches' Ride

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    11. Act II: A dwarf stood in the forest (Gretel, Hansel)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Rebecca Evans, Jennifer Larmore

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    12. Act II: Cuckoo, cuckoo (Cuckoo, Gretel, Hansel)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Sarah Coopen, Rebecca Evans, Jennifer Larmore

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    13. Act II: Gretel, I think we've lost the way (Gretel, Hansel, voices)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Rebecca Evans, Jennifer Larmore

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    14. Act II: I am the little sandman (Sandman, Gretel, Hansel)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Rebecca Evans, Jennifer Larmore, Diana Montague

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    15. Act II: Where each child lays down its head (Gretel, Hansel)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Rebecca Evans, Jennifer Larmore

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    16. Act II: Pantomime

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    17. Act III: Introduction

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    18. Act III: When dew drops on the daisy (Dew fairy, Gretel)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Rebecca Evans, Sarah Tynan

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    19. Act III: I slept here? On a pine-tree bed! (Gretel, Hansel)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Rebecca Evans, Jennifer Larmore

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    20. Act III: Keep still! No sound! (Gretel, Hansel)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Rebecca Evans, Jennifer Larmore

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    21. Act III: Greedy little mousy, who's nibbling at my housey? (Witch, Gretel, Hansel)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Rebecca Evans, Jane Henschel, Jennifer Larmore

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    22. Act III: Hansel, don't be so greedy (Witch, Gretel, Hansel)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Rebecca Evans, Jane Henschel, Jennifer Larmore

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    23. Act III: Stop! Hocus pocus, witch's ground (Witch)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Jane Henschel

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    24. Act III: Now Gretel, you're the sensible one (Witch, Gretel, Hansel)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Rebecca Evans, Jennifer Larmore

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    25. Act III: So hopp hopp hopp, galopp lopp lopp (Witch)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Rebecca Evans, Jennifer Larmore

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    26. Act III: Now wake up, it's time to eat (Witch, Gretel, Hansel)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Rebecca Evans, Jane Henschel, Jennifer Larmore

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    27. Act III: Horrah! Now that the witch is dead (Gretel, Hansel)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Rebecca Evans, Jennifer Larmore

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    28. Act III: The dead arise, but cannot see (Gingerbread Children, Gretel, Hansel, Father)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: New London Children's Choir, Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Rebecca Evans, Robert Hayward, Jennifer Larmore

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras

    29. Act III: Father! Mother! (Gretel, Hansel, Mother, Father, Gingerbread Children)

      Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck

      Ensemble: New London Children's Choir, Philharmonia Orchestra

      Performer: Rebecca Evans, Jennifer Larmore, Rosalind Plowright

      Conductor: Charles Mackerras




Simply unmissable for any fans of this opera, Anglophone or not, Mackerras balances the songful and the sinister with absolute sureness. There is not a weak link in the cast, with Rebecca Evans in particular showing how her voice has bloomed in recent years. Jane Henschel is a frighteningly credible witch: she could be your smiling next-door neighbour.

-- Gramophone [9/2007]


This new Opera-in-English set of Engelbert Humperdinck's wonderful Hansel and Gretel goes straight to the top of the list of recorded performances, along with the Schwarzkopf/Karajan. Charles Mackerras leads a most beautiful reading, fully aware of Humperdinck's debt to and love for Wagner but with a warmth that makes the glorious orchestrations and easy, lovely, folksy melodies flow naturally and gracefully. This is not to say that there isn't excitement--the "Witch's Ride" is thrillingly lumpy and aggressive. Mackerras offers a terrific piece of storytelling in music, and the big burst when the Witch is pushed into the oven is a fine cataclysm, handsomely captured by Chandos' engineers.

David Pountney's translation is always comfortable and mostly understandable, and the cast is blessed with natural actors. Jennifer Larmore at times has been faulted for her hard-edged tone; here, as Hansel--sure of himself, boyish, and charming--she's just right. Rebecca Evans sounds nothing like Larmore and portrays a Gretel both spunky and spooked out. If the children's Evening Prayer ever has been sung more beautifully I certainly don't remember it; absolute obedience to dynamics and an ideal blend of voices make it a few moments of sheer bliss. Jane Henschel's Witch is the tour de force this role had better be, and while she may not be the absolute best on CD (that honor goes to Christa Ludwig on an old RCA recording, a set marred only by Anna Moffo's weird Hansel), she's a master of altering her tone, from cajoling to menacing to utter loathing.

I prefer a lighter-toned Sandman, but Diana Montague cannot be faulted vocally or for her gentle singing, and Sarah Tynan's Dew Fairy is lovely. Rosalind Plowright's Mother is strong (she might have made a good Witch) and Robert Hayward sings the Father's music brightly (Mackerras leads his entrance "Tra-la-la-las" nice and quickly). Orchestra and chorus are superb. This set is a pleasure--the ideal Hansel in English, and perhaps in any language.

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com