HÄNSEL UND GRETEL
+ THE GIFT OF THE MAGI
Sibelius Academy
combined Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel and Einojuhani Rautavaara’s
The Gift of the Magi operas together. The second opera was performed as the
dream sequence of the children after they had got lost in the woods. The
solution was a bit odd, especially since Gretel says in the second act that she
had had a lovely dream. I doubt any child would consider The Gift of the Magi
lovely.
As such both operas
were good in their own genre. Hänsel und Gretel had spectacular sets and
costumes. The costumes and the house of the family were black, but the house
and the dress of the witch were bright and colourful. Use of balloons both in
the outfits and in building both the woods and the gingerbread house was a
brilliant idea. The only drawback was the inescapable squeaking of the balloon
dresses.
Also the music was
alluring. I had last seen Hänsel und Gretel in February in Mariinsky, in
St.Petersburg and this performance sounded totally different. It is amazing how
different the music sounds when it was performed in the original language (in
Mariinsky the language was Russian). Of course, the original German libretto
contains a lot of playing with words, which the Russian version did not have
My favourite singer of
the evening was Samuli Takkula, who sang the role of the father. He had a nice,
ringing baritone. I am not saying that the other singers performed badly, quite
on the contrary. And I would especially like to mention Elisabet Petsalo as the
witch. The character was amusingly colourful and catching.
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| Balloon forest |
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| Hansel und Gretel |
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| The Gift of the Magi |
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