Hansel and Gretel

Cimarron Opera is proud to present Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel to Norman third-graders on February 5th, 2010.

Hansel und Gretel is an opera by nineteenth-century composer Engelbert Humperdinck, who described it as a Märchenoper (fairy tale opera).  The idea for the opera was proposed to Humperdinck by his sister, who approached him about writing music for songs that she had written for her children for Christmas based on  the story by the Brothers Grimm.  After several revisions, the musical sketches and the songs were turned into a full-scale opera.

The opera was first performed in Weimar on December 23, 1893, conducted by Richard Strauss. It has been associated with Christmas since its earliest performances and today it is still most often performed at Christmas time.