Music Reviews

Feb 9, 2008 - Nevada Opera's "Hansel and Gretel" is lovely to hear but too static to thrill

By Jack Neal

Caught somewhere between puberty and menopause, “Hansel and Gretel” - composer Engelbert Humperdinck’s main claim to fame – without shrewd staging is neither too stirring a fairytale to excite children, nor too engaging as lyric theater to hold the attention of adults.

Based on the classic fairytale by the Brothers Grimm, “Hansel and Gretel” is Wagnerian, if not in scope of story line, at least influenced in that direction through the use of musical motif, exotic harmony and dramatic orchestral scoring.

The challenge? Wagnerian music is powerful stuff. While admitting Wagner is not for everyone, his music holds attention through the sheer force of its power and ethereal majesty. Aficionados of the Wagnerian school of music drama are more tolerant of stand-still-and-sing, than most opera-goers who tap into the kind of gripping theater Puccini was a master at creating.

Unless a stage director invents action that fills the void of long expanses of vocalizing for two rambunctious kids, Hansel and Gretel get stuck somewhere between stoic grandeur and we’re-off-to-see-the-witch action. They have, after all, been sent into the woods to fetch berries by a mother who wants them out of the house. Why? This production's staging never answers that question. Of course the even better question is "Who needs a witch with a mother like Gertrude?"

Short of arresting Gertrude for child endangerment, the children - made even more improbable because the roles are sung (as written) by young women - must be given something interesting to do. Director Marc Astafan has not created the kind of inventive action - including the animals and walk-on set-change people – that might truly enchant children and charm adults.

Soprano Cherry Duke sings Hansel and mezzo-soprano Danielle Talamantes sings Gretel. Both are excellent with clear, crystalline voices that play to the poignancy of Humperdinck’s writing without forced theatricality or blurred vocal purity. Having excellent singers in the title roles is a solid basis on which to build what turns out to be a musically lovely production.

Powerhouse soprano Courtney Ames sings the witch, Rosina Daintymouth, in a bewitching gown more in line with a street walker on Reno’s Fourth Street than a predator witch in Ilsenstein Wood. Highlighting enough cleavage to distract attention from both her singing and the harm the old bitty intends for the children, Ames is a welcome, if astonishing, presence.

Janet Traut is Gertrude, the mother. It’s a relatively undistinguished part. Traut does not rise above what she’s been given to do. Ron Loyd is Peter, the father. Loyd, impressive early on, is most impressive in the opera’s closing scene after the witch’s gingerbread demise, when - in a variation on the prayer theme – he sings joyously of virtue as its own reward. The Nevada Opera Youth Chorus, prepared by the splendid teacher of kids Kris Engstrom, responds with another of its goose-bump-raising moments of glorious children’s singing for a fitting finale to this whimsical story.

Michael Borowitz conducts the production’s orchestra and vocal forces in an unforced, but vibrant manner doing full justice to Humperdinck’s lush score. The Nevada Opera Orchestra performs in its usual professional manner. Don Carson’s sets are a delightful child’s world of make-believe. Don Smith’s lighting radiates the visual magic the opera needs. Eve Allen’s dream-sequence choreography is pleasingly serene. Flirting with such adventures as the witch’s streetwalking outfit, and the Dew Fairy’s prissy princess-at-the-ball look, Susan Allred’s costumes - usually so right on - are an unusual conglomeration.

“Hansel and Gretel” may be a tad hit and miss, but with a beautifully brought off beautiful score, some lovely singing, and a running time of two hours with intermission, Nevada Opera’s “Hansel and Gretel” never wears out its welcome.

Nevada Opera’s production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel” is presented Friday, February 8 (2008) at 8 p.m. (the performance reviewed) and Sunday, February 10 (2008) at 2 p.m. at the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts, 100 South Virginia Street, Reno, Nevada. Tickets are $35 to $90. For information call 775-786-4046, 775-686-6600, 877-840-0457 or go online at www.pioneercenter.com.