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Series
Fanfare
Series
Special of the Week
Episode Number
12
Episode
Hansel and Gretel
Producing Organization
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
National Educational Television and Radio Center
British Broadcasting Corporation
Contributing Organization
Library of Congress (Washington, District of Columbia)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/512-kp7tm72x6b
NOLA Code
FANF
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Description
Episode Description
This opera will be presented during the Christmas season by the three co-producing organizations -- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, NET, and British Broadcasting Corporation. Composed in 1893 by Engelbert Humperdinck, Hansel and Gretel is based on the original Brothers Grimm fairy tale. Its cast includes the outstanding Canadian contralto Maureen Forrester as the Witch; Judith Forst of the Metropolitan Opera as Hansel; Christine Anton as Gretel; and Cornelis Opthor and Ariene Meadows as the Father and the Mother. The opera was videotaped in the Toronto studios of CBC, with a production crew drawn from the Emmy-winning Cinderella unit, including producer Norman Campbell and choreographer Celia Franca. The production also features members of the Canadian Childrens Opera Chorus. Musically, the work blends Waneilan overtones with childrens folk songs. The tory is that of Hansel and Gretel, children of a poor broom maker. After being reprimanded by their mother who attributes a pitcher of milk to their merriment, the two children go off into the woods. When the father arrives at home, he mollifies his wife with a basket of food -- the result of a windfall in his fortunes. But he becomes anxious about the children, since he learns that they are at Ilsenstein, habitat of a child-baking witch. Indeed, the children have strayed into the witchs province. Seeing her house, with its gingerbread facade, Hansel takes a sampling from the exterior. The witch, hearing the children outside, begins luring them into her cottage. But the children foil her efforts to turn them into gingerbread. Instead, she is pushed into the stove, while demonstrating its use to Gretel. Fanfare 12: NET Opera Theater -- Hansel and Gretel is a co-production of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, NET, and the British Broadcasting Corporation. This program was rebroadcast as a Special of the Week. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
Episode Description
90 minute piece, produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, NET, and BBC and initially distributed by NET in 1970. It was originally shot on videotape in color.
Series Description
Fanfare is an anthology series of performing arts programming.
Broadcast Date
1970-12-27
Broadcast Date
1972-03-27
Asset type
Episode
Genres
Performance
Topics
Music
Performing Arts
Media type
Moving Image
Credits
Choreographer: Franca, Celia
Composer: Humperdinck, Engelbert
Costume Designer: Mess, Suzanne
Executive Producer: Barnes, John
Performer: Forst, Judith
Performer: Meadows, Ariene
Performer: Opthor, Cornelius
Performer: Anton, Christine
Performer: Forrester, Maureen
Performing Group: Canadian Children's Opera Chorus
Producer: Campbell, Norman
Producing Organization: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Producing Organization: National Educational Television and Radio Center
Producing Organization: British Broadcasting Corporation
Set Designer: Lawson, Robert
AAPB Contributor Holdings
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2339176-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 2 inch videotape
Generation: Master
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2339176-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 2 inch videotape
Generation: Master
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2339176-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 2 inch videotape
Generation: Master
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Citations
Chicago: “Hansel and Gretel,” 1970-12-27, Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed August 21, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-kp7tm72x6b.
MLA: “Hansel and Gretel.” 1970-12-27. Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. August 21, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-kp7tm72x6b>.
APA: Hansel and Gretel. Boston, MA: Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-kp7tm72x6b