30 July – 8 August
The last production of the summer season is another triumph for this adventurous festival. Lucy Bailey’s innovative take on Humperdinck’s familiar gem is a fearless confrontation with the fairy tale’s dark side. Yet her exciting and energetic interpretation never loses sight of the humanity and humour that underlie the story. The exceptionally witty English libretto is by Sir David Pountney.
Shows are necessarily small scale in this 500-seat auditorium, and designer Anisha Fields has exploited this to advantage. The opening scene in the siblings’ cottage is set within white paper walls scrawled with rough charcoal lines, suggesting both the family’s poverty and the pages of a book. The children are stained with coal dust and dirt, too tired and hungry to carry on with their work, making broomsticks or knitting socks. When mother rips through a doorway we get an immediate sense of the threat outside the home. In Act Two the monochrome theme is reversed as the children wander through a dark forest splashed with spots of light. The absence of colour only adds to the suspense as we anticipate the delicious temptations of Act Three. We are not disappointed. What might be overfamiliar is kept fresh by constant surprises. This must be the first fairy tale witch to be inspired by the shades of both Margaret Thatcher and The Devil Wears Prada, a dangerously seductive enchantress in scarlet high heels.
The cast is uniformly excellent. Rosalind Dobson in her Longborough debut is an outstanding Gretel, vocally and physically agile, with a pure lyric soprano. She is well matched by Joanna Harries’ heavier tones as the naïve and hapless Hansel. Lee Bisset excels as Mother and Witch. An experienced Wagnerian dramatic soprano, she brings a flourish of power and authority to both roles. The other principal is Darren Jeffery’s Father, a resonant bass baritone expressive of deep emotion.
There are delightful directorial touches such as reimagining the Dew Fairy as a chambermaid wheeling in the early morning coffee on a shaky trolley, her attendants dressed as miniature chefs ready to do her bidding. There is, of course, horror. Force feeding. The oven. The gruesome fate of the witch is never glossed over. But that is the essence of this wonderful opera, the contrast between good and evil, the continual interplay between psychological realism and a sense of the uncanny. The Longborough Youth Chorus enter this magical world both as angels and as the Witch’s former victims, moving with grace, singing beautifully, adding a bittersweet poignancy whenever they appear.
Humperdinck worked as Wagner’s assistant and learnt much from his master. But he has his own inimitable genius. Hansel and Gretel is through composed, with memorable melodies, many redolent of folk tunes, each emerging effortlessly from the glorious orchestration. The opening horn quartet is heart-melting, and the players of the Longborough Festival Orchestra do it full justice. When the full orchestra joins in, the sound swells out from the large pit below the little stage with an acoustic as rich as can be heard any of the great opera houses. The excellent conductor is Karen Kamensek. It’s encouraging to note that half the festival operas are conducted by women.
Hansel and Gretel has been a firm favourite since its first production in Weimar in 1893. It deals with life’s fundamentals, the love of family, and the need for food and safety. It is unusual in that there is not a hint of romantic love. But if an opera can be perfect without it, this is such an opera.
★★★★★ Ros Carne 31 July 2026
Photography credit: Matthew Williams-Ellis
