A WONDERFUL WICKED WITCH

 Theo (Hayes) Claveles in Juilliard Opera's production of Hansel und Gretel

( Photo by Maria Baranova, courtesy of Juilliard) 

Among a marvelous cast of singers, one stood out. It is rare that we begin a review in this fashion but how could we not?  Mezzo-soprano Theo (Hayes) Claveles created an unforgettable character (The Witch) in an otherwise unmemorable distortion of Engelbert Humperdinck's fairy tale opera for which his sister, Adelheid Wette, created the libretto. We will get to that later.

We would prefer to recall the magnificent performance of Humperdinck's lush score conducted skillfully by Maestro Patrick Furrer. beginning with the horn prelude and replete with memorable melodies and some adventuresome harmonic invention, probably originating in the composer's study with Wagner. 

There were winning performances from soprano Kerry Bigelow as Gretel and mezzo-soprano Anna Kelly as Hänsel both of whom were rather convincing as children. Soprano Scarlett Jones made a fine Mother with bass Dasol Lee as a rather goofy vacuum cleaner salesman as Father.  

Luna Seongeun Park's scintillating soprano was delightful although her physical beauty was hidden by what appeared to be a nun's habit. Apparently,  the Dew Fairy was transmogrified into Dorothy Day, a social activist of the 70's who would have been 80 years old at the time the production was set.  Yes, we are coming to that Dear Reader.  Hold on whilst we give plaudits to soprano Fantine Douilly who portrayed an unrecognizable Sandman.

Now we come to the production which many members of the audience may have enjoyed but which just annoyed us. Converting a fairytale into a realistic story is just plain wrong. It's like the recent ill-advised productions of Wagner's Ring Cycle which betrayed the story whilst the Otto Schenck version at The Metropolitan Opera honored the myth.

Director Kevin Newbury's "concept" placed the story in 1977 New York City which is probably as alien to the audience as the 14th century in which the fairytale evolved--(recorded by The Brothers Grimm in the 19th century). Frau Wette sufficiently Disneyfied the dark story of parental abandonment and sibling resourcefulness to provide the armature for her brother's music which added enough gingerbread sweetness to make the dark story palatable. 

What is interesting about fairytales is how they evolved in different cultures; we have read many versions but all retain the underlying psychological message so aptly analyzed by Bruto Bettelheim in The Uses of Enchantment. In Newbury's hands the story lost its magic and psychological impact under a cover of "cleverness" and cultural signifiers.

Thinking of 1977 New York as a dark place? The famous blackout in Act II did not register, being rather well lit with street lights.  We will have to ask Lighting Designer Yuki Nakase Link about that! Wilson Chin's set design was colorful with such period signifiers as Economy Candy and the famous rock music club CBGB.  But do those memorabilia from nearly a half century ago mean anything today? We think not.  

Similarly, Rebecca Kanach's motley costumes were fun with lots of platform boots and rollerblading garb. So, the best we can say about the production is that it was consistent. The production, one might say, was superficially colorful eye candy; but distracted from the music and its psychological depth. Denizens of downtown Manhattan disco dancing to Humperdinck's music was just jarring.

Fairy tales evolved over centuries, according to psychoanalyst Bruno Bettelheim, and serve to help children deal with psychological issues.  Although the situation in Humperdinck's opera is not as dire as in the Brothers Grimm fairy tale (in which the parents abandon the children in the forest due to a famine), it still offers reassurance to children in that it reinforces sibling cooperation, stresses childhood resourcefulness, and offers the concept of helpful guardian angels.  

From the standpoint of an adult opera lover, our enchantment rests on the melodies lavished by Humperdinck on his sister's libretto. Many of them are based upon German folk songs . The 1893 premiere was conducted by none other than Richard Strauss. Gustav Mahler conducted it as well. We have seen many productions since we began this blog, several by Manhattan Opera Studio and one with full orchestra in Montclair, New Jersey. Each and every time we have been swept away by the authenticity. We don't think there was a good reason to reinvent the story and found it jarring when the orchestra was playing bird song, for example. The woods represent the dark part of the unconscious and the reader/listener/audience member should have the opportunity to make their own connections!

