OHKCC Annual Concert 2015 – Hansel and Gretel

Date: 14 & 15 November 2015
Venue: Theatre of Sai Wan Ho Civic Centre

First Session
Opera Hong Kong Children Chorus Student Ensemble
Ensemble Coordinator: Dorathy Kong

Second Session
Hansel and Gretel
Accompanied by Chamber Orchestra
Music Director: Liew Li Kien
Director: Kwok Tsz Wan

Humperdinck’s fairy-tale opera tells the story of the brother and sister, Hansel and Gretel, children of a poor broom-maker. The children leave their work and play together, until their mother Gertrud returns, angrily sends them out to pick strawberries. Their father Peter comes home with food. The parents later become worried, because there is a vicious witch who devours children.

In the wood they are lost and eat all the berries they have picked, before falling asleep under the benign spell of the Sandman. The Dew Fairy wakens them, and as the mist clears they see a gingerbread house, but their delight is short-lived. The Witch, whose house it is, takes them captive, putting Hansel in a cage to be fattened up for the table, while Gretel can be eaten at once. When the oven is hot, the children trick the Witch into looking into the oven and push her in. The Witch explodes and gingerbread children, former victims of the Witch, now come to life again. All ends happily when Peter and Gertrud are united again with their children.