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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0014381927429
Format: Classical, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC
Label: Image Entertainment
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Image Entertainment
Region Code: 1
Release Date: August 21, 2001
Running Time: 113 minutes
Sales Rank: 129592
Studio: Image Entertainment
Theatrical Release Date: 1992
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
A colorful, campy version of Humperdinck's tuneful opera from the Brothers Grimm tale, this 1994 Australian Opera production's best assets are its title characters and villainous witch. Both Suzanne Johnston (Hansel) and Christine Douglas (Gretel) perfectly exude the young impishness of the siblings who get lost in the woods and nearly pay with their lives, and Margaret Haggart brings down the house as the witch who finds herself baking in her own oven. Stage director Elijah Moshinsky, never a traditionalist, gives this Hansel a modernist slant that becomes absurdly silly whenever shown in close-up by video director Virginia Lumsden. Johannes Fritzsch leads the Australian Opera Orchestra in a notable account of Humperdinck's ingratiating score. Technical quibble: the opera is sung in English (with no subtitles), which, because of poor diction, is sometimes unintelligible, despite good Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. --Kevin Filipski
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Be Careful, this may not be an H & G for small children.
We immediately realize that this in not a traditional Hansel and Gretel, when we see Hansel playing with his yo-yo, and his stepmother in hair curlers, smoking a cigarette.
But don't let this scare you off. It's just a performance that may be better for adults, or at least for those who enjoy non-traditional versions. I wouldn't recommend it for small children who might be frightened by the witch's brandishing a large kitchen knife, and then there's also the witch's meat-grinder with ... Read More
Rating:  - Different, but not always for the better
Same beautiful music. Same words (more or less). It's amazing how different scenery can totally change a story.
The opera opens with the children doing their homework. When the mother walks in with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth (to the laughter of the audience), it was clear that we weren't going to be spending any time in Germany's black forest.
That was okay with me. I was intrigued and was rather looking forward to a modern "city version" of Hansel and Gretel. ... Read More
Rating:  - Fantastic!
I recieved this DVD as a Christmas gift (Thanks to my Amazon.com Wish List!)...and it is GREAT! However, I do agree with other reviews on this item, it isn't the version to purchase and show your seven year old. In that case, I would recommend the Metropolitan Opera version which is much more kid-friendly. The design of this production from the Austrailian Opera is incredible. Created by Mark Thompson, it takes "the familiar homely objects which furnish Hansel and Gretel's impoverished home and magnifys, ... Read More
Rating: - Beautiful opera, cleverly re-thought
Clever scenic design, and a top-notch Hansel highlight this decent Australian Opera staging of the Humperdinck classic. The dream ballet sequence veers from the tried and true by beautifully depicting the children's dead mother in a heartbreakingly lovely moment. Those hoping for an ornate, mouth-watering gingerbread house may be disappointed, but the slice of birthday cake served up by designer Mark Thompson gets high marks from me, especially since it cleverly harkens back to the afore-mentioned dream ... Read More
Rating:  - Should not be shown to Children
Sound quality , picture quality and performance are very good in this production by the Australian Opera Co. Most heart warming was the scene in which the children dreamed of their real mother,
departed. Beyond that point this performance in flawed for 3
reasons. One: The Dew Fairy scene is a mockery. Second: Displayed
at the Witches home is a human hand sitting in the intake of a
manual meatgrinder. Last: Instead of a magic wand or some other
device, the witch uses a large butcher ... Read More
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