Before that time the composer was
known to fame, at any rate so far as England is concerned, only by a
couple of cantatas and some arrangements of scenes from Wagner's works
for concert purposes, but at one bound he became the most popular living
operatic composer of Germany. The libretto of 'Haensel und Gretel' is a
very charming arrangement, in three scenes, of a familiar nursery tale.
The action opens in the cottage of Peter the broom-maker. Haensel and
Gretel, the two children, are left to keep house together. They soon
tire of their tasks, and Gretel volunteers to teach her brother how to
dance. In the middle of their romp, Gertrude their mother comes in, and
angrily packs them off into the wood to pick strawberries. Tired and
faint she sinks into a chair, bewailing the lot of the poor man's wife,
with empty cupboards and hungry mouths to be fed. Soon Peter's voice is
heard singing in the distance. He has had a good sale for his besoms,
and comes back laden with good cheer. But his delight is cut short by
the absence of the children, and when he finds that they are out in the
wood alone, he terrifies his wife with the story of the witch of
Schornstein, who is given to eating little children, and they both hurry
off to bring Haensel and Gretel home. Meanwhile, out in the forest the
children amuse themselves with picking strawberries and making flower
garlands, until the approach of night, when they find to their horror
that they have lost their way.
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