To call Königskinder Humperdinck’s other opera
would be unfair – he wrote fourteen in total – but if you’ve
heard of two Humperdinck operas it’s fair to say that, after
the perennially popular Hansel and Gretel, this will
be the other one. Premiered to great acclaim at the New York
Met in 1910 it was an outstanding success, but it never caught
on in Germany the way Hansel did and it fell out of favour
fairly rapidly – there is only one studio recording which, as
far as I can see, is currently unavailable. That’s a shame as,
while the work undoubtedly has problems, it has a lot going
for it and is a far more ambitious work than Hansel.
Humperdinck was famous in his lifetime as a disciple of Wagner
– he assisted at the premiere of Parsifal – and this work contains
many more Wagnerian aspects than even Hansel, both in
terms of plot and music. There are two intensely Wagnerian love
duets, including a closing Liebestod. The second act contains
crowd scenes worthy of Meistersinger, and there is a
wonderfully intense orchestral prelude to the third act where
Humperdinck demonstrates his mastery of many of the techniques
demonstrated by Wagner. There are also some special moments
where he seems to surpass some of his own triumphs in Hansel,
such as a poignant children’s chorus in the third act, an awesome
climax as the town gates are opened in Act 2 and, perhaps most
strikingly, the Goose-Girl’s prayer in Act 1 which is entirely
unlike the children’s prayer in Act 2 of Hansel, motivated
by feelings and dangers which are far more grown-up. That said,
there are good reasons why it has fallen from the repertoire:
it moves very slowly and, in places, without much effect. Furthermore,
key characters like the Witch tend to disappear for no good
reason and the wanderings of the central pair are never fully
explained. However, it’s definitely worth exploring, especially
if you get a performance of such high quality as this one.
This was a concert performance recorded by German Radio over
two nights in December 2008 and only just released. As with
many radio recordings, it isn’t hard to hear the audience coughing
or the characters walking across the stage, but these extraneous
noises are slight and they shouldn’t bother any but the most
picky listeners. The first thing that strikes you is the surging
orchestral playing of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester and
the direction of Ingo Metzmacher which rings with assurance
at every turn. This is clearly a work he believes in and his
conviction affects everyone who takes part in this recording.
The playing of the orchestra is first rate. They never dismiss
this music as trivial or childish: instead they treat it with
seriousness and give it as fine an outing as any you could expect
to hear. In particular, they inhabit the distinctive sound world
of each act in a way that points up the uniqueness of each scene,
and indeed demonstrates an entirely different colour for each.
The effect, then, is to inhabit the fairy-tale world with sincerity
while drawing our attention to the fact that this is also a
work with adult themes whose resonances (the power of love,
its relevance in the modern world, the innocence of children
against the cynicism of adults) affect even our modern world.
The singing is also excellent because it treats the music with
the same conviction and sincerity. As the King’s Son Klaus Florian
Vogt sings with passion and ardour but, importantly, his voice
always has a quality of innocence and youthfulness to it, essential
for this character who observes the adult world but never participates
in it, retaining his innocence and naivety to the end. Equally
importantly, his voice has a golden hue to it that suits this
German Romantic world to perfection. Juliane Banse’s Goose-Girl
is never so innocent, clearly sounding like a mature adult,
but she sings beautifully. Her Act 1 prayer and her death in
Act 3 are especially marvellous. Gabriele Schnaut is a rather
shrill witch, sounding older than she is, but certainly acting
the part convincingly. The Woodcutter and the Broom-maker both
sing well too, and the various minor parts in the second act
are well taken too. However, the real knockout singer is the
Fiddler of Christian Gerhaher, one of our greatest contemporary
vocal actors. The Fiddler is the character in the opera who
goes on the greatest emotional and psychological journey, from
joyful ebullience in the first act to disillusioned sorrow in
the last, and Gerhaher inhabits every aspect of this journey
in a manner that is utterly compelling. His merry folk tunes
sound like something fresh out of Schubert in the first act,
but his final act monologues are almost unbearably poignant.
For his contribution alone this set would be worth obtaining.
So while Königskinder might not be an under-rated masterpiece,
it’s a good place to turn if you like the fairy-tale world of
Hansel and Gretel, and a recording as good as this one
is a perfect introduction. My only complaint is the documentation:
the booklet essay is interesting and we are given the German
text but there are no translations, which I can’t help but feel
will put many listeners off. You’ll need to look elsewhere if
you want to follow every word.
Simon Thompson
Rundfunkchor
Berlin, Berliner Mädchenchor 
