Trivia / Hansel and Gretel (1893)

• Acting for Two:
  • The same singer often performs as the Sandman and the Dewman. Not only are both parts written for a soprano, but the characters' functions parallel each other – the Sandman is the evening fairy that lulls people to sleep and the Dewman is the morning fairy that wakes them up.
  • Sometimes the mother and the witch are also sung by one singer.
• All-Star Cast: As Hansel, Gretel, the Witch, the Mother, and the Father:
  • Audio Recordings:
    • 1947, conducted by Max Rudolf: Risë Stevens, Nadine Conner, Thelma Votipka, Claramae Turner, and John Brownlee
    • 1971, conducted by Kurt Eichhorn: Anna Moffo, Helen Donath, Christa Ludwig, Charlotte Berthold, and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
    • 1978, conducted by Georg Solti: Brigitte Fassbaender, Lucia Popp, Anny Schlemm, Julia Hamari, and Walter Berry
  • Video recordings:
    • A 1981 studio film, conducted by Georg Solti, with Brigitte Fassbaender, Edita Gruberova, Sena Jurinac, Helga Dernesch, and Hermann Prey.
    • A Metropolitan Opera telecast from 1982, conducted by Thomas Fulton: Frederica Von Stade, Judith Blegen, Rosalind Elias, Jean Kraft, and Michael Devlin
• Crosscast Role:
  • Hansel, the brother, is a typical "trouser role" performed by a mezzo-soprano.
  • The Witch is often played by a tenor in drag.
  • The Sandman and the Dew Man are both performed by sopranos. In English-language productions, the latter tends to be gender-bent into a female Dew Fairy.
• Follow the Leader: Engelbert Humperdinck was a former assistant to Richard Wagner, and the opera is so heavily influenced by Wagner's style that it has been affectionately described as "Wagner for kids."
• One-Book Author: Hansel and Gretel: An Opera Fantasy is the only film credit its director, John Paul ever had. Nothing else is known about him.