NIBBLE NIBBLE MOUSEKIN

Cast of Opera Theater of Montclair's  Hansel and Gretel

In 1890, Adelheid Wette, the sister of composer Engelbert Humperdinck, asked him to compose 4 songs for a puppet show for her nieces based on the Grimm Brothers fairytale, Hansel and Gretel. Later she wrote the libretto for an opera based on the fairytale. Over the next three years Humperdinck completed composition of the opera using his sister’s libretto. It premiered on December 23, 1893 and was an immediate success. It remains one of the most popular operas throughout the world and is often performed during the Christmas season. The opera is not just for children; its endless melody makes it enjoyable for adults as well.

Mia-Riker-Norrie, General Director of the Opera Theatre of Montclair, made a wise choice in selecting this delightful opera as its fifth full main stage production. Two performances took place this Saturday and Sunday and two more performances will take place next weekend. All performances begin at 4:00 to so that children can enjoy this opera along with their family. Many young children were in the audience Saturday with their parents, grand parents, or other friends and family.

Engelbert Humperdinck, a great admirer of the composer Richard Wagner, was invited by Wagner to work with him for two years. Humperdinck’s elaborate scores reflect Wagner’s influence, but Humperdinck found his own unique style. He was known for his tuneful music and brilliant orchestrations. There are at least a dozen familiar tunes in the opera. 

The overture, conducted by Maestro Elizabeth Hastings, begins softly with the horns playing the “evening prayer” heard later in the opera. She quietly built up the crescendos as called for and brought out exciting and beautiful playing from the orchestra.  

The opera opens with Hansel, (mezzo-soprano Madison Marie Mcintosh), and Gretel, (soprano Laura Kosar), singing a folk song, “Susie little Susie.” They are poor and hungry. Hansel is supposed to be making brooms and Gretel is knitting but they would much rather play. Madison and Laura were entirely convincing as young children; Madison with her shorts and Bavarian suspenders, and Laura with her dirndl.  Madison’s Hansel is a typical young boy… playful, who avoids work and teases his sister by sticking out his tongue. Laura was also very playful although a bit more serious. Madison has a beautiful mezzo voice which, every time I hear her, seems to grow bigger and more beautiful. Laura’s lyric soprano is lovely and blooms on the high notes. Their voices were perfectly matched as they sang and danced  the well known duet “Brother won’t you dance with me.”

Their mother returns home and is furious with them for shirking their chores.  Soprano Luisa Fernanda Munster sang the role of the mother, Gertrude.  She has a big attractive dramatic voice and uses it well.

Gertrude sends the children off to the woods to pick strawberries.  The father Peter is heard offstage singing a happy song.  He is delighted that he was able to sell many brooms at the fair.  Peter was sung by bass-baritone Nathan Bahny.  His big booming voice has a beautiful gentle quality and he was entirely convincing as the concerned father.

The Second act starts with another orchestral prelude which is known as “The witches ride.” Again, Maestro Hastings’ conducting was just right…bringing out the drama and excitement of the music.

Hansel and Gretel are lost in the woods which they find very scary.  The Sandman, sung very sensitively by soprano Christine Rauschenbach-Nevill, sprinkles sand over the children to make them sleepy. Before falling asleep, Hansel and Gretel sing their evening prayer, again in complete harmony with each other, and then they fall asleep.

Fourteen angels gather to protect the sleeping children. The costume designer, Julia Sharp, created beautiful flowing white capes for the angels…4 of them were on either side of the choir loft and the other 14 were divided between the two aisles of the church  With choreography by Conny Andres, they danced as they came down the aisles and onto the stage. This was a very lovely scene, staged by the director of the production, Stacey Canterbury. Maestro Hastings' sensitive conducting of this delicate music supported the dancing. The dancers were all young and lovely.

Act Three opens this time with a happy sounding prelude, although there are hints of the evil witch with the “Nibble nibble mousekin” theme. The Dew fairy, who comes to awaken the children, was gently sung by the lyric soprano Barbara Monk. Upon waking up, Hansel and Gretel come across the gingerbread house.  Madison and Laura again displayed their ability to portray the children. Their astonishment upon finding the gingerbread house was well acted. Stacey Canterbury Climie, who directed this production of Hansel and Gretel, sings the role of the witch.  She has a big warm voice and uses it well.  I did feel that she was a bit nicer than I imagine a witch to be but it was an interesting interpretation.

Hansel and Gretel free the children who are no longer gingerbread people and  the opera ends with a joyful children’s chorus.

