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Hansel and Gretel

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LEON WILSON CLARK OPERA SERIES SHEPHERD SCHOOL OPERA and the SHEPHERD SCHOOL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA present HANSEL AND GRETEL An opera in three acts by Engelbert Humperdinck Libretto by Adelheid Wette Richard Bado, conductor Debra Dich son, stage director and choreographer October 26, 28, 30 and November 1 7:30 p.m. Wortham Opera Theatre Cel e b ratin . g1; 1975 -2005 1/7 Years THE SHEPHERD SCHOOL t ~ IC RICE UNIVERSITY CAST (in order of vocal appearance) Wednesday, October 26; Friday, October 28; Sunday, October 30 Gretel. Angela Mortellaro Hansel. Kira Austin-Young Mother . Valerie Rogotzke Father. Colm Estridge Sandman . Audrey Walstrom Dew Fairy Hannah Nelson Witch . James Hall Tuesday, November 1 Gretel. Hannah Nelson Hansel . Audrey Walstrom Mother . Valerie Rogotzke Father. Raines Taylor Sandman. Kelly Duerr Dew Fairy Amanda Conley Witch . James Hall Angels and Gingerbread children: Rebecca Henry, Andrea Leyton­ Mange, Catherine Ott-Holland, Quinn Shadko, Lauren Snouffer, Ryan Stickney, Meghan Tarkington, Emily Vacek Demons: Grace Field, Katina Mitchell, Keith Stonum, Dan Williamson Members of the SHEPHERD SCHOOL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Larry Rachleff, music director Violin I Cello Trumpet Kristi Helberg, Madeleine Kabat John Williamson concertmaster Victoria Bass Jonathan Brandt Rachelle Hunt Cristian Macelaru Double Bass Trombone Kristiana Matthes Jordan Scapinello, Colin Wise principal Pei-Ju Wu Harp Edward Botsford Kaoru Suzuki Earecka Tregenza Violin II Flute Timpani Steven Zander, Leslie Richmond Evy Pinto principal Oboe 'v Jessica Blackwell Percussion Annie Henneke Martin Dimitrov Brian Manchen Maria Dance Clarinet David West Melanie Yamada Viola Orchestra Manager Hsing-Hui Hsu Whitney Bullock, Martin Merritt principal Bassoon Orchestra Librarian Ellen Gartner Abigail Jones and Assistant Katherine Lewis Personnel Manager Andrea Hemmenway Horn Kaaren Fleisher Adam Koch Cello Assistant Stage Elizabeth Schellhase Stephanie Hunt, Manager principal Francis Schmidt HANSEL AND GRETEL An opera in three acts by Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921) Libretto by Adelheid Wette Based on Jakob and Wilhem Grimm's "Hansel und Gretel" Premiere on December 23, 1893 English translation. by arrangement with James Benner, Morgantown, West Virginia ACT! The humble cottage ofa broommaker ACT II The forest INTERMISSION (15 minutes) ACT III The forest, the next morning ARTISTIC STAFF Conductor. Richard Bado Stage Director and Choreographer. Debra Dickinson Set Designer . Kirk Markley Costume and Makeup Designer Freddy Reymundo Lighting Designer . David Gipson Wig Designer . Eunice Trevino Chorus Master. Eric Esparza Musical Preparation Michael Franciosi English Diction Coach . Rick Piersall Rehearsal Pianist . Carol Rausch PRODUCTION STAFF Technical Director . Troy McLaughlin Stage Manager and Properties Master . Alex Stutler Surtitles . Debra Dickinson Surtitle Operator . Barry Robinson Followspot Operators . Michael Accinno, Lindsay Boulware Running Crew . Calm Estridge, Raines Taylor Hair and Makeup Assistant . Kelly Duerr ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Masks for the Demons are provided courtesy of the Pittsburgh Public Theater. Special thanks to Performing Arts Supply, Local 51 Stagehands Union, Cre 8 A Scene Productions, Stagelight, Backstage Presence, Greg Weber, Betty Dickinson, Marty Merritt, Ted Pappas, Andrea Trusty, and students of Opera Workshop Class. Assistance with set building provided by Mandy Billings, Tracy Frink, Emily Golden, Katie Jackson, Courtney McLaughlin, Lindsay van Amerogen, Adam van Wagoner, and Mariah Wittig. This production is made possible by a generous endowment from the late Dr. Leon Wilson Clark, and in part by financial support from The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts and The Humphreys Foundation. SYNOPSIS Hansel and Gretel are the children of a poverty-stricken broommaker. To dis­ tract themselves from hunger while their father and stepmother are out peddling brooms, the children sing and dance. When the Stepmother returns home after an unsuccessful day, she upbraids the children for wasting their time in frivolous ac­ tivities, and while punishing them, she accidentally spills their very last bit offood, a jug of milk, on the floor. Furious, she sends the children oui to the enchanted forest, the Jlsenstein, to pick strawberries. As the Stepmother bemoans her unhap­ py life, her drunken husband returns home from enjoying himself at the tavern. It seems he has had a more successful day, selling his wares at a town fair, and he has brought home enough food for a feast. When he asks where the children are, the woman guiltily tells her husband that she has sent them out of the house to the Jlsenstein. Horrified, the Father recounts how the forest is haunted by a witch who catches children by luring them with food, then cooks them in her magic oven turn­ ing them into gingerbread, which she eats. The Stepmother,feeling remorse for her treacherous act committed in anger, runs off to find the children, followed by the Father. Hansel and Gretel, deep in the forest, pick berries and play, but before they realize what they are doing, they eat all of the berries. Terrified of returning home with an empty basket to show their stepmother, they decide to pick some more, but the forest is growing dark and frightening shapes begin looming in the shadows. Hansel realizes they are lost, and Gretel becomes hysterical with fear. As darkness descends, the Sandman approaches and sprinkles sand in their eyes, causing them to become drowsy. He promises that angels will protect them while they sleep, and true to his word, after the children say their evening prayers and fall asleep, the angels appear to ward off the demons that lurk in the forest. The Dew Fairy, harbinger of the morning, arrives