Humperdinck: Hänsel und Gretel (Century's recording: Herbert Von Karajan, E.Schwarzkopf, E.Grümmer)

[@classicalmusicreference]

Album available // Humperdinck: Hänsel und Gretel by Herbert von Karajan (2024 Remastered, London 1953) 🎧 Qobuz (Hi-Res) cutt.ly/VekQ3mCj Tidal (Hi-Res) cutt.ly/hekQ3Xkn 🎧 Deezer (hi-fi) cutt.ly/WekQ3MBE Spotify (mp3) cutt.ly/FekQ8ruj 🎧 Amazon (soon) Apple (off) Idagio (off) KZbin Music (mp4) cutt.ly/qekQ8ajQ 🔊 Download the album (Hi-Res MASTER - WAV uncompressed) cutt.ly/nekQ8IpN Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921) Hänsel und Gretel Opera *Click to activate the English subtitles for the presentation* (00:00-05:10) 00:00 Overture 08:38 Act 1_ Suse, Liebe Suse, Was Raschelt Im Stroh 12:25 Act 1_ So Recht! Und Willst Du Nun Nicht Mehr Klagen 14:24 Act 1_ Bruderchen, Komm, Tanz Mit Mir 18:03 Act 1_ Holla! Himmel! 19:46 Act 1_ Marsch! Fort In Den Wald! 22:16 Act 1_ Ral La La La.. Heissa, Mutter, Ich Bin Da! 24:41 Act 1_ Ho Ho! Wer Spek-Spekta-Kelt Mir 29:21 Act 1_ Doch Halt, Wo Bleiben Die Kinder_ 31:05 Act 1_ Wenn Sie Sich Verirrten Im Walde Dort 32:32 Act 1_ Eine Hex', Steinalt 35:09 Act 1_ Hexenritt 39:33 Act 2_ Ein Mannlein Steht Im Walde 40:58 Act 2_ Mein Erbelkorbchen Ist Voll Bis Oben! 45:55 Act 2_ Gretel, Ich Weiss Den Weg Nicht Mehr! 50:42 Act 2_ Der Kleine Sandmann Bin Ich, S-T! 54:01 Act 2_ Abends, Will Ich Schlafen Gehn 57:41 Act 2_ Traum-Pantomime 1:03:37 Act 3_ Vorspiel 1:06:25 Act 3_ Der Kleine Taumann Heiss' Ich 1:08:05 Act 3_ Wo Bin Ich_ Wach' Ich 1:13:57 Act 3_ Bleib Steh'n! 1:14:36 Act 3_ Wie Duftet's Von Dorten 1:18:28 Act 3_ Knusper, Knusper Knäuschen 1:22:01 Act 3_ Ich Bin Rosina Leckermaul 1:26:22 Act 3_ Halt! Hokus Pokus, Hexenschuß! 1:27:45 Act 3_ Nun, Gretel Sei Vernünftig Und Nett! 1:33:03 Act 3_ Hurr Hopp Hopp Hopp 1:34:47 Act 3_ Auf, Wach Auf, Mein Jungelchen 1:38:51 Act 3_ Juchhei! Nun Ist Die Hexe Tot 1:41:45 Act 3_ Erlöst, Befreit, Für Alle Zeit! 1:46:00 Act 3_ Vater! Mutter! Hänsel : Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Gretel : Elisabeth Grümmer Hexe/Witch : Else Schürhoff Mutter/Mother : Maria Von Ilosvay Vater/Father : Josef Metternich Sandmännchen/Sandman : Anny Felbermayer Taumännchen/Dew Fairy : Anny Felbermayer Choirs of Loughton High School for Girls & Bancroft’s School Philharmonia Orchestra Conductor : Herbert Von Karajan Recorded in 1953 at London New Mastering in 2024 by AB for classicalmusicreference.com/ 🔊 Join us with your phone on our WhatsApp fanpage (our latest album preview): cutt.ly/5eathESK 🔊 Find our entire catalog on Qobuz: cutt.ly/geathMhL 🔊 Discover our playlists on Spotify: cutt.ly/ceatjtlB ❤ Support us on Patreon cutt.ly/ZezaldhI ONCE UPON A TIME... towards the end of the last century, there was, in the house of a doctor in Cologne... a puppet theatre. It belonged to the doctor's daughters, Isolde and Gudrun, and had been made for them by their mother's young brother, a head forester by the name of Max Humperdinck, who had fashioned theatre, puppets and scenery with his own hands. Upon the little stage many a fairytale had been brought to life, Mother supplying the scripts which were, for the most part, based on the tales by the Grimm brothers. And because the two girls both