"Wagner Light"
it has been called: Humperdinck’s music
in Hänsel und Gretel. It
is well known that he was a great admirer
of Wagner and it is easy to hear the
influences from the outset of the overture.
Even so he has a tonal language of his
own, permeated by folk-like motifs.
But he works on a Wagnerian basis with
Leitmotifs. The orchestration is by
and large Wagnerian and there are other
references to Wagner as well. The Witches’
Ride, for instance, is Humperdinck’s
equivalent of Wagner’s Ride of the
Walküre. The dream pantomime
at the end of act 2 has more than occasional
similarities to Die Meistersinger
von Nürnberg in its contrapuntal
writing and overall atmosphere.
Otmar Suitner, with
the excellent Staatskapelle Dresden
at his disposal leads an unusually big-boned
performance, where the Wagnerian kinship
is emphasized. Suitner was a noted Wagnerian
and Straussian and his reading is surefooted
and free from idiosyncrasies as to choice
of tempo and articulation.
His cast is also on
a grander scale than has been common
practice and it is tempting to draw
further parallels with Wagner: Here
Theo Adam, a leading Wotan of his time,
is an ebullient and jolly but grand
father. Gisela Schröter sings his
wife Gertrud as she would Fricka, Wotan’s
wife. It is a formidable reading and
she makes the mother even more forbidding
than usual. The children – are they
twins like Siegmund and Sieglinde? –
are also sung by more mature voices
than we are used to. Ingeborg Springer’s
Hänsel is not exactly matronly
but for a boy, even a teenager, she
is overripe. Renate Hoff’s Gretel conveys
little in the way of girlishness. Both
sing well and act convincingly – as
do the rest of the cast – but one misses
the innocence. Renate Hoff in the dual
role of Sandman and Dew Fairy might
have been an ideal Gretel in a less
inflated production. Her singing is
truly lovely.
The superb reading
here, and one that comes close to being
the best in any recorded performance,
is Peter Schreier’s witch. This great
Mozartean was – and is – one of the
really great Lieder singers. His extraordinarily
vivid and expressive handling of texts
and his enunciation make him ideal in
the role. In Wagnerian terms he is a
Mime, a role he also sang in real life.
I have always had a special liking for
Elisabeth Söderström’s witch
on the Pritchard recording but now I
feel that Schreier’s is even more penetrating.
This recording is worth the outlay for
his/her scene alone.
And don’t misread me:
The performance as a whole has many
good features. I can’t imagine anyone
buying it will be grossly disappointed,
provided one accepts the grander-than-usual
concept.
The disc come in a
luxurious dark-green velvet box, the
almost 40-year-old VEB recording has
aged with pleasure. The booklet has
a couple of good essays on the work,
a full libretto (but no translations)
and lovely old illustrations of the
tale in colour.
There is no shortage
of recordings of Hänsel und
Gretel: Karajan (early 1950s and
in mono, now on Naxos) is a classic,
but Solti (Decca) and Pritchard (Sony
BMG) or the recent Mackerras (Chandos
– sung in English) are all highly recommendable
and safer bets than the present set.
Suitner however should not be overlooked
and Schreier’s witch cries out to be
heard.
Göran Forsling
Several other sets
are more recommendable but Suitner’s
big-boned reading shouldn’t be overlooked
– and Peter Schreier’s witch cries out
to be heard ... see Full Review