Opera Del West Presents HANSEL AND GRETEL 8/1 & 8/2

Arts and entertainment news celebrity Joyce Kulhawik will introduce this weekend's productions of the classic masterwork Hansel and Gretel, presented by Opera del West. Saturday August 1 at 8pm and Sunday August 2 at 2pm.

Join Opera del West for their exciting summer production of Hansel and Gretel, with special guest appearance by Arts and Entertainment critic Joyce Kulhawik. By no means a children's opera, Hansel and Gretel is one for music lovers of all ages to enjoy.

Much admired for its folk music-inspired themes, Hansel and Gretel is an opera by nineteenth-century composer Engelbert Humberdinck (the one born in 1854) who described it as a Marchenoper (fairy tale opera).

This oft-performed opera began as four folksongs based on the famous Grimm's fairytale. Humberdinck was asked by his sister to write tunes for her words, and the result was so well-received that it encouraged him to write an entire opera with these simple folk tunes enriched by Wagnerian arrangements. In 1947, Hansel and Gretel was the first Metropolitan Opera performance heard on radio, and later became the Met's first complete recording in English issued by Columbia Masterworks Records in 1947.

Opera del West will be performing the full-length opera in the original German, which is quite unusual as it is often sung in English in an abridged version specifically for children. Opera del West has a tradition of performing in original languages with English Supertitles and is continuing that tradition with this production geared towards adults and children over the age of six.

The lovely lyrical music will be sung by Opera del West's conservatory-trained professional singers. This familiar tale with lush music and heartwarming themes will delight the inner child in everyone.

The opera will be stage directed by Rebecca Grimes and music directed by Eve Budnick, with an Angel Ballet choreographed by Kathryn Stark and performed by students of the Walnut Hill School Community Dance Academy.

Saturday, August 1, at 8pm and Sunday, August 2, at 2pm