Bella Alten operatic career included six Metropolitan premiere performances – Adele in Die Fledermaus (1905), Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel (1905), Saffi in Der Zigeunerbaron (1906), Olga in Fedora (1906), Columbina in Le Donne Curiose (1912), and Lisetta in L'amore Medico (1914). In November 1905 when she sang Gretel in the premiere Metropolitan performance of Hänsel und Gretel, the composer Engelbert Humperdinck was in the audience. This opera received 11 performances that first season and was selected by Theodore Roosevelt's wife as a benefit for the Legal Aid Society. Alten sang Gretel in this opera every season she was with the Met
Hansel and Gretel: An Opera Fantasy performance, RKO Radio Pictures acquired the film for wide release for the Christmas season. The film was sold to television four years after it was released, where it became a Christmas season tradition on several affiliate stations. In 1959, at the second annual Grammy Awards, conductor Franz Allers was nominated for the soundtrack in the category of "Best Recording for Children". The film was re-released theatrically in 1965 through New Trends Associates, and in March 1973 through MGM. The title was modified to "Hansel and Gretel: An Opera Fantasy" beginning with the 2001 DVD release. In 1952, Evalds Dajevskis began