Children: “Oh god, not opera!” Me: “It’s Hansel and Gretel.” “That’s babyish!” “The witch’s house is a supermarket...” Muted interest. “... full of Tunnock’s Tea cakes.” Got them. You can learn a lot from a witch.
Opera for children is nothing new (this one premiered in 1893), and neither is Glyndebourne’s commitment to younger audiences. Encore Week is, however, a new initiative that addresses the idea that, as for the pantomime, families want to go together.
Incessant interjections are not normally tolerated in the auditorium – Are they all German? (there are English surtitles) What’s it made of? (The amazing cardboard house).
But wonder proves infectious, so it doesn’t matter that instead of concentrating on Humperdinck’s playful score or the easy-peasy rhyming libretto, we’re hungrily naming every biscuit, cake, gobstopper and Haribo that make up the dazzling come-on to type 2 diabetes that is the witch’s lair.
And though I have sat next to nose-pickers at Glyndebourne before, this was the first time I’d seen an audience member air-french-horn their way through the overture.
The puzzle is why adults would come to see this delicious show without a child to share all the magical oohs and aahs with. If you need a child in order to qualify for a ticket, try enticements. Sweets work.
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