Music / operafilm

Königskinder


Reviews (7)


MusicWeb international

2023 November

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Jim Westhead

2023 November

"The adult chorus and the children's chorus sing with accuracy and conviction, and the orchestra is on top form. The sound quality is very good, and the set lighting is very well judged. I have enjoyed Königskinder very much, and so should you".


Presto classical

2023

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2023

"Hänsel und Gretel brought Humperdinck worldwide fame but his tragic fairy story Königskinder (The King's Children) offers a stark contrast to it and has only begun to be revived in recent years. The doomed love of a goose girl and a prince - as they battle prejudice and are obstructed by magic - ends in their loving deaths, and with it a rebuke to the villagers who rejected them. This acclaimed production by the renowned German director Christof Loy features the award-winning singers - tenor Daniel Behle and Ukrainian soprano Olga Kulchynska".


MusicWeb international

2024 January

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Mike Parr (musikanmelder)

2024 January

"The Dutch National opera has put together a very strong cast for this production. Olga Kulchynska's glowing soprano is a real find ... Danile Behle had already recorded the role of the King's son for Sebastian Weigle in a highly recommendable CD set from Oehms Classics. His is an enormously appealing characterization of the idealistic but doomed hero. He sings the entire role with the sensitivity of a lieder singer ... Marc Albrecht manages to bring out a glowing intensity inherent in Humperdinck's luminous score ... For the most part this is the most decisive attempt to render Humperdinck's last important opera with the faithfully and with the seriousness it deserves".


Operabladet Ascolta

(2013) 31. årgang nr. 4

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Henrik Marcussen

(2013) 31. årgang nr. 4

"Köningskinder er bygget over et samtidigt eventyr ... I Zürich operaens regi er handlingsforløbet overført fra middelalder til nyere tid ... hvor heksen er en striks bestyrer af et laboratorium, byfolket forsamlet på Burger King ... Her ... er der samlet et imponerende godt hold af solister i de krævende opgaver. Jonas Kaufmann er især beundringsværdig med sin indtagende tenor og fysiske fremtræden ... Operaen er imidlertid for lang ... Trods disse indvendinger afhjælpes værkets problemer af et team, hvis indsats ... er intet mindre end ypperlig".


Klassisk

2023, nr. 71

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Charlotte Nørby

2023, nr. 71

"Engelbert Humperdinck er kun kendt for én opera. Den musikalske udgave af eventyret om Hans og Grete ... 'Königskinder' er en mørk historie om, at verden får som fortjent, når man ikke kan se det gode i håbet og uskylden ... Der er masser af smukke melodier, især de unge forelskede kongebørn har skøn musik at synge. Der er tydelige folkemelodier og rene enkle melodier ... Den erfarne tysk instruktør Christof Loy har ... skabt en lys og uskyldig verden i al fald i de første to akter ... Den ukrainske sopran Olga Kluchynska synger skønt og med kæmpe overskud. Hun har sødmen og letheden til at gestalte den unge, uskyldige pige ... Også den tyske tenor Daniel Behle har stemmen til den unge, lidt naive kongesøn ... Marc Albrecht dirigerer Humperdincks partitur klart og loyalt, så man ikke er i tvivl om kvaliteterne i denne ukendte opera".


Fono Forum

2024 Januar

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Manuel Brug

2024 Januar

"Oper auf DVD - die besten Neuerschienungen: Engelbert Humperdincks immer noch zu wenig gewürdigte 'Königskinder' sind eine der besten nachwagnerischen Opern ... Und genau das richtige Stück für Christof Loys psychologische Kunst der Personenführung ... Ansonsten lässt der seine wunderbar gecasteten Sänger glänzen. Die Ukrainerin Olga Kulchynska singt ... mit zart lyrischen Sopran. Mit durchaus Stahl in der Stimme ist Daniel Behle trotzdem ein tenoral glänzender Königssohn ... Chor und das Niederländische Philharmonische Orchester unter ihrem Ex-Chef Marc Albrecht sorgen für ein delikat spätromantisches Klangkleid".


The gramophone

2023 Awards

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Andrew Mellor

2023 Awards

"Editor's choice: There aren't many operatic scores with the consistent beauty, embrace, virility and honesty of Königskinder that remain effectively outside the repertoire ... In the finest northern European tradition, this is a fairy tale whose bleak ending leaves the faintest residual hope at best ... Christof Loy's production for Dutch National Opera gives it to us pretty straight, but with a stark and timeless beauty that faintly references the Holocaust while reminding us to trust the next generation even against our own instincts ... Utterly captivating - every single second of it".