Hänsel et Gretel | Engelbert Humperdinck

This Hänsel and Gretel is a strange story. The Grimm brothers' tale, rewritten in theatrical form by the composer's sister, was first performed in the family circle. At the invitation of the adaptor, Humperdinck gradually added a few tunes of his own, inspired by traditional songs. Then the project grew, until the creation in 1893 in Weimar of a Märchenoper ("fairy tale opera") in three acts, under the baton of Richard Strauss, followed less than a year later by Gustav Mahler in Hamburg! It was an immediate success and was soon confirmed internationally. How can this be explained? First of all, there are musical reasons: as an admiring disciple of Wagner, Humperdinck was able to combine the harmonic subtlety and orchestral science of his master, his art of leitmotifs and infinitesimal transitions, with the simplicity of popular rhythms and melodies, even going so far as to integrate into his score nursery rhymes that German schoolchildren still sing today. As for the tale itself, the musician and his librettist had ample opportunity to measure the ingredients and their effects on their young family audience. The result, as in the case of music, is a prodigy of balance. Even in its watered-down version, the plot can still reveal some traces of its primitive cruelty. True, the abominable stepmother has become a nice mom, and the wicked witch Grignotte no longer has time to eat the little children, but one senses that the affair could have gone much worse. And we shiver deliciously, but without trembling... Project shared with the Association Bourguignonne Culturelle (A.B.C.)