If there is such a thing as a classic Christmas opera, then it is Hansel and Gretel. Like hardly anyone else, Humperdinck succeeded here in combining folk melodies with the technical sophistication of mature compositional art. Even before the opera, he published a shorter version as a fairy tale play, which, like an essence of the opera, exposes it's essential design principles. The opera's libretto was written by Humperdinck's sister, Adelheid Wette, and the story is based on the classic fairy tale. In this production, the title roles are sung by Isabel Stuber Malagamba and Jelena Bankovic.