
Hansel and Gretel
Opera in a shortened version by Engelbert Humperdinck
Duration 1 h 15 min
Intermission after 30min
Spoken language: German
Synopsis in English and other languages at the Box office. Price € 1,-
The composer Engelbert Humperdinck - as a marionette – leads through his opera in a child-friendly way
This opera is about Hansel and Gretel, the children of a poor broom-maker-family. One day, their mother sends them into the forest in order to collect mushrooms. But they forget about the time and suddenly it’s too dark to find their way home. So they have to sleep in the woods for the night. When they awake on the next morning, they discover an gingerbread house, where the witch lives, who turns the children into gingerbread loaves. Hansel and Gretel are caught and kept as prisoners by the witch; they are also to be turned into gingerbread. However, Hansel and Gretel are smart: With the help of a trick they cast the witch into her own oven. But the story does not end here: as their worried parents arrive at the gingerbread house, they find not only their own children, but also all the other children who were rescued by Hansel and Gretel.
Recording: NAXOS / Philharmonia Orchestra London – Herbert von Karajan
Loughton High School for Girls Choir, Bancroft´s School Choir, 1953, Kingsway Hall, London
Script and Director: Prof. Gerhard Tötschinger
Choreography: Werner Hierzer
Stage design: Odilia Baldszun
Costume design: Prof. Marie Luise Walek, Christine Hierzer-Riedler
Puppet fabrication: Werner Hierzer
Sculptors: Friedrich Wallner, Tibor Bogdan, Sepp Rems, Andrzej Tatowicz, Antonia Petz
Voice: Prof. Gerhard Tötschinger
Stage Engineer, Decorations: Karl Petz
Stage Painter: Christian Brandtner

Puppeteer
Christine Hierzer-Riedler, Werner Hierzer, Rudolf Schwarzenberger, Maria Drabits, Isabell Francisci-Ragger, Claudia Hisberger, Lisa Pippan, Saviz Foroughi, Antonia Petz, Georg Angerer