Hänsel und Gretel

It premiered at the Hanover State Opera 62 years ago and is still as much a part of the (pre-)Christmas season for many as candlelight and gingerbread: Steffen Tiggeler's enchantingly charming cult production of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel is back on the program this season.
The siblings Hansel and Gretel live with their parents in poor circumstances. The children are not allowed to play but have to work, their mother is unable to cope with raising them and their father leaves the little money they earn at the inn. There is rarely any food on the table at home. One day, their mother sends Hansel and Gretel into the forest to gather berries. The children get lost and fall into the clutches of the evil crunchy witch, who wants to turn them into gingerbread - as she has done to many children before.
Will Gretel succeed in outwitting the witch? Engelbert Humperdinck's fairy-tale opera with the libretto by his sister Adelheid Wette owes its great popularity to the musical mixture of Wagnerian-inspired orchestral sound and catchy vocal numbers such as the "Abendsegen" or the children's songs "Suse, liebe Suse", "Ein Männlein steht im Walde" and "Brüderchen, komm tanz mit mir". You could easily sing along to many of the opera's melodies - in fact, this is expressly encouraged at selected performances!