Germany Humperdinck, Hänsel und Gretel: Soloists, Ladies of the Chorus, Children’s chorus of Stadttheater Bremerhaven, Philharmonic Orchestra Bremerhaven / Hartmut Brüsch (conductor). Bremerhaven, 28.12.2024. (DM-D)
Production:
Director – Marie-Christine Lüling
Set and Costume design – Judith Philipp
Lighting – Katharina Konopka
Dramaturgy – Torben Selk
Revival director – Annika Ellen Flindt
Chorus director – Edward Mauritius Münch
Cast:
Gretel – Victoria Kunze
Hänsel – Boshana Milkov
Gertrud – Kristín Anna Guðmundsdóttir
Peter – Marcin Hutek
Witch – Andrew Irwin
Sandman – Minji Kim
Dew Fairy – Heesu Kang
This production was first seen last season. During the overture, an old woman with a typical old-fashioned topknot walked slowly across the stage. Hänsel and Gretel came from the other side, barged into her accidentally, she dropped a parcel as a result and was clearly upset. Hänsel and Gretel were not very apologetic, as the accident had not been intentional. When the curtain went up, we saw the kitchen and the children’s room in their home on the ground floor level, and above it a room in which the old woman sat down in an armchair and fell asleep. Hänsel and Gretel’s house was not necessarily characterised by poverty. They had plenty of toys on the shelves of their bedroom, their mother wore simple but elegant clothes, even the kitchen suggested the family was well-off.
When they were told off by their parents, the children escaped into their own dreamworld together, a richly green landscape with vine-like plants hanging down apparently from the skies. The Sandman and the Dew Fairy made this fantasy world even richer. Adventure, yes, but self-made and therefore, at least so far, never genuinely frightening. The exception to this was the old woman from the flat above, who turned into the Witch of the children’s adventure, allowing genuine insecurity and fear to arise. The opera ended with general reconciliation in the old woman’s room.
Hartmut Brüsch was able to create consistency between the opera’s Wagnerian music and the many folk tunes. He was equally able to balance the orchestra’s volume so as to support Boshana Milkov and Victoria Kunze as Hänsel and Gretel, who had been announced as suffering from throat infections. Only those who have heard these two singers of the Bremerhaven resident company many times before, and were thus quite familiar with their respective voices, will have noticed any problems: they laudably fielded strong technique to overcome difficulties, without audible damage to their voices. Kristín Anna Guðmundsdóttir is new to the resident Bremerhaven company. Her roles so far do not include the dramatic Fach, and her take on Gertrud was more lyrical as a result, which suited both the music and the role (especially the interpretation of not emphasising the family’s poverty). Her voice was crystal clear and radiant. Marcin Hutek sang a sturdy Peter, and chorus members Minji Kim (Sandman) and Heesu Kang (Dew Fairy) were delightful. Andrew Irwin took on the role of the Witch, with many instances of distorting his voice into howling, snarling, shouting and other features to render the character nasty. It is only on the basis of a very strong and reliable voice that such a role portrayal is possible.
Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe