Search - Herbert von Karajan, Loughton Girls School Chorus, Bancroft School Boys' Choir :: Great Recordings Of The Century - Humperdinck: Hansel Und Gretel / Karajan, Schwarzkopf, Grummer, Metternich, et al

Still the recommended version.

John Austin | Kangaroo Ground, Australia | 11/21/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Lying in the EMI vaults are many tapes of superb opera recordings made in the 1950s. Herbert von Karajan, prior to his Berlin Philharmonic days, was often engaged to conduct them by the producer, Walter Legge. The recording venue was London's Kingsway Hall - blown to smithereens recently when a bomb that had lodged in the roof during a W W 2 air raid was dislodged. Amongst these splendid productions, this 1953 recording of "Hänsel und Gretel" has inspired great affection and received many reissues. Early reviewers, writing in the "Record Guide" thought the heroes of the occasion were Elisabeth Grümmer and Herbert von Karajan. Later reviewers have praised Schwarzkopf and Grümmer for their skill at "acting with the voice". Currently this EMI set is still the recommended version of the opera listed in the "Gramophone".If these are some of the recommendations, are there any cautions? I offer only one. Don't expect 1953 mono recording to deliver the luscious listening experience that modern technology provides. Listening to the long orchestral introduction to Act Two, you could be excused for thinking that the score was ghost-written by Wagner. In fact the reverse is partly true. In his younger years Humperdinck became strongly influenced and actively associated with Wagner at Bayreuth. Wagner called on his young disciple to help put the finishing touches to "Parsifal"."

HANSEL GRETEL AND UNCLE HERBERT

DAVID BRYSON | Glossop Derbyshire England | 03/05/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Can it really have been as long ago as 1953 that this famous performance was recorded? I can no longer remember how the original issue sounded, but the sound comes over very well in general on this remastered set. As often with analogue-to-digital transfers there is a slight `edge' to the effect, particularly of the voices, but that is a very minor matter when set against the flawless clarity throughout. It has been a real thrill too to be reminded of the tone of the great Philharmonia Orchestra in its heyday. The horn sound right away in the first bars is exquisite by way of getting off to a perfect start, and the engineers for their part have done a brilliant job with the echo-effects in the forest.



The only names among the singers that I have stayed familiar with down the years are those of the Hansel and Gretel themselves, Elisabeth Gruemmer and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. However the entire cast is, to my own way of thinking, something close to ideal. Shwarzkopf and Gruemmer do not attempt any childlike vocal tone, and thank goodness for that. These vocal roles are written for adult sopranos and they call for a good deal of power on occasions. It is the music itself that evokes childhood with its innocent and beautiful tunes, a number of which are songs that that would remain as songs if this opera were given as a spoken stage-play. The other singers all seem to me to understand their parts very well too. What they bring to them is what this music calls for - tact, sensitivity, beauty of tone and musicianship first last and always. Fairy tales only involve simple and schematic characterisation. The witch obviously has to sound witchy to a certain extent, and I find the effect nicely judged here and not overdone. Similarly with the jovial father after a good day's trading and a few drinks to celebrate. Perhaps Maria von Isolvay could have suggested a little more annoyance when she knocks over the milk-jug and have sounded a trifle more aghast when she becomes aware of the danger from the witch. However even if so I still prefer restraint to exaggeration. This is not grand opera, after all.



It is singularly beautiful opera. The witty and stylish, though desperately shallow, Viennese critic Hanslick quotes with rueful agreement someone's statement that Hansel and Gretel is the finest opera since Wagner. I sincerely hope that, superficial though he was, he meant German opera - Verdi's Otello was only from a few years earlier, and Falstaff must have been premiered at something like the same time as Hansel and Gretel was. Assuming this interpretation, I guess I would have to agree as well.



I like the composer's photograph, with his innocent, vulnerable features. I would have liked another, of Karajan as he was in 1953, and I'm trying to recall him as he was then with his hair brushed back from his temples as if in the slipstream of his powerboat. The years have softened a certain antipathy I used to feel towards his showman's approach, and I am coming increasingly to admire some of his earlier work. This is a reissue that I recommend cordially, but please be aware that at a budget price the full libretto is not included. However the German liner-notes on the work and the composer are translated into English, the story must be familiar to everyone and it is easy enough to follow what is happening. All these years later it is still as fresh as the strawberries that the children picked in the forest."