When the opera ended it was met with great applause by both children and adults.  Congratulations to Mia, the General Director of the Opera Theatre of Montclair, for bringing together such a great team of people to put on this beautiful production. And congratulations to David Gilliam the set and production designer.  He designed three folding backdrops; the first a painted kitchen scene with pots, pans, and a stove; the second a forest scene, and the third the gingerbread house and gingerbread characters. 

For those of you who were not at the performances this weekend, do come to see this delightful well performed opera next weekend and bring your friends, children and grandchildren. You’ll be in for a treat.

© Ellen Godfrey, Guest Reviewer

A FAIRY TALE FOR OUR TIME

Ísis Cunha, Sarah Kim, Javiera Saavedra, Carly Cummings, Abdiel Vazquez, Annmarie Errico, Lisa Nava, Jin Yu, and Erika Straus

A friend we invited to attend Engelbert Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel expressed disinterest in "a children's opera". We couldn't help wondering whether that misconception has kept this marvelous opera from being on the "Top Ten" list of operas. Would we call Cenerentola or Cendrillon "children's operas" because they too are based on fairy tales?

Thankfully, that designation has never dissuaded us, although we find the overblown production at the Met rather dispiriting. This is indeed an intimate family story and rather resonant at this time since children are being separated from their parents at our Mexican border. We couldn't help thinking of that whilst watching Manhattan Opera Studio's excellent intimate production last night at the National Opera Center. 

Fairy tales evolved over centuries, according to psychoanalyst Bruno Bettelheim, and serve to help children deal with psychological issues.  Although the situation in Humperdinck's opera is not as dire as in the Brothers Grimm fairy tale (in which the parents abandon the children in the forest due to a famine), it still offers reassurance to children in that it reinforces sibling cooperation, stresses childhood resourcefulness, and offers the concept of helpful guardian angels. 

This softening of the story was likely due to the fact that the libretto was written by the composer's sister for her own children. Just like Disney, she did not trust the terrifying nature of the original.

From the standpoint of an adult opera lover, our enchantment rests on the melodies lavished by Humperdinck on his sister's libretto. Many of them are based upon German folk songs but the orchestration shows the influence of Richard Wagner. The 1893 premiere was conducted by none other than Richard Strauss. Gustav Mahler conducted it as well.

Last night's production, part of Manhattan Opera Studio's Summer Festival, employed Kathleen Kelly's outstanding reduction of the score for chamber orchestra, comprising a string quartet augmented by flute, clarinet, and horn,with Jestin Pieper at the piano. From this group of splendid musicians, Maestro Abdiel Vazquez pulled a winning performance.

All of the singers were superb. Soprano Carly Cummings made a winning Gretel in pigtails whilst mezzo-soprano Annmarie Errico was convincingly boyish as Hänsel. Like siblings everywhere they had their moments of fun and moments of rivalry. We enjoyed the scene in which they dance together but really enjoyed their duets in which their two voices blended beautifully.

Their very angry mother was sung by Javiera Saavedra and their bibulous father was performed by Jin Yu. After the children are sent to the forest to forage berries, Father returns home drunk but Mother's rage is softened when she sees the abundance of food he has brought, thanks to selling all of his brooms. There's a lot of insight into male/female dynamics there.

The forest scene was lovely. Patricia Billings' clarinet gave us believable cuckoo sounds. A chorus in the rear of the hall echoed Hansel's cries. A charming Sandman (Erika Straus) helps the children find peace in sleep. The physical presence of the 14 angels was created by the audience's imagination. The children are awakened by a rather idiosyncratic and colorful Dew Fairy (Ísis Cunha) sporting a yellow slicker and matching umbrella!

Sarah Kim made a wonderful witch, and the upward stares of the children helped us to see her fly (offstage, of course). She put the children in a trance by means of a spiral design on a twirling umbrella.  She cast a spell with her magic wand, utilizing it to control their movements. We were a bit puzzled however by her flamenco dance!

Stage Director Lisa Nava substituted imagination for money, leaving the audience to do some mental work, a good thing in our book. There was nothing onstage except some brooms and a couple of footstools which were used for important arias.  The witch's death in the oven was suggested by a floodlight and crinkled red cellophane. Elizabeth Harraman's horn announced her demise.  The chorus in the rear of the theater sang the parts of the children freed from her spell.