to wake up the children. They recount their dreams, filled with angel wings, and suddenly a gingerbread house appears. Though the children know they should not eat it, they give in to their hunger and begin nibbling away at the delicious sugary structure. A hide­ ous woman appears and attempts to seduce them with talk of scrumptious food. When the children become suspicious and try to escape, she uses her magic wand to imprison Hansel in a cage and forces Gretel to bring food with which to fatten him up. The witch fans the flames in her magic oven and revels in her upcoming feast. Gretel, seizing an opportunity to beat the witch at her own game, steals the magic wand and frees Hansel from the cage. Gretel tricks the witch into putting her head in the oven, and the two children push the witch into her agonizing death. As they rejoice in their freedom, they notice that the ginger-bread chil­ dren on the house have come to life, or rather, are in a zombie-like state, unable to move. Gretel and Hansel break the spell that imprisons them, and the freed children break into extravagant praise and thanks for their liberators. Arriving too late to help, the Father and Stepmother arrive as the children pull the witch, now a giant cookie, from the magic oven. Everyone happily munches on the witch's body as the Father leads all the children in a hymn of thanksgiving. DIRECTOR'S NOTES Composer Engelbert Humperdinck's sister Adelheid Wette wrote a short play for her two daughters to perform based on the Grimm fairy tale Hansel und Gretel, and she asked her brother to set it to music. The result was the duet for the two children: Briiderchen, komm, tanz' mit mir (Brother, come and dance with me), which now occurs in the first act, and it so delighted the family that they convinced Humperdinck to expand it into a full-length opera. Humperdinck was a dedicated devotee of Richard Wagner, whom he assisted at the premiere of Parsifal in 1880. Though Humperdinck included many Wagnerian influences, such as the use of leitmotifs, in the score of Hansel und Gretel, he managed to retain the unpretentious charm of a children's story by the use of simple melodies and by incorporating authentic German folk music at the beginning of each act. The original tale was part of a compilation of German folk stories published by the Grimm brothers as Kinder und Hausmiirchen (Children and Household Tales) in 1812 during the German Romantic movement. The series offairy tales often focused on intra-family strife and the conflict between good and evil, with good always winning out over evil, which was violently punished. The Grimm ver­ sion ofHiinsel und Gretel is considerably darker than the opera;for example, the Stepmother convinces the Father to send the children out in the woods to die so -that there will be two fewer mouths to feed. Such evil is punished-in the end; when Hansel and Gretel finally manage to find their way home, they find that their Stepmother has died. As in the Disney movies of the Grimm fairy tales such as Cinderella (in the Grimm version, the Stepsisters hack off their toes or heels to try to fit into the glass slippers, and their eyes are plucked out by birds at the end of the story), the opera of Hansel und Gretel has sanitized the plot and char­ acters so that they may be more agreeable to the tender sensibilities of children. But today's children are exposed to the comically gruesome movies of Tim Burton (not to mention the horrors on the evening news), and modern audiences may find a scarier, Grand Guignol approach more interesting than the sugary sweet version of the opera that is sometimes presented. With that and the Hallow­ een season in mind, we hope our concept of this production will simultaneously entertain with its elements of enchantment and its beautiful music, and frighten with its focus on some of the darker issues at the core of this well-known chil­ dren's tale. BIOGRAPHIES A native of Pittsburgh, Penmylvania, RICHARD BADO made his profession­ al conducting debut in 1989 leading Houston Grand Opera's acclaimed produc­ tion of Show Boat at the newly restored Cairo Opera House in Egypt.
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  • Turandot: Good to Know 5 Production Information 6 Synopsis 7 the Principal Characters 9 the Principal Artists 10 the Composer 11 Turandot the Librettists 12

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    Study Guide Chorus Sponsor Season Sponsors Student Night at the Opera Sponsor Projected Translations Sponsor Making the Arts More Accessible® Education, Outreach and Audience Engagement Sponsors 1060 – 555 Main Street lower level, Centennial Concert Hall Winnipeg, MB, R3B 1C3 204-942-7479 www.manitobaopera.mb.ca For Student Night tickets or more information on student programs, contact Livia Dymond at 204-942-7470 or [email protected] Join our e-newsletter for exclusive behind-the-scenes content: Go to www.manitobaopera.mb.ca and click “Join Our Mailing List” welcome Contents Three Great Resources for Teaching Your Students About Opera 4 Turandot: Good to Know 5 Production Information 6 Synopsis 7 The Principal Characters 9 The Principal Artists 10 The Composer 11 Turandot The Librettists 12 About Musical Highlights 13 Nessun Dorma 14 The History of Turandot 15 Ancient China: Geography 16 People in Ancient China 17 A Short Overview of Opera 18 Bringing an Opera to the Stage 20 The Operatic Voice and Professional Singing 22 Glossary: Important Words in Opera 23 General Opera General Audience Etiquette 27 Manitoba Opera 28 Student Activities 29 Winnipeg Public Library Resources 36 TURANDOT 3 welcome Three Great Resources for Teaching Your Students About Opera 1. Student Night In order to expose student audiences to the glory of opera, Manitoba Opera created Student Night. It’s an affordable opportunity for students to watch the dress rehearsal, an exciting look at the art and magic of opera before the curtain goes up on Opening Night, when tension is high and anything can happen.