possessed fine voices and genuine musical gifts, their mother's elder brother, Uncle "Entepent", often contributed to the family fun by setting his sister's verses to music. Uncle "Entepent" was none other than Engelbert Humperdinck. It was not unusual for the children to be asked to sing the songs from their fairytale plays to musical gatherings in the homes of friends, where the listeners would include some of the most eminent figures in the musical life of the town, such as Franz Wüllner, the conductor of the Gürzenich Concerts and Director of the Conservertoire, lecturers from the various institutions of learning and artists from the theatres in Cologne. Piece that always met with the greatest approval was the dancing-song from Hänsel und Gretel: "Brother, come and dance with me". And it was these domestic performances of pieces written by Adelheid Wette simply for her children, that gave rise to the idea that here was material for a Singspiel, a play with music. The first to put forward the idea was Humperdinck's brother in law, Dr. Hermann Wette, the composer of Krauskopf, but the project found another early enthusiast in the person of Hugo Wolf, a close friend of both men. Hovever, some time was to pass before Humperdinck, who had relinquished his teaching post at the Cologne Conservatoire in 1890 and moved to Frankfurt, could be convinced of its viability. And Adelheid's daughters were distinctly put out when their father informed them, in the course of a walk, that their own beloved Hänsel und Gretel was to be made into an opera and shown to the general public. However, jealousy turned to pride when, at the first performance at the Cologne State Theatre, in 1894, their mother stood next to the composer and received, like him, an enormous bouquet of flowers. The opera had been premiered the year before, on 23rd December 1893, at Weimar. Richard Strauss conducted and success was instantaneous. Strauss had accepted Humperdinck's invitation to direct his work in an enthusiastic letter in which, among other things, he said: "Truly, this is a masterpiece of the first water. It is a long time since I have been so impressed with any work. What heartwarming humour, what charm and simplicity of melodic line, what art and subtlety in your handling of the orchestra, what a triumph of form overall. My dear friend, you are a great master and you have bestowed upon our dear fellow-citizens a work they hardly deserve, though one hopes that very soon they will be worthy of it in the fullest sense." Only weeks after its Weimar premiere, the work had been taken up by a whole string of German houses, and before long it had been translated into no less than eleven other languages for performance in every corner of the world. Hansel und Gretel has now been in the German repertory for more than eight decades and one can probably assume with a fair degree of certainty that Engelbert Humperdinck's masterpiece will continue to delight many a future generation. Other Album available // Puccini: Tosca by Leontyne Price 🎧 Qobuz cutt.ly/lenJIuhN Tidal cutt.ly/yenJIvvo 🎧 Deezer cutt.ly/xenJIKfT Amazon Music cutt.ly/renJOGMw 🎧 Spotify cutt.ly/henJO0zU KZbin Music cutt.ly/GenJPf3p 🎧 Apple Music - SoundCloud cutt.ly/BenJPT4Q

[@paullewis2413]

Has to be the gold standard recording. What a cast! I was lucky to see a wonderful production in Vienna many years ago and I can remember how magical it was.

[@pb7784]

Das spiele ich bald meinem Enkel vor, so schön❤

[@classicalmusicreference]

ONCE UPON A TIME... towards the end of the last century, there was, in the house of a doctor in Cologne... a puppet theatre. It belonged to the doctor's daughters, Isolde and Gudrun, and had been made for them by their mother's young brother, a head forester by the name of Max Humperdinck, who had fashioned theatre, puppets and scenery with his own hands. Upon the little stage many a fairytale had been brought to life, Mother supplying the scripts which were, for the most part, based on the tales by the Grimm brothers. And because the two girls both possessed fine voices and genuine musical gifts, their mother's elder brother, Uncle "Entepent", often contributed to the family fun by setting his sister's verses to music. Uncle "Entepent" was none other than Engelbert Humperdinck. It was not unusual for the children to be asked to sing the songs from their fairytale plays to musical gatherings in the homes of friends, where the listeners would include some of the most eminent figures in the musical life of the town, such as Franz Wüllner, the conductor of the Gürzenich Concerts and Director of the Conservertoire, lecturers from the various institutions of learning and artists from the theatres in Cologne. Piece that always met with the greatest approval was the dancing-song from Hänsel und Gretel: "Brother, come and dance with me". And it was these domestic performances of pieces written by Adelheid Wette simply for her children, that gave rise to the idea that here was material for a Singspiel, a play with music. The first to put forward the idea was Humperdinck's brother in law, Dr. Hermann Wette, the composer of Krauskopf, but the project found another early enthusiast in the person of Hugo Wolf, a close friend of both men. Hovever, some time was to pass before Humperdinck, who had relinquished his teaching post at the Cologne Conservatoire in 1890 and moved to Frankfurt, could be convinced of its viability. And Adelheid's daughters were distinctly put out when their father informed them, in the course of a walk, that their own beloved Hänsel und Gretel was to be made into an opera and shown to the general public. However, jealousy turned to pride when, at the first performance at the Cologne State Theatre, in 1894, their mother stood next to the composer and received, like him, an enormous bouquet of flowers. The opera had been premiered the year before, on 23rd December 1893, at Weimar. Richard Strauss conducted and success was instantaneous. Strauss had accepted Humperdinck's invitation to direct his work in an enthusiastic letter in which, among other things, he said: "Truly, this is a masterpiece of the first water. It is a long time since I have been so impressed with any work. What heartwarming humour, what charm and simplicity of melodic line, what art and subtlety in your handling of the orchestra, what a triumph of form overall. My dear friend, you are a great master and you have bestowed upon our dear fellow-citizens a work they hardly deserve, though one hopes that very soon they will be worthy of it in the fullest sense." Only weeks after its Weimar premiere, the work had been taken up by a whole string of German houses, and before long it had been translated into no less than eleven other languages for performance in every corner of the world. Hansel und Gretel has now been in the German repertory for more than eight decades and one can probably assume with a fair degree of certainty that Engelbert Humperdinck's masterpiece will continue to delight many a future generation. Click to activate the English subtitles for the presentation (00:00-05:10) Other Album available // Puccini: Tosca by Leontyne Price 🎧 Qobuz cutt.ly/lenJIuhN Tidal cutt.ly/yenJIvvo 🎧 Deezer cutt.ly/xenJIKfT Amazon Music cutt.ly/renJOGMw 🎧 Spotify cutt.ly/henJO0zU KZbin Music cutt.ly/GenJPf3p 🎧 Apple Music - SoundCloud cutt.ly/BenJPT4Q

[@moussapolytropos]

What an amazing influence to film music!

[@brendanward2991]

Magnifique! Merci beaucoup.

[@jonathanclemens4660]

I heard this recording years ago. Brings back good memories.

[@TomAngPhoto]

The story is that HvK took the Philharmonia for a first run-through of the overture. He didn't stop. At the end he asked whether the tape had been running. It had. And that's what we have!

[@robertssje]

I think the story is apocryphal.

[@wab4100]

sehr schöne aufnahme! übrigens: scharzkopf ist gretel und grümmer hänsel.

[@canman5060]

The composer has the same name as one of the famous pop singer in the 1970's.

[@wab4100]

umgekehrt wird ein schuh draus.

[@declamatory]

Why was Elisabeth Grümmer's family "expelled from Lorraine" in 1918?

[@robertssje]

The victorious French army expelled the "Old Germans" from the province after they reoccupied it in 1918. It has been a French province before the Franco-Prussian War. One of the many injustices done to different ethnic groups following the war.