HANSEL AND GRETEL: An Opera Fantasy Review
Original music score clearly tells you that it was intended for a home production at the gathering of friendly neighbors.
This explains why Hansel and Gretel production by famous theaters with famous singers lacks the charm of the original score. This DVD offers you the delights the composer wanted to give you. Considering the date of production, it is a also a great achievement.
One should recognize this is an opera for children and children at heart.
HANSEL AND GRETEL: An Opera Fantasy Overview
This DVD, Hansel & Gretel: An Opera Fantasy, may be the definitive production of one of the greatest fairy tales ever told. With brilliant imagination and technical wizardry, comparable only to Walt Disney s Fantasia, this DVD uses stop-action animation, over 35 hand-sculpted Kinemen dolls (a precursor to claymation), and lavish sets to create a fantasyland of unearthly beauty. Set to Englebert Humperdinck s classic 1893 opera., sung by some of the most acclaimed performers of the time (Anna Russell, Constance Brigham, Mildred Dunnock and Frank Rogier), the film s score, conducted by Franz Aller, won a Grammy Award and is filled with characters of unparalleled charm. he Kinemen characters featured in the film took over 15 years to develop. Compounded of intricate armatures, a secret chemical mixture for flesh, human hair, magnetized feet and truly human personalities; they are exemplary actors, able to simulate natural movements of the human body, with a variety of facial expressions that equal the range of humans. Directed by Michael Meyerberg, this DVD, Hansel & Gretel: An Opera Fantasy, is a masterpiece, combining melodic beauty, a whimsical story, a magical settings, and delightful characters, that will delight both your children and the rest of the family alike with this inventive and original recreation of the classic fairytale!
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Related Products
- Peter and the Wolf
- Hansel & Gretel
- Humperdinck - Hansel und Gretel (1981)
- Humperdinck - Hansel and Gretel (The Metropolitan Opera HD Live Series)
- Anna Russell - The (First) Farewell Concert
Customer Reviews
Very Poor Picture Quality - A. Starr - AL, USA
Very horrible picture quality. Very grainy & audio drags, which is a drag since I was particularly looking forward to hearing the songs from my childhood. Definitely a waste of money & time on my part, please save your money & time!
Bad transfer - Timothy Hulsey - Charlottesville, VA United States
The View Video edition of HANSEL AND GRETEL (alas, the only one available as of 2008) features a video transfer that looks suspiciously like a copy from a VHS master. The overmodulated, fuzzy audio is no better. In short, this DVD is very nearly unwatchable. Only a few extras here, including a brief "making-of" short for 1950s television.
As for the film itself, it's an odd little curio but no masterpiece, certainly not as good as the Engelbert Humperdinck opera it's (loosely) based on. The animation is generally lifeless and inexpressive, and the various attempts at cuteness come off as creepy. But Anna Russell's spry turn as the Witch injects some much-needed vigor into the proceedings, and Irish poet Padraic Colum's translation of the German libretto is excellent -- when you can understand it.
RKO Pictures commissioned HANSEL AND GRETEL in 1954 as a low-budget alternative to Disney features -- a necessary move, since at the time the Disney studio was making plans to distribute its product through an in-house company. The film was animated in sequence and rushed through production, which explains why earlier scenes are smoother than later ones. It doesn't approach Disney caliber, on a technical or a narrative level. Even though the film garnered some respectful reviews on its initial release, and seems to have performed adequately at the box office, RKO didn't care to repeat the experiment.
My Introduction to Opera - Wyntre Rose -
This still remains one of my favorite movies. Alright, the bad quality of the transfer I'll concede, but the actual movie itself? Entrancing. I guess you could call this the "good parts" version of Hansel and Gretel. It holds the most beautiful of Humperdinck's songs, but there is still a lot of spoken dialogue as well, which is probably a little easier for kids to handle. And yes, Anna Russell is amazingly funny!!
*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 27, 2010 20:43:06
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