Shudder with a smile and neat cross-dressing: at the Reisopera ‘Hansel and Gretel’ is for the whole family

While inflation is rising and the heating is running on economy mode, theDutch Reisopera is touring with the German traditional answer to the chillywinter months: the heartwarming fairytale opera Hansel and Gretel (1892) vanHumperdinck. By coincidence, an opera by Humperdinck will also premiere onThursday at Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam; the heavier Wagnerian, moreobscure and (therefore) less played Konigkinder. Never before in musichistory did the Dutch Humperdinck fan experience such a festive month asOctober 2022.

Gustav Mahler called Hansel and Gretel a masterpiece. The warmth and nuancethat now come out of the fantastic playing Noord Nederlands Orkest (on Fridayin the always surprisingly good and generous sounding Wilminktheater Enschede)make clear that conductor Karel Deseure agrees with Mahler.

The overture is immediately a highlight – orchestral, but also in the visualapproach. Animation film images in silhouette style give a clear outline ofthe prehistory. Boy meets Girl at the fair, rings and children are born,mommy dies, daddy marries the angry stepmother who sends Hansel and Gretel outto pick strawberries when there is nothing left to eat.

Nice dirty lick beards

Although you can google together shelves full of dissertations about thesymbolic layers in the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale, which is especiallyfamous by Grimm, Paul Carr’s direction largely stays away from the realm ofFreud and psychological interpretation. His approach is straightforward, hehimself speaks of ‘pure escapism’. The most striking intervention is thatHansel and Gretel (also just in the grubby pinafore and bermuda that yourecognize from your own fairy tale book) do not grow up in the countryside,but in urban pushpin construction. This move to the shabby fringes of a cityalso immediately makes room for the second find: the witch does not live in acookie house, but in an abandoned amusement park – including dilapidatedcarousel, eerie floating balloons and entrance gate with peeling clown face.

Classic horror associations present themselves, but not for long. The scenewith the witch (superbly cast Michael Smallwood: gritty low, sweet high) isabove all a droll cross-dressing show with filthy lick beards on kinky patentboots: fun for the whole family. The same safe abstraction typifies theSandman/Dawman, the ambiguous mythical creature that puts brother and sisterto sleep and wakes them up. It’s kind of fluffy Willy Wonka here, a littlegoofy, but certainly not scary or suggestive.

Deep evening prayer

The two hours flew by, because Mahler was right: Hansel and Gretel is fullof beautiful songs and melodies that caress the mind like a cat’s tail. Themost famous example is the evening prayer (‘Abends wenn ich schlafen geh’),which is sung here intimately and elegantly. In any case, Dorrottya Láng(Hans) and Sarah Brady (Grietje) have attracted two excellent singers. Láng istough but not too perky: believable. Brady has such a pleasantly warm sopranothat you suspect it is a good thing that the Reisopera managed to engage herbefore moving on to bigger houses.

The performance consists of beautiful images; crescent moon with lights,Efteling-like swan boats. Deeper thoughts about coming of age, intoxication,lust and/or parent-child relationships are not tickled up, but a big laugh atthe absurd way in which the witch comes to her/his end in a popcorn machine.Pop! Airy as a cloud. That is also possible.