Autumn is one of my favorite Seasons. 

I am in touch with SPIRIT OF THE FOREST, who is the Guardian of her Realm.

She protects the Creatures dwelling in her Sacred Tree Cathedrals, as they prepare for winter's cold.

And she oversees the progressive color change of leaf foliage, culminating in brilliant hues.

There are many great art forms, which exemplify this glorious Season.  One of my favorite Operas comes to mind.  It is HANSEL AND GRETEL, by Engelbert Humperdinck, with libretto by his sister Adelheid Wette.  Humperdinck was an extremely talented composer, but unfortunately this opera is his only claim to fame.  It received its world premier in 1893, conducted by the great composer Richard Strauss, who carried on the great Wagnarian tradition of opera composing.  Humperdinck's other works are almost never performed.  He was greatly influenced by Richard Wagner's music also, as you can certainly hear, and he worked closely with this great master in the production of Wagner's last opera, Parsifal.

Humperdinck labeled Hansel and Gretel a Fairy Tale Opera.  It is usually performed at Christmas time, but I like to think of it as an Autumn Opera, considering the subject matter.   To my mind, the famous Grimm's Brother's Tale of an evil witch turning children into Gingerbread, and then eating them, is a kind of gross subject.  But this story is so popular; it has quite lost its horror.

Humperdinck's sister Adelheid made some changes to the original story for this opera.   In her version, the mother is much kinder.  She doesn't really want to get rid of her children in the woods.  She is just poverty-broken and care worn.  At the end of the opera, she appears with her husband, unlike the original fairy tale, and the children are reunited with them both.  In the original story, I always felt that the grouchy mother evolved into the wicked witch.

There are also several additional delightful characters in the opera story.  I'll let you know more details of them later.  They are: The Sandman, The Angels in the children's Angel Vision, and the Dew Fairy.  A woman usually sings the role of Hansel.  This is one of those "trouser roles" in Opera, where females take a male role.  I personally would enjoy seeing and hearing a young male tenor play his part, but this custom of trouser roles is prevalent in quite a few operas.  The role of the Sandman (an old man with a long white beard) is usually sung by a female soprano. That always seemed a bit strange to me.  The role of the evil witch is usually a comic one.  I've seen it performed by a male singer, who was very funny.  

I think HANSEL AND GRETEL is a wonderful introduction to Opera for all ages, not just children.  Many of the melodies are very famous.  But it is not a simple opera by any means.  Humperdinck was quite an accomplished composer, as you will agree when you hear his magnificent music. Now I'll mention some of my favorite parts of the opera... 

You might recognize some of the songs, such as in the beginning, when Hansel and Gretel are mending brooms.  Gretel coaxes her brother to dance with her, and together they sing a delightful song:

"Brother come and dance with me, both my hands I give to thee,

right foot first, left foot then, round about and back again...."

When their father arrives home, triumphant with food and money after selling all his brooms, he finds that his wife had sent the children to the woods to get berries, after they had broken a pitcher of milk while dancing.  He then sings an amazing aria describing the evil witch who lives in the wood, and eats children by turning them into gingerbread.  The fantastic picture that the orchestra paints is worthy of Wagner in its lushness and colors. 

This next section of the opera is my utmost favorite.  It is glorious in the beauty of the music, in which you can hear the superb Wagnarian harmonies. Opera companies pull out all the stops in this scene and one can enjoy an ethereal ballet of Angels, Fairies, Elves, and other woodland inhabitants of the Magic Wood.  If feelings of emotion aren't prevalent in any other part of this opera - they certainly will surface here.  When I presented a shortened production of this with my local community theater group, people came up to me afterwards with tears in their eyes, saying how beautiful the music of the Angel Dream sequence was.  Even the cameraman who was filming our show was crying at the beauty of it all.  And these were people who didn't have much exposure to classical music at all.

         When the children are in the woods, they pick delicious berries, and see an imaginary little man.  The duet they sing here is very delightful.  

But as night falls, they become frightened, as they think they see strange creatures in the forest.  

                                                      It is then that the kind old Sandman appears, who puts them to sleep with magic dust.

