A highlight of our weekend was to take in the Sunday matinee performance of Houston Grand Opera's Hansel and Gretel. The entire production was first-rate, but was especially notable for the innovative visual elements provided by world-renowned puppeteer Basil Twist.
Earlier, Houston Chronicle music critic Charles Ward focused on the "subversive" qualities of the production (while also being way too hard on HGO's choice of a small chamber orchestra).
In their stories, the Grimm Brothers pointed to dark, often sinister parts of the human psyche. Hansel and Gretel, ostensibly a story about lost children who discover a house built from sweets, is no different.
Well, there are some of those elements. But is it the heart of story? Maybe not.
Happily, Opera Today had a different take, and more appreciation of the chamber opera approach.
“Hansel and Gretel” has taken a beating in recent seasons, as over-zealous directors — aping the excesses of Eurotrash Regieoper — have made Humperdink’s largely innocent retelling of the Grimms’ tale the victim of hyper-active imaginations....As a chamber opera “Hansel and Gretel” is a kinder and gentler work than the original as it is often encountered today. “The score is lush,” Kelly says, “but its bone structure is clear and clean.” And it is the strength of these qualities that bring to the HGO staging a feeling of rebirth and rediscovery that make “Hansel and Gretel” a masterpiece of classic restraint.
In this lean environment the German children’s songs that Humperdinck built into the score retain their authenticity, and the transparency of the reduced orchestration brings to the surface a charm often obscured by the forces of the original version.
Hansel and Gretel was a pleasing alternative to more stereotypical holiday fare. HGO performances continue through Dec. 23 in the Cullen Theatre at the Wortham Center downtown.
Posted by Alan at December 18, 2006 05:55 AM