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Frothy fantasy in a freaky fairytale
REVIEW: HANSEL UND GRETEL
Royal Opera House
IN the Royal Opera House’s programme notes, a young cast member describes the show as “not frightening… just freaky”.
Children so often get it spot-on. It is this “freakishness” that best characterises Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier’s surreal production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s beloved Märchenspiel (fairytale) opera, Hansel and Gretel.
From ghoulish Angels and a domestic Dew Fairy, to giant gingerbread men and exploding ovens, this show bubbles to the brim with the weird and wonderful.
But this frothy fantasy also discloses a savage underworld of neglectful and abusive adults, a subject with which the audience of today will be all too familiar.
This is fairytale at its most outrageous and disconcerting, be warned.
Of the two casts, Thursday saw warmly resonant mezzo Alice Coote, and the crystal-clear soprano Camilla Tilling assume the roles of the downtrodden innocents Hansel and Gretel.
Both, with their perfectly matched voices and credible childishness, were excellent, as was the inimitable Ann Murray, who dazzled as the geriatric, Cruella DeVil-style Witch. She embodied the kind of freakish menace that inspires terror in every child.
Humperdinck’s tour de force, unlike the Brothers Grimm tale, tells the story as much through its musical lights and shades as through the actions on stage.
Robin Ticciati, who at 25 is one of the youngest conductors ever to grace the podium of the ROH, handled the score with sensitivity and precision.
Never overindulging the ever-so-slightly syrupy melodies, the music was poignant, as it should be, rather than sickly sweet.
A rather tepid start and underwhelming performances from Irmgard Vilsmaier as Gertrud and an oafish Eike Wilm Schulte as Peter, were the only disappointments of the evening.
The pair’s awkwardly choreographed fondles and caresses, intended perhaps to unsettle, were absurdly incongruous.
This aside, the opera was a breathtaking theatrical display – a beautifully executed dream sequence and explosive final scene were undoubted highlights – that held us captive to our greatest fantasies and worst nightmares.
“Freaky” indeed.
Joanna Bedford
December 18, 21, 28, 29, 30. |
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