Manhattan Opera Studio presented this opera two years ago and we enjoyed it enough to catch it again. We had some quibbles about the directing and are happy to relate that Ms. Nava's direction is greatly improved. The characters related to one another and the family reunion at the end brought cheer to our heart as we imagined the reunions that will hopefully recur among our neighbors from South of the Border.

Our other quibble from 2016 was the titles of rhymed couplets which did not reflect a true German translation. This time, there were no titles but the German was quite clear and whatever was missed was made clear by the fine acting and direction.

Under the Artistic Direction of Carlos Federico Tagle and the Music Direction of Benoit Renard, Manhattan Opera Studio is a fine addition to the New York opera scene. There will be another chance to see this production Tuesday night at 8:00 at the National Opera Center.  Although the cast will be different, we are sure that the quality will be as high.

Thursday and Sunday will bring productions of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and we can scarcely wait. Keith Chambers will be conducting.

(c) meche kroop

DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD

Yen Yu Chen, Louis Ong, Isabella Stollenmeier, Jessica Doolan, Keith Chambers, Jessica Gonzales-Rodriguez, Lisa Nava, Rachel Gomes, and Rebekah Hartie

It was the Gay 90's when composer Engelbert Humperdinck provided music for lyrics written by his sister Adelheide Wette--songs for children derived from a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. The maestro picked up that ball and ran with it, scoring a major musical touchdown with an opera that thrills children and adults alike--Hansel and Gretel.  Who cannot relate to a tale of sibling relationships, parental frustration, and the difficulty of providing for children!

The two siblings in Hansel and Gretel are barely surviving their hunger in a situation of privation. The breaking of a pitcher of milk becomes a major tragedy and the despairing mother sends the children to gather berries in the wood. When Father comes home with food that he earned selling his brooms at a festival, he alerts Mother to the danger of allowing children to go into the forest where lives a Wicked Witch who eats children.

Fortunately the children have some beneficial forces at work to protect them--a Dew Fairy and a Sandman who provides healthy respite from the cares of the day.  The children manage to beat the Witch at her own game, shoving her into the very same oven in which she transformed live children into gingerbread cookies.  All ends happily in a version less gruesome and frightening than the Grimm Brothers' original.  The cookie-kids are even restored to life.

Maestro Keith Chambers of the New Amsterdam Opera and Artistic Director Carlos Tagle provided a fine presentation of this musically glorious work--sung in fine German by participants in the Manhattan Opera Studio. The orchestra was situated on one side of the long narrow Scorca Hall at the National Opera Center; it was an unusual configuration but it worked, allowing the audience to get up close and personal with the performers.

We loved hearing the original German, although the projected titles were not translations of the German that we heard sung but rather rhymed couplets belonging to an English translation. Happily, the singing was as fine as the German diction.

Jessica Doolan has a lovely soprano and an engaging manner that made her a fine  childlike Gretel. Jessica Gonzales-Rodriguez' mezzo-soprano made a satisfactory Hansel but we hope that she will do some work on mastering masculine mannerisms, in order to be more believable in a pants role.

We particularly enjoyed baritone Louis Ong as a forceful father appropriately concerned about his children. Mezzo-soprano Rachael Gomes portrayed the Mother.  As the cannibalistic Wicked Witch, Isabella Stollenmeier needed a big dose of nastiness to be convincing, whereas Yen Yu Chen was all sunshine as the Dew Fairy. Rebekah Hartie did well as the Sandman.

The major pleasure of the evening lay in Maestro Chambers' effective conducting of the reduced orchestra in which the horn and clarinet played major parts.  Humperdinck made liberal use of folk melodies which he orchestrated with fine harmonies reflective of Wagner.  There were moments in the overture when we thought of Parsifal. The prayer is familiar, as is the sibling dancing song. But it is always a treat to hear the entire score.

We were not thrilled with Lisa Nava's direction.  Many of the instructions in the libretto were ignored and the characters rarely faced one another.  It appeared as if they were directed to face the audience. The four singers never seemed to form a family.  We wanted more menace from the witch.

The setting comprised a couple of tree stumps and some brooms made of twigs.  Nothing more was needed. Costumes were cleverly improvised with the Dew Fairy making quite an impression with her sunny yellow dress and parasol.

On the whole, Manhattan Opera Studio provided a delightful exposure to this wonderful opera.  We  were able to hear a single cast but would gladly have heard it twice.

© meche kroop