A program by Norm Hollingshead at the library. Englebert Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel is the most popular opera ever composed to be based upon a tale from the Brothers Grimm. First performed in 1893, Hansel und Gretel was performed in 50 different opera houses in 20 different languages in just its first year of existence. In the 20th century, Hansel und Gretel became a holiday opera performed at Christmas time, often in conjunction with Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker. Humperdinck's opera deserves its popularity as it contains some of the loveliest operatic music ever written. However it does not shirk on the scariness of two youngsters lost in the woods overnight only to face a weird old lady (played by a man - an operatic "trousers role") who would like to fatten them up for a future meal. It all ends happily, of course, with the sweet melodic finale you expect from a fairy tale opera.