The overture introduces a Victorian family scene in Christmas spirit with children marvelling at the images cast by a laterna magica. The Eiffel Tower, the Great Wall of China… and eventually a forest, appear - whereupon the set opens up and a little boy and girl from the group leave the drawing room hand-in-hand to explore the world of Hänsel und Gretel.

Thereafter, Adrian Noble’s production unfolds rather traditionally, incorporating some charmingly naïve ideas such as sliding cut-out silhouettes for trees (sets, Anthony Ward) and a sympathetic Man on the Moon who watches over Hänsel and Gretel as they drift off to sleep in a haze of fireflies. In dreamland, blue skies filled with clouds made of white balloons form the backdrop for a choreographed (Denni Sayers) introduction to the witch’s previous victims (children from the Vienna State Opera school) who eventually send the lost siblings off on a cumulous bed of elysium. 

Video effects (Andrzej Goulding) play a significant role - failing, however, to seize the moment in the Witch’s ride, in which a stormy sky simply backdrops the static protagonist perched on her small podium. 

Unfortunately the cast is neither particularly homogenous nor of exceptional merit.

Daniela Sindram’s Hänsel was uncannily masculine, winningly boyish in gesture and detail, and sung with credible (and ample) timbre. As such, perhaps the most impressive all-round rendering of the evening.

Charming and sweet-toned, Ileana Tonca’s Gretel belies the soprano’s maturity (a State Opera ensemble member since 1999). On the one hand, her pure girlish timbre suits the role delightfully - on the other, the combination of the large auditorium and forces in the pit leave one wishing for more reserve on occasions. 

Adrian Eröd, forced to withdraw from the premiere due to indisposition, returns to the cast as Peter Besenbinder. His is a slender, well focused and finely-tuned baritone winning more in this particular role through vocal “presence” and his meticulous diction which impacted immediately (alas, in the latter respect remaining an exception in the cast). 

He and Janina Baechle (Gertrud) were quite mismatched as a couple in all respects - and both were disadvantaged as a result. 
The Knusperhexe might possibly be a better choice for Baechle at this stage of her career. With many fine roles to her credit, this wily artist still husbands her resources with skill (if not always ease), and unfailingly guarantees a committed reading.

Michaela Schuster’s Witch was a rather odd blend of an over-sized cartoon figure - flailing somewhat between comic and heinous and (apart from the occasional shriek) often inaudible or incomprehensible.

Annika Gerhards lacked the ideal ease and purity of tone for the Sandmännchen and Taumännchen, but was blessed with two rather extraordinary costumes which she paraded with equanimity.

As anticipated, Christian Thielemann’s reading left little to be desired, unfailingly supportive of his cast - though at times one sensed a reining-in and a certain constriction between pit and stage - but pregnant with detail and finesse throughout. Act 2’s lyrical “Abendsegen” achieved the perfect balance, and indeed was close to divine. In moments unfettered by vocal considerations Thielemann unleashed the magnificent potential in the pit while always remaining within an appropriate framework. He justly earned the evening’s laurels.