Well, dear readers, I must write these notes in a hurry because they should have been up twenty minutes ago, but I got waylaid, yes, I got waylaid and when one is waylaid one gets waylaid and time goes by and then the whole thing becomes waylaid. So, let me begin by saying I’ve been in the company of one Hansel and Gretel for much of yesterday and last evening, prior to getting waylaid. And it’s been a rather delightful thing discovering this wonderful Engelbert Humperdinck’s beautiful and magical opera, cleverly titled Hansel and Gretel. I find it amazing that other than the most well-known tune, I knew absolutely nothing of this opera. But sometimes that can be fun, making new discoveries. Well, I’ll just say I’m thoroughly smitten with Mr. Humperdinck’s melodies and his gorgeous orchestrations. So, here’s how it went: I decided to start with the Kurt Eichhorn version on RCA, recorded in 1970. I knew some of the singers and it’s had pretty much raves across the board, especially for the witch of Christa Ludwig, which she considers her finest recorded performance. Well, it was a good choice because it’s an absolutely wonderful recording in excellent sound, so beautifully sung by everyone. The voices of Hansel and Gretal, Anna Moffo and Helen Donath, blend so wonderfully and they have a really fun energy, and Ms. Ludwig is indeed brilliant. The conductor and band are fantastic, and I can’t actually imagine being as entranced by another recording as I was by this, although I know I have a couple of versions coming that I’ll probably like very much. The second one was the well thought of version with conductor Jeffrey Tate. The first thing I noticed was, despite the raves about the sound, it was one of those “distant” sounding affairs that I just don’t care for because I feel it robs everything of immediacy and detail, and that’s exactly what happens. It’s well played, and the band sounds great, but it makes no impact, really, due to the slightly muddy, distant sound. And I felt the two leads didn’t capture the childlike quality needed and as Ms. Moffo and Ms. Donath had. The witch is good here but not as good as Ms. Ludwig. There are a few patches of sublime beauty, but I preferred the Eichhorn better. But I’m happy to have heard it and will probably give it another listen.
Then I watched the little stop motion version of Hansel and Gretel on DVD, but while I might enjoy it if it were exactly a wonderful presentation, the DVD is so poor as to be laughable. It’s literally a VHS-like master slapped onto DVD with horrible color. I don’t know if this is public domain or what – I’ve read that the producer’s estate has all the film elements and holds the copyright, but if that were true, I’m not sure how they never went after this company and the fact is it’s still being sold two decades after it came out. This was filmed in Technicolor and should look stunning and however charming it might be, when it looks this bad there is no enjoyment to be had, I’m afraid. Finally, I heard a version in English with conductor Andreas Delfs. It’s certainly a nice recording, and it’s nice to be able to follow the libretto without having to read it, but in the end, while the band is very good, the singers just didn’t really do it for me. There is another recording in English that came after this one, on Chandos with Charles Mackerras conducting, and I like him very much, but the singers don’t get good marks, so I really don’t need to hear it and I’m not a fan of the Chandos sound. So, thus far number one is the Eichhorn, number two is the one in English, and number three is the Tate, but two and three are close, certainly. Coming soon are the classic (or so I’ve read) mono von Karajan album, and the one I’m really looking forward to, with two actual children singing the roles of Hansel and Gretel.
Yesterday was a fine little day. I got eight hours of sleep, answered e-mails, showered, and then had to get right over to the Group Rep for our rehearsal for Doug’s playlet. It went very quickly and very well – we have a wonderful cast, three of whom I’ve already worked with, and I’m keeping all of it very simple so it’s simple to shoot. There’s minimal blocking so the set-ups should be basic and hopefully easy. We ran the whole thing twice, I gave a couple of minor notes, and now the plan is to rehearse one more time, then shoot it. I don’t want to over rehearse the actors – I want them to be spontaneous and real, so we’ll run it two more times on Tuesday and that will be it until the shoot day, because it’s better for me to finesse on the shoot day as we go.
After that, I moseyed on over to the mail place and picked up a couple of packages, then came home. I got another 30% off thing from Postmates, so I got Stanley’s and my favorite pasta dish. Then I began my Hansel and Gretel journey. Food arrived about forty minutes later and it was really good. We have a friend of mine helping on the project one charts, just doing lead sheets on four of them to make it easier on Richard, and she’s really fast and very good at it. So, I spent ninety minutes on the phone later in the evening fixing notes and rhythms, but that’s one down and she sends files to Richard and he can orchestrate to them and clean up any formatting issues. So, that was one way I got waylaid, and then I had another long telephonic conversation after that about various and sundried things. And now these here notes are going to be an hour late.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll hopefully pick up packages, I’ll eat, then I do a Zoom interview with our very own Donald Feltham for the Lolita, My Love release, and we have a Zoom production meeting at seven-thirty that I’ll attend for a bit.
The rest of the week is working on project two, for sure, getting the rest of project one’s charts done, doing a few things for the December Kritzerland, including our flyer, and then it will be a solo Thanksgiving for the likes of me.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up when I’m up, do whatever needs doing, hopefully pick up some packages, eat, do a Zoom thing with Donald Feltham, do a Zoom production meeting, and then I’ll watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are were and perhaps are your favorite fairy tales, especially when you were a kid, and what are your favorite versions of them, whether stage, film, opera, or whatever? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy that Hansel and Gretel have come to town.