Humperdinck: Hansel und Gretel (complete opera recorded in 2008) BLU-RAY

Note: This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players, and not compatible with standard DVD or HD-DVD players.

"Starting at the bottom of the voice range we find Thomas Allen's Father, who is so fine an artist--and just a bit drunk as he enters--that for once his "Tra la la la" doesn't seem to go on too long. Elizabeth Connell's Gertrude is grandly formed--she's a big woman with a big voice--and she has great feeling. Angelika Kirchschlager's Hansel is among the best I've heard and seen: wearing overalls and sporting a spiky haircut, we get the ideal of the bored boy, naughty, wanting to be more grown-up, and singing beautifully. Diana Damrau, a plain-Jane Gretel with awkward pigtails, gets along famously with her brother, dancing, playing, being huffy. They work well off one another and their voices blend beautifully. The Sandman and Dew Fairy are lovely."
(10/10 ClassicsToday.com)

Diana Damrau and Angelika Kirchschlager star in the acclaimed 2008 production of Humperdinck's famous fairytale opera, in the company of two of Britain's most revered musical figures: Thomas Allen, playing the role of the Father, and the legendary conductor Colin Davis. Directors Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser combine their characteristic wit and a dash of deliciously dark comedy with the opera's fairytale charm. Humperdinck's music mixes catchy folk-like songs with sumptuous instrumental colour, making the result as tunefully approachable, musically memorable and visually delightful as opera gets. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in full Surround Sound.

'Angelika Kirchschlager's tousled, boyish Hänsel and Diana Damrau's Gretel are dramatically convincing and vocally superb, while their parents, excellently sung and played by Elizabeth Connell and Thomas Allen, earn our sympathy as well as our censure. Pumeza Matshikiza's goblin-like Sandman is truly magical and Anita Watson's feather-dusting Dew Fairy another amusing creation. Colin Davis, unafraid to relish the icing on the cake, draws a warm, effulgent sound from the orchestra.' Evening Standard

Bonus:
- Illustrated synopsis and animated cast gallery
- Interview with Colin Davis
- Fairytales feature
- Cinema trailer