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".
Croesus (opera) Croesus (opera) Der hochmütige, gestürzte und wieder erhabene Croesus ("The Proud, Overthrown and Again Exalted Croesus") is a three-act opera (described as a "Singe-Spiel") composed by Reinhard Keiser. The German language libretto by Lucas von Bostel was based on Nicolò Minato's 1678 dramma per musica "Creso", the music for which was composed by the Emperor Leopold I. Keiser's "Croesus" received its first performance at the Theater am Gänsemarkt, Hamburg, in 1711 (exact date unknown). Later, the composer extensively revised the opera for a new version, which premièred at the same theatre on 6 December 1730. In the process, he discarded