Organization

Conductor

Marc Albrecht

Stage director

Christof Loy

Set designer

Johannes Leiacker

Costume designer

Barbara Drosihn

Lighting designer

Olaf Winter

Dramaturge

Klaus Bertisch

Chorus master

Edward Ananian-Cooper

Singer

Tenor

Daniel Behle

Der Königssohn

Soprano

Olga Kulchynska

Die Gänsemagd

Baritone

Josef Wagner

Der Spielmann

Contralto

Doris Soffel

Die Hexe

Bass

Sam Carl

Der Holzhacker

Michael Pflumm

Der Besenbinder

Henk Poort

Der Ratsälteste

Roger Smeets

Der Wirt

Mezzo-soprano

Kai Rüütel

Die Wirtstochter

Lucas van Lierop

Der Schneider

Eva Kroon

Die Stallmagd

Niall Fallon

Dancer

Hans Pieter Herman

1. Torwächter

Yvonne Kok

Eine Frau

Camille Joubert

Violinist

De Nationale Opera

Others

Chorus of Dutch National Opera

Orchestra

Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest

New Amsterdam Children's Choir

German

Königskinder -  (The King's Children)

Amsterdam

Netherlands

Königskinder

Public

Private

The King's Children

Dutch

English

Approved

Königskinder Humperdinck

In this fairy tale, the role of villain is not played by a witch or dragon, but by humanity. Engelbert Humperdinck’s Königskinder is a tragic story about a g...

Composer Engelbert Humperdinck is best known for Hänsel und Gretel , his fairytale opera about Hansel and Gretel, which ends with a 'happily ever after'. This is not the case at all for Königskinder (1910). The goose herder and the king's son come to understand that what really matters lies within, in the way you treat the world and your fellow human beings. This makes them ideal leaders of a village eagerly seeking a ruler. However, the villagers refuse to recognize the young couple as such. Only in death do the two 'king's children' find their kingdom.

 

THE RETURN OF MARC ALBRECHT
With this opera Marc Albrecht, chief conductor of Dutch National Opera and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra from 2011 to 2020 and winner of the Opera Award for 'Best Conductor 2019', returns to Amsterdam. The conductor and orchestra achieved great success together with operas by composers such as Wagner, Strauss, Zemlinsky and Schreker. With Königskinder , a richly varied late romantic work, they continue to build on this area.

Marc Albrecht joins forces again with director Christof Loy after an acclaimed Tannhäuser at DNO. With his psychologically in-depth and strongly musical directing style, Loy is a welcome guest in Amsterdam – it is not for nothing that he twice won the Prix d'Amis from the Friends of DNO. In an oppressive atmosphere, inspired by Michael Haneke's film Das weiße Band , he tells a timeless story about the hardness of man, and the individual that is oppressed as a result.

Componist Engelbert Humperdinck is vooral bekend vanwege Hänsel und Gretel, zijn sprookjesopera over Hans en Grietje, die eindigt met een ‘nog lang en gelukkig’. Voor Königskinder (1910) geldt dat allerminst. De ganzenhoedster en koningszoon komen tot het inzicht dat wat er écht toe doet vanbinnen schuilt, in de manier waarop je de wereld en de medemens behandelt. Dat maakt hen tot de ideale leiders van een dorp dat naarstig op zoek is naar een heerser. De bewoners van het dorp weigeren het jonge koppel echter als zodanig te erkennen. Pas in de dood vinden de twee ‘koningskinderen’ hun koninkrijk.

Nederlands

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble