Intermountain Opera stages “Hansel and Gretel, Humperdinck”
Published: October 9, 2011
Intermountain Opera Bozeman stages the classic Brothers Grimm folk tale, “Hansel and Gretal,” set to music by Engelbert Humperdinck, 7 p.m. Oct. 14 and 3 p.m. Oct. 16 at Willson Auditorium.
As Humperdinck’s first and most popular opera, "Hansel and Gretel" premiered in 1893 to rave reviews and has never lost popularity, perhaps because the libretto, written by his sister, Adelheid Wette, is not nearly as grim as Grimm.
Artistic Director Linda Curtis has assembled a stellar cast of professional singers: Hansel will be sung by mezzo-soprano Lauren McNeese, who was most recently seen at the San Francisco Opera as Wellgunde and Rossweisse in the critically acclaimed production of Der Ring des Nibelungen, and made her debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in “Romeo et Juliette”; soprano Audrey Luna, lauded by Opera News as possessing the “power and a blazing coloratura facility that most lyric sopranos can only dream of,” sings the role of Gretel; baritone Darrell Babidge sings the role of Father; and Lisa van der Ploeg returns to the Bozeman stage in the roles of Mother and Witch.
The chorus of gingerbread children includes 23 local youth, ages 9-15. Montana Ballet Company’s artistic directors, Elizabeth DeFanti and Amy Stoddart, in collaboration with IOB stage director Alan Fischer, will choreograph and prepare dancers as “angels” for the dream sequence, and Maestro Julian Dawson directs the IOB orchestra in the “lush symphonic language and unaffected melodies” of Humperdinck’s masterpiece.
The familiar story will be sung in English (with English supertitles) and promises fun for all ages.
Tickets are $20-$60; call 587-2889 or visit www.intermountainopera.org.
