Berliner Philharmoniker 
Mark Elder Conductor
Klaus Wallendorf Presenter

Engelbert Humperdinck
Hänsel und Gretel (abridged version) 
In German with English subtitles

It is fairy-tale time at the Philharmonie! Horn player and presenter Klaus Wallendorf welcomes “children and former children” to Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera Hänsel und Gretel, which he carefully abridged and supplied rhyming texts to connect the musical elements. 

The audience of this concert performance consists of the young and the not so young, some of whom are allowed to sit among the musicians to see at close quarters how an orchestra works. An eight-year-old boy from the audience even gets the chance to conduct the Berliner Philharmoniker – something many adult conductors can only dream of – though only during the “ride of the witch” in the first act.

The actual conductor of the concert is Sir Mark Elder, music director of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester since 2000. Together with the Berliner Philharmoniker and an outstanding ensemble of singers, he brings out the wealth of beauty the score has to offer: the romantic forest atmosphere, the festive orchestration, the wonderful melodies, some of which have almost become folk songs, such as “Brother, come and dance with me”. However, we never lose sight of the fun and excitement of the fairy tale: at the end, all the children at the concert help to free Hänsel und Gretel from the clutches of the witch with a magic spell, so everyone lives happily ever after.

Berliner Philharmoniker
Mark Elder Conductor
Susan Bullock Gertrud
Michaela Kaune Gretel
Katarina Karnéus Hänsel
Jane Henschel Witch
Franz Grundheber Peter
Susanne Kreusch Sandman
Gisela Stille Dew Fairy
Kinderchor der Deutschen Staatsoper Berlin
Anna Sylvan Chorus Master
Klaus Wallendorf Presenter