Herbert von Karajan Loughton Girls School Chorus Bancroft School Boys039 Choir - Great Recordings Of The Century Humperdinck Hansel Und Gretel Karajan Schwarzkopf Grummer Metternich et al (31 tracks) +Album Reviews

High quality and captivating characterizations

Michael K. Halloran | 02/17/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While it may be cliche, the old maxim rings true here: they just don't make them like this anymore. True, this set has its drawbacks, but a performance like this makes any such quibbles easy to forget.Firstly, mention must be made of the exceptional cast assembled here: virtually everyone is excellent. Pride of place must go to Elisabeth Grummer's excellent Hansel. While this is a part normally assumed by mezzos, Grummer's lovely soprano has enough weight in the lower range to present no problems with the low tessitura. The higher-lying passages are, predictably, no problem for her. Her voice remains radiantly beautiful throughout, and her characterization is sweetly boyish without being cloying (a trap many interpreters of these roles fall into).Elisabeth Schwarzkopf is a singer whose recordings continue to fascinate decades after they were made. Casting her as Gretel is an unusual choice (she normally took on slightly weightier roles -- she and Grummer, in fact, sang many of the same parts) and while she has to work to sound childlike, her way with the text is unmatched by any recorded Gretel. Her minx-like teasing of Hansel or her gauzy wonder at the appearance of the gingerbread house are just two notable examples. She also sings her Act 2 opening solo with a hushed innocence: for once, Gretel actually sounds like she's singing a folk tune to herself.The rest of the cast is quite good, if without the obvious excellence of the two leads. Else Schurhoff's Witch is fine; she really sounds like an old crone, but manages to sound frighteningly imposing when casting her spell. Maria von Ilsovay and Josef Metternich are both good, and Anny Felbermayer's soft-grained, childlike tone is right-on for her otherworldly assignments. She is marginally better as the Dew Fairy. What really sets the entire cast apart, however, is their scrupulous attention to the text and the interplay between characters. Everyone seems to be listening to each other, and that concentration and involvement really shines through.The sound, particularly in this remastered version, is excellent: not a digital sonic spectacular, true, but you'll probably forget you're listening to a mono recording.I'm not crazy about Herbert von Karajan's conducting in this piece. The loftier sections are really wonderful, but the lighter moments lack the propulsion and fleetness to really sweep us along (the awakening scene seemed interminable here). For the best recording of Hansel and Gretel, I'd recommend the Kurt Eichorn recording with Helen Donath and Anna Moffo. It also contains the best Sandman, Dew Fairy, and Witch (Christa Ludwig) on records. But if you have room for another classic recording, don't pass this one up."

Great performance of a great opera.

blue-59 | Blount Springs, Alabama, United States | 02/19/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yes, a great opera. Of course, Hansel and Gretel is an easy target, with its obvious story, highly accessible lyricism, strong appeal to six-year-olds, and composer named after a pop singer. But was there ever a lovelier and more moving little song than the evening prayer? Do the familiar tunes ever sound hackneyed? Is there anyone whose heart doesn't start to crack as the two children begin bravely to fend for themselves in the dark forest?Perhaps the reviewer who called the music mundane was the victim of mundane performances. I've heard pianists make the Appassionata and the F-minor ballade sound mundane.Many years ago, and old lady very close to me, a lady who in the 1920s and early 1930s had sung Puccini, Verdi, and Mozart throughout Europe and North America opposite some of the greatest singers of the day, told me that she believed Hansel and Gretel to be a great opera indeed. In its own way, she maintained, it is quite profound, but we so often hear it sung without emotional commitment.Is it subliminal fear of Hansel and Gretel that leads people to belittle and disparage it? Why does just a mention of the title sometimes evoke laughter? Is there a little nervousness in that laughter? How many of us divorced parents have figuratively abandoned our trusting children to the wilderness? How many other listeners find themselves identifying uncomfortably closely with the two waifs? I couldn't listen to this opera for eight years after my divorce. Traviata? Boheme? No problem. I could handle tragedy for Violetta or Mimi, but seeing the effect of divorce on my 10-year-old boy and 9-year-old girl made Hansel and Gretel too much to bear. And is the witch with the cannibalistic designs any worse than what's really out there, just released by some judge or parole board, awaiting the innocent?I put the Karajan on recently-my first try in eight years-and the hair on the back of my neck unexpectedly stood up with the first few notes. This performance cast a magic spell from first note to last, and neither the 1953 sound nor the mono recording was the least distraction. The singers are fine, their voices beautiful, and the sound is actually quite passable, but the greatness of this performance derives from the players' total commitment: they sing Hansel and Gretel as if it were Tosca or Trovatore. Perhaps Karajan's direction was a factor. This performance isn't some matinee for the kiddies. It's serious, and deadly so.One reviewer mentioned slow tempos in places. Yes, but they're right for this performance. Listen to the Eichhorn for a superbly sung, high-fidelity, spirited performance that's lots of fun. It really is wonderful. The Karajan? Beware."

