Superb Cast and Conducting in Hansel and Gretel at the Royal Ballet and Opera, Covent Garden (Column)

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Premiering in 1893, Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, with a libretto by his sister Adelheid Wette, is based on the eponymous fairytale that was recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812. It follows the Grimm version of the story reasonably closely, although there are a few notable differences including the fact that the Mother here is not intent on losing the children in the forest so that she and her husband might survive the hard times. She sends them there to collect berries as a punishment for misbehaving, and because she needs the food, but is as horrified as anyone when she realises that a Witch lives there who could entice and eat them.

This is the fifth Christmas since 2008 that the opera has appeared at the Royal Opera House, with Antony McDonald’s staging, which represents a co-production with San Francisco Opera, premiering in 2018. Every outing seems to have been blessed with a strong cast, and the current line-up would stand with the very best of them. It is led by Kate Lindsey as Hansel and Heidi Stober as Gretel, and the dynamic they generate from the start is outstanding. Lindsey’s mezzo-soprano beautifully expresses every one of Hansel’s lines, as her phrasing proves to be impeccable. Not only does she capture the mannerisms of the ten-year old boy extremely well, but she also effectively renders his attitudes. This manifests itself in the way in which in ‘Mit den Füßchen, tapp tapp tapp’ Hansel lurches between sulking as he does not want to dance at all, and indulging in some hyperbolic movements when he chooses to participate as if he is ‘taking over’.

Stober’s soprano is rich and accomplished, yet it possesses enough sweetness to make it feel like the sound that would come from a young girl. Stober captures the greater sense of responsibility that Gretel shows, but also reveals how she possesses a child’s outlook on life as, like Hansel, she cannot help but snigger when the milk is spilt, or eat all of the berries in the forest when she knows she should not. The pair’s voices sound very good together, and when they sing the Evening Prayer while huddled on the stage they make the vast Royal Opera House feel like the most intimate of spaces.

Catherine Carby and Thomas Lehman render the relationship between Hansel and Gretel’s parents Gertrud and Peter extremely convincingly. Possessed of a persuasive mezzo-soprano, Carby reveals how her scolding of the children results from a genuine sense of desperation, with the fact that her performance is not hyperbolic making her anguish feel especially real. When we hear Lehman sing ‘Ra-la-la-la, ra-la-la-la’, with his tremendous baritone, we realise that he is not merely a happy-go-lucky chancer, oblivious to the struggles that his wife must endure to keep the house together. Rather, he is someone who has had to learn to embrace optimism in order to see himself through such difficult times. We consequently see how the different ways in which the two people deal with stress is responsible for much of the dynamic between them, as Peter chides Gertrud for losing her temper with the children. Nevertheless, Carby and Lehman also show how, for all they may be different characters with varying approaches, they do love each other and ultimately work well as a team.

As the Witch Carole Wilson uses her mezzo-soprano to great effect as she ensures that all of her words come out clearly, but ‘switches’ to producing a more sumptuous sound on occasions. Very cleverly, from the start she comes across as a little too eager for her own good, so that her intentions become quite obvious to the children and force her to revert periodically to putting on the ‘sweet old lady’ act. There are also excellent performances from Sarah Brady as the Sandman and Valentina Puskás as the Dew Fairy.

McDonald’s staging feels quite traditional, although the gingerbread house in Act III is presented in a more innovative way. The stage curtain reveals an idyllic view of the Alps within whose landscape Hansel and Gretel’s small timbered cottage lies. Everything both inside and outside the dwelling suggests a rustic and old fashioned way of life, although the setting cannot be so long ago as the sink features taps with running water. The action begins before anyone has even sung a note as during the Overture the front curtain becomes transparent to reveal a prosperous Hansel and Gretel happily enjoying good food and drink with their parents. Then we cut to a second scene where the food is more scarce, which foreshadows the start of Act I when there is none. This suggests that the family has not lived in poverty forever, but only recently fallen on hard times, which both ties in with the Brothers Grimm tale, and implies that the subsequent behaviour of Gertrud is a response to a situation she is unused to being in.

Act II is particularly magical as in the forest we see huge insects scale the proscenium arch, and characters from Brothers Grimm and other fairytales appear between the trees. The Traumpantomime, which normally sees fourteen angels gather around Hansel and Gretel to protect them as they sleep, sees all of the fairytale characters take on this role, although the angels are still represented with paper chains. With the dancers being choreographed by movement director Lucy Burge, the Wolf chases Little Red Riding Hood, Prince Charming searches for Cinderella, Rapunzel’s hair is cut and Snow White is just prevented from eating the poisoned apple before everyone forms a tableau around the children with a Brothers Grimm storybook.

Act III makes the Witch’s gingerbread house look exactly like the Bates Motel in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, complete with ‘quarter wheels’ (covered with gingerbread men) at the top of its narrow exterior columns. The structure has a knife sticking out of the top, making the wedge shaped roof look like a huge slice of cake, and the windows drip with either blood or cherry sauce. Once the house spins around, it is obvious that its tempting qualities are just a facade, but while the truth about it may be clear from the start, the point is that people, and the children in particular, are all too good at simply seeing what they want to see.

There seem to be a few additions and adjustments to the staging in this revival, which makes it feel more detailed and thoughtful than ever. The evening is also aided by the first rate conducting of Giedrė Šlekytė on her Royal Ballet and Opera debut, and the excellent singing of the Youth Opera Company whose members play the children at the end. Unusually for the Royal Opera, the performance is in English, but this helps the opera to feel accessible to people of all ages, and Kelley Rourke’s translation is certainly very slick.

By Sam Smith

Hansel and Gretel | 22 December 2024 - 9 January 2025 | Royal Ballet and Opera, Covent Garden

the 24 of December, 2024 | Print