One of the greatest operas about children. Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel is full of music that is sweet and beguiling, and it combines childlike simplicity with heart aching beauty. He wanted a plot that ‘was not made up of murders, brutal deaths, operetta-like nonsense, or sugar-sweet fairy tales’. Do not be fooled. This is a story of greed and starvation, mouth-wateringly sugar-coated.
Trouble at home. Two hungry children lost in a haunted forest. The lure of a gingerbread house. The frightening hocus pocus of the predatory Witch. And the smarts of the children who triumph in the end. All wrapped up in the delicious sound world of Engelbert Humperdinck’s operatic masterpiece.
Sung in English with English surtitles
CAST
Hansel - Raphaela Mangan (mezzo soprano)
Gretel - Amy Ní Fhearraigh (soprano)
Mother - Miriam Murphy (soprano)
Father - Ben McAteer (baritone)
Witch - Carolyn Dobbin (mezzo-soprano)
Sandman & Dew Fairy - Emma Nash (soprano)
CREATIVE TEAM
Conductor - Richard Peirson
Directors - Muireann Ahern, Louis Lovett
Set & Costume Designer - Jamie Vartan
Lighting Designer - Sarah-Jane Shiels
Video Designer - Jack Phelan
Irish National Opera Ensemble
Amy Ní Fhearraigh
“A natural stage performer, gifted with a fine soprano voice…” GoldenPlec
Miriam Murphy
“She’s a singer with a voice so large, so effortless seeming, so distinctive that once she opens her mouth it’s as if you’re pinned to your seat by some irresistible hypnotic power.” The Irish Times
Raphaela Mangan
“…superb lower register contralto tones…” The Herald (Scotland)
The running time of Hansel & Gretel is 2 hours including interval.
‘one of the sweetest yet most lushly captivating scores in the entire operatic repertory’ - New York Times