Hansel and Gretel (opera) Hansel and Gretel (opera) Hansel and Gretel (German: ) is an opera by nineteenth-century composer Engelbert Humperdinck, who described it as a "" (fairy-tale opera). The libretto was written by Humperdinck's sister, Adelheid Wette, based on the Grimm brothers' fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel". It is much admired for its folk music-inspired themes, one of the most famous being the "" ("Evening Benediction") from act 2. 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 "Hansel and Gretel".
Hansel and Gretel (opera) 16 November 1894. The first performance in England was in London on 26 December 1894, at Daly's Theatre and its first United States performance was on 8 October 1895 in New York. The first performance in Australia was on 6 April 1907, at the Princess Theatre, Melbourne. In English-speaking countries "Hansel and Gretel" is most often performed in English. The longtime standard English translation was by Constance Bache. In the United States the opera was often performed in a translation by Norman Kelley written for the Metropolitan Opera's 1967 production by Nathaniel Merrill and Robert O'Hearn. In 1987 a darkly