The little children then sing their lovely Evening Prayer, before falling asleep on the ground:

"When I lay me down to sleep, Fourteen Angels watch do keep 

Two my head they cover, Two my feet watch over. 

Two are by my right side, Two are by my left side, 

Two who hover o're me, 'Two who then awaken me, 

Two who are my Heavenly Guides, To lead me up to Paradise."  

Then fourteen Angels appear and the magnificent music develops to a beautiful height, with a lovely Angel ballet.  

After the wonderful strains of the Angel Music fades, the last new character appears - The Dew Fairy.  She wakens the children, and sings of the beautiful morning.  The children tell each other about the amazing Angel Dream-Vision that they both had. 

They both then find the amazing imaginative Gingerbread House.  There is a delightful scene, when the children meet the Witch.  Hansel and Gretel begin to munch on the delicious house, while the Witch is inside.  The Witch then sings:

"Nibble, nibble, Mousekin, who's nibbling on my housekin?"

The Children then answer together in a lovely sweet harmony:

"The Wind, The Wind - It's only The Wind..."

You know what happens next, of course.  But I just wanted to mention a bit about the last scene, after the Witch is pushed into the oven.  All the Gingerbread Children have been turned back into real children, since the Witch's magic has been destroyed.  The opera makes beautiful use of a lovely Children's Chorus here, when we see these children standing with their eyes closed.  They tell us in song that they are asleep, and unable to move.  

"Oh touch me please, oh touch me please, so I can be awake." 

It's a very beautiful and sensitive passage.  Hansel and Gretel touch all the children, so they can open their eyes.  Then Hansel waves the Witch's magic wand and sings:

"Hocus pocus, Elderbush!  Loosen rigid muscles, whoosh!"  

That frees the children from the evil spell.  

There is a rousing and exuberant ending when the Parents find their children, amidst general rejoicing, and it ends with a lovely prayer from their Father, giving thanks to God.

When I saw a performance of this opera live, the audience enjoyed a laugh when a huge Gingerbread witch was rolled out onto the stage.  She had gotten her Just Desserts!

I hope someday you can get to see and hear this wonderful Opera.  If you can't see it live, you might catch it on Television from the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York, or see any number of productions on Film.  It is usually sung in either English or in the original German.  A delightful "stop action film" is available on DVD, done in 1954, called "Hansel and Gretel: An Opera Fantasy".  It is presented as a kind of operetta, with spoken dialogue between the singing.  The puppets used in the film are called "kineman" characters. They took fifteen years to develop it back in those days. The filmmakers used a secret chemical for "flesh" and "hair", and the characters had magnetized feet. They were able to duplicate natural movements, as well as a variety of facial expressions. I remember that even the Witch's nose wiggled!

Here is wishing all of you and yours a Magical Autumn Equinox and a very Happy Halloween!  This is a time when the Child in all of us can live a World of Fantasy!  Enjoy!

By Judy Mastrangelo

Fine Arts Appreciation

"Most of my life I've been drawing and painting in all genres, from Realism, to Impressionism and Abstractionism.  I paint a wide variety of subjects, but various forms of Fantasy have always been the closest to my heart. This includes my Fairy Tales, Myths, and New Age Art.

I have always been inspired by great Artists throughout history, and regard them as my teachers. Some of my favorites are those of the Italian Renaissance, the Pre- Raphaelites (I like John W. Waterhouse the most), and the Hudson River School of Landscape Painters. Maxfield Parrish is my favorite illustrator, and I feel that Sir Joseph Noel Paton is one of the greatest Fairy Artists. In my small way, I also enjoy continuing in the tradition of Beatrix Potter with her little animal people, and Cicely M. Barker with her lovely Flower Fairies.

I've illustrated several children's books, including Antique Fairy Tales, The Sandman and Other Sleepy Time Rhymes, Tales of Shakespeare, and Pollyanna. I both wrote and illustrated my own published book, What Do Bunnies Do All Day? Currently I am writing and illustrating several new books on Fairies, Elves and Angels."

 

Judy has been a member of Enchanted Folk since October 2007

members.enchantedfolk.com/www.themysticalvisions.com