KARAJAN Humperdinck: Hänsel und Gretel (1953) - PACO162

"We have come near to perfection before, but never so close as in this recording"

I always thought it could be done if someone really set their mind to it, and insisted on it: and now it has been done. We have come near to perfection before, but never so close as in this recording of Humperdinck's exquisite fairy-tale opera. It is still a recording, which means there are bound to be some imperfections, small as they are here, but the scene in the forest (Act 2) is sung and played and recorded with a sensitive regard for the atmosphere the music can create, if allowed to, that has, until now, not been equalled.

The stage direction tells us that on the rise of the curtain to this scene Gretel “is humming quietly to herself” the folk song “There stands a little man in the wood alone". Elisabeth Schwarzkopf produces the illusion perfectly, and the orchestra respond in like manner, all, as the recording gives it to us, on the plane of absolute quietness. The cuckoo calls, and soft, mysterious voices echo the lost children's cry “Who's there?”—we are with them in the dark forest—and it is, as directed, with a “soft, gentle voice” the Sandman brings sleep to the children, another perfectly achieved illusion of a fairy-tale personage, faintly seen in the dusk. Then, very quietly, the two children sing their ineffably lovely prayer about the angels and once more we are with them, as even in the opera house looking at the stage we could not be.

The tender intimacy of performance and recording are something to marvel at—one never thinks of the studio and the opera could not have been better cast. The two Elisabeths sound always like the delightful children they are supposed to be and avoid all suspicion of archness: and both sing beautifully throughout. Josef Metternich and Marie von Ilosvay are equally good as the parents and Else Schuroff produces an amazing variety of sinister sounds as the witch. Her "hocus-pocus" is really frightening. Anny Felbermeyer's pretty voice is brought forward as the Dew Fairy (quite correctly) and this differentiates her sufficiently from the Sandman. The fresh and enthusiastic singing of the school choirs is pure delight: and when principals and chorus sang the last words in the opera, to Humperdinck's inspired melody, “When past bearing is our grief, God the Lord will send relief”, I was moved to tears. Karajan has been accused of over-speeding in his Mozart operatic recordings—and with some justice—but he never puts a baton wrong, so to speak, in this opera. I like the slow unfolding of the “prayer” melody at the start of the Overture, and there is not a moment when he over-plays the brilliantly scored sections. The themes are, as everyone knows, woven together with a Meistersinger-like richness, but the counterpoint is always made beautifully clear. The Witches Ride (she is perhaps a sort of fallen Valkyrie!) is vividly done—the big drum comes out with startling reality—and the gradual transition to the quietness of the forest scene managed with much skill. Karajan is, in fact, in affectionate accord with the score throughout.

The recording of the orchestra—who play like the angels of the dream tableau—-is really superb and the high string tone comes out with a beauty tape recording has long denied it.

Is it too much to hope that Columbia may print the libretto in German and English so that listeners may get the fullest enjoyment from the opera. All the singers act admirably with their voices, but this extra help is needed as well.

When I was a talks producer at the B.B.C. and wanted conditions to be as favourable to the broadcaster as possible I used to say, half jokingly, “There must be love in the studio” to all concerned: and I feel this spirit was about in the studio when Hänsel und Gretel was being recorded. It sounds, anyway, as if it was sung, played, recorded, and—not least—directed with love. For that and this beautiful result our most grateful thanks.

A.R.
The Gramophone, January 1954