Night of Magic with Hansel and Gretel
Mid Wales Opera returns to touring this spring with its new production of Humperdinck’s classic Hansel and Gretel and will visit the Torch Theatre, Milford Haven, on Thursday16 March. The performance will also feature children from the Limelight School of Performing Arts.
Mid Wales Opera’s music director Jonathan Lyness said Hansel and Gretel is Humperdinck’s most important work: “Originally a simple setting for children of four folksongs from the Grimms’ tale, the composer expanded the work into the fully fledged opera we know today. It occupies a unique sound world, full of rich lyricism and a melodic appeal that ties the music directly to folksong, within which the children’s adventures are brought vividly to life. The composer Richard Strauss declared the opera a masterpiece, conducting its first performance in 1893, and the work has been a mainstay of opera houses worldwide ever since.”
This new production of Hansel and Gretel, the first by Mid Wales Opera, is directed and designed by MWO’s artistic director, Richard Studer. The opera is sung in English, translated by David Pountney, with a cast of eight professional singers.
MWO’s partner orchestra, Ensemble Cymru, is conducted by Jonathan Lyness who has also created a new orchestration of the work especially for this production.
Hansel and Gretel is at the Torch Theatre on Thursday 16 March at 7pm.
Tickets £22.50, £20.50 concessions; £9 U26.
The production is suitable for children aged eight and over.
Box office: 01646 695267 or www.torchtheatre.co.uk.
