Hansel and Gretel

Opera might have a reputation as high art, but Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel deals in the familiar. Children lost in the wood, a wicked witch (but no nasty step-mother), a finale that reunites a traditional, happy family and an unashamed sentimentality: Humperdinck’s time as Wagner’s assistant did not encourage him to emulate Wagner’s ambition to tackle weighty philosophy.

Scottish Opera’s opulent production excels when Humperdinck’s melodies disguise the simplicity of the emotional content: the finale to the second act is a child’s prayer, but the arrival of fourteen golden winged angels transforms the scene into a heart-warming hymn to innocence. The slight themes of the libretto are not helped by the new translation, which alternates between awkward archaism and a modern aggressive: yet the almost burlesque dancing of the wicked witch lends her a subtle seductive eroticism that hints at a greater depth than the characterisation of the libretto can provide.

Kai Ruutel and Allish Tynan, singing the errant siblings, have a youthful energy that encourages the necessary suspension of disbelief necessary when young adults play children, and Humperdinck has a knack for the luxurious melody. While Hansel and Gretel never threatens to escape from fairy-tale whimsy – although the set is marvellously evocative of both dark forest and heavenly bower – Scottish Opera’s production continues their focus on opera that is accessible and charming.