"Hänsel und Gretel" / Concert Hall ATM

CONCERT HALL ATM
CHRISTMAS CONCERT '98 Citizens Opera "Hänsel und Gretel"

In Commemoration of the Mitsubishi Trust and Savings Music Festival Award (supertitles in Japanese)

The ATM-produced opera, "Sansho Dayu", which was performed in March 1996, won the 4th Mitsubishi Trust and Savings Music Festival Award. The performance of "Hänsel und Gretel" this time commemorates the group's winning of this award.

Dec. 23 (Wed, National Holiday) 1:00 p.m. (matinee) and 6:00 p.m.
Dec. 24 (Thu) 6:00 p.m.
ACM Theatre
General Tickets
A ¥5,000 B ¥4,000 C ¥3,000
1st - 12th Graders
A ¥3,000 B ¥2,500 C ¥2,000
Tickets already on sale.
Tickets for 1st through 12th graders can only be purchased at the ATM Ticket Office.
Elementary schoolchildren will not be allowed in the theater unaccompanied.
No student discount tickets will be sold on the day of the performance, as is normally the practice.

Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921)
Libretto: Adelheid Wette
Translator: Teiichi Nakayama

General Musical Director: Ryosuke Hatanaka
Director: Fumihiro Shimizu
Producer: Norikazu Sugi
Instrumental accompaniment:
Yuka Kobayashi, Ayako Takemoto (electronic organ)
Fumihiko Nakamura (tympani)
Stage art: Keiko Miyake
Costumes: Masaaki Murakami
Lighting: Seiichi Sano
Choral director: Toshiko Nakazawa
Assistant director: Kazutoshi Shinomi
Production assistant: Naoko Okada
Rehearsal pianists: Kyoko Amagi, Naoko Tanaka, Mayumi Nakamura, Kayo Nakamura
Stage staff: Keiji Osakabe, Tsutomu Usui, Shinji Kuno, Yasuhiro Ninomiya, Motoyuki Yamamoto, Minako Iwasaki

Cast (matinee performance on Dec. 23, evening performance on Dec. 24)
Hänsel: Naoko Kubota
Gretel: Akemi Aizawa
Father: Harutoshi Takenaka
Mother: Junko Tobita
Witch: Yoko Omine
Sleep Fairy: Kiyomi Nakamura
Dew Fairy: Shigeko Yuki

Cast (evening performance on Dec. 23)
Hänsel: Seiko Yamamoto
Gretel: Kyoko Tsutsumi
Father: Michael D. Maclain
Mother: Atsuko Nagahama
Witch: Shudeo Mashiko
Sleep Fairy: Kyomi Nakamura
Dew Fairy: Shigeko Yuki

Chorus
Ikuko Aoki, Chitake Aoki, Asami Ishikawa, Tomoko Ishikawa, Yuki Ishikawa, Yuka Umehara, Yohei Onuki, Kaori Kakurai, Yuko Kanahara, Sayoko Sugano, Toshie Goto, Naoki Komura, Kei Sato, Aya Shimizu, Hiroko Shimizu, Mayumi Shirato, Kyoko Tamahashi, Toshie Tamahashi, Noriko Tsurukawa, Hitomi Nakaigawa, Yoko Harada, Reiko Harada, Ayakazu Matsumoto

Ballet
Mito Ballet Research Institute of Tatsuo Kasuya Ballet Company

Sponsors
Mito Arts Foundation
Mito Musical Group Association

Supporter
Confectionery FUJIMOTO

ATM's yearly Christmas concerts have been heartily received so far. This year's concert doubles with the staging of Engelbert Humperdinck's opera, "Hänsel und Gretel," by the Mito Citizens Opera. This is the group's third opera presentation, the previous ones having been Mozart's "Die Zauberflüte (The Magic Flute)" in 1993, and Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro (The Wedding of Figaro)" in 1995.

The performers (soloists and chorus) were selected by audition in May. They range all the way from schoolteachers and housewives to elementary, junior and senior high school students, as well as music university students. There are also many first-time participants, making it a real "citizens opera" in the true sense of the word. Thanks to half a year of rigorous rehearsals under the baton of first-rate directors, they have brought their level of performance up to professional standards. Come see and listen to what they have done.

Opera "Hänsel und Gretel"

"God extends a hand of help to those experiencing the most difficult times." On the holy night, the prayer of the children echoes into the deep forest.

Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921) was a German composer active at the same time as Richard Wagner. Although he used the Grimm Brothers' tale, "Hänsel and Gretel," as the basis of his opera, Wette's libretto has eliminated many of the cruel parts of the story and has made the storyline easier to understand, all for the sake of children. With its elegant music and memorable melodies, the opera is one that both parents and children can enjoy together.

Act One
The scene opens in the shabby house of the broom-maker, Peter, who is the father of Hänsel and Gretel. While their parents are away, the two children sing as they carry out the business of making brooms and sewing socks. Although they are famished, their family's poverty is so bad that there is no morsel of food in the house. Having no other recourse, the two children try to fend off their hunger by dancing.

As they are dancing, their mother Gertrud walks in. Scolding them for not making any progress in their work, she chases around after them, and in the process breaks a precious jug full of milk. Hänsel and Gretel snicker, causing their mother to explode in anger. She sends them away into the forest to pick strawberries.

Father then returns home from town, singing "la la la" to himself. He is in a very good mood, having sold a lot of brooms to the townspeople. Mother regains her composure when she learns of this good news. But Father is alarmed when he hears that the children have gone into the forest to pick strawberries, for he knows that a gingerbread witch lives there. They both rush out of the house in search of the children, trying to bring them back home.

Act Two

Hänsel and Gretel are playing deep in the forest. They have eaten up all the strawberries that they were sent to pick. The sun is setting fast, and a shadow of darkness falls upon them. Surprised, the two children call out for help, but the only response they get is their own echo.

A dwarf then appears carrying a sack on his back; "I am a small Sleep Fairy," he sings. Sleepy Hänsel and Gretel sing a prayer, "Fourteen angels will protect us when we go to bed." They fall asleep on a thick bed of moss.

A short while later, 14 angels appear. They dance around Hänsel and Gretel, protecting them in their sleep.

Act Three

The scene is unchanged from the end of Act Two. As dawn approaches, the Dew Fairy appears and shakes a dotted bellflower toward them.

As they awaken, Hänsel and Gretel talk about the angels they dreamed about the night before. As the dew lifts, they notice a gingerbread house deep in the forest. With glee, they approach the house and grab off part of it, starting to eat it. "Who is munching away at my house?" asks a voice, but they ignore it and keep on eating. A witch, disguised as a gentle old woman, draws close to them, and beckons to them with a friendly voice. They start feeling a sense of unease and try to run away, whereupon the witch shows her true colors and casts a spell on them, freezing their motion. The witch's favorite food, it turns out, is gingerbread made from little boys and girls. Hänsel is put into a cage, and Gretel is forced to help with dinner preparations.

Hänsel and Gretel thus find themselves in a desperate situation: how do they get out of it? We won't break the secret of the exciting climax here! Come and see it for yourselves!

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