A Matchless Recording

song junkie | Smyrna,, Georgia USA | 01/09/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is recording which should be required listening for all opera lovers. EMI have made a definitive recording available at such a reasonable price it would be a shame not to acquire this lovely music for your own enjoyment. I predict that you will be overjoyed with your purchaseTwo of the greatest singers of the century, Schwarzkopf and Grummer, bring this opera to life like no others I have heard in recent memory. They, along with the other singers in the cast, have raised this rather mundane music to new heights.This was one of my Christmas gifts and I feel as if I have been handed a great award on a silver platter. Do yourself a favour and buy this one for your collection; you won't regret the purchase."

Still the recommended version.

John Austin | Kangaroo Ground, Australia | 11/21/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Lying in the EMI vaults are many tapes of superb opera recordings made in the 1950s. Herbert von Karajan, prior to his Berlin Philharmonic days, was often engaged to conduct them by the producer, Walter Legge. The recording venue was London's Kingsway Hall - blown to smithereens recently when a bomb that had lodged in the roof during a W W 2 air raid was dislodged. Amongst these splendid productions, this 1953 recording of "Hänsel und Gretel" has inspired great affection and received many reissues. Early reviewers, writing in the "Record Guide" thought the heroes of the occasion were Elisabeth Grümmer and Herbert von Karajan. Later reviewers have praised Schwarzkopf and Grümmer for their skill at "acting with the voice". Currently this EMI set is still the recommended version of the opera listed in the "Gramophone".If these are some of the recommendations, are there any cautions? I offer only one. Don't expect 1953 mono recording to deliver the luscious listening experience that modern technology provides. Listening to the long orchestral introduction to Act Two, you could be excused for thinking that the score was ghost-written by Wagner. In fact the reverse is partly true. In his younger years Humperdinck became strongly influenced and actively associated with Wagner at Bayreuth. Wagner called on his young disciple to help put the finishing touches to "Parsifal"."

HANSEL GRETEL AND UNCLE HERBERT

DAVID BRYSON | Glossop Derbyshire England | 03/05/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Can it really have been as long ago as 1953 that this famous performance was recorded? I can no longer remember how the original issue sounded, but the sound comes over very well in general on this remastered set. As often with analogue-to-digital transfers there is a slight `edge' to the effect, particularly of the voices, but that is a very minor matter when set against the flawless clarity throughout. It has been a real thrill too to be reminded of the tone of the great Philharmonia Orchestra in its heyday. The horn sound right away in the first bars is exquisite by way of getting off to a perfect start, and the engineers for their part have done a brilliant job with the echo-effects in the forest.

The only names among the singers that I have stayed familiar with down the years are those of the Hansel and Gretel themselves, Elisabeth Gruemmer and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. However the entire cast is, to my own way of thinking, something close to ideal. Shwarzkopf and Gruemmer do not attempt any childlike vocal tone, and thank goodness for that. These vocal roles are written for adult sopranos and they call for a good deal of power on occasions. It is the music itself that evokes childhood with its innocent and beautiful tunes, a number of which are songs that that would remain as songs if this opera were given as a spoken stage-play. The other singers all seem to me to understand their parts very well too. What they bring to them is what this music calls for - tact, sensitivity, beauty of tone and musicianship first last and always. Fairy tales only involve simple and schematic characterisation. The witch obviously has to sound witchy to a certain extent, and I find the effect nicely judged here and not overdone. Similarly with the jovial father after a good day's trading and a few drinks to celebrate. Perhaps Maria von Isolvay could have suggested a little more annoyance when she knocks over the milk-jug and have sounded a trifle more aghast when she becomes aware of the danger from the witch. However even if so I still prefer restraint to exaggeration. This is not grand opera, after all.

It is singularly beautiful opera. The witty and stylish, though desperately shallow, Viennese critic Hanslick quotes with rueful agreement someone's statement that Hansel and Gretel is the finest opera since Wagner. I sincerely hope that, superficial though he was, he meant German opera - Verdi's Otello was only from a few years earlier, and Falstaff must have been premiered at something like the same time as Hansel and Gretel was. Assuming this interpretation, I guess I would have to agree as well.

I like the composer's photograph, with his innocent, vulnerable features. I would have liked another, of Karajan as he was in 1953, and I'm trying to recall him as he was then with his hair brushed back from his temples as if in the slipstream of his powerboat. The years have softened a certain antipathy I used to feel towards his showman's approach, and I am coming increasingly to admire some of his earlier work. This is a reissue that I recommend cordially, but please be aware that at a budget price the full libretto is not included. However the German liner-notes on the work and the composer are translated into English, the story must be familiar to everyone and it is easy enough to follow what is happening. All these years later it is still as fresh as the strawberries that the children picked in the forest."

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