ride and the prayerful serenity of the children’s dream-pantomime of guardian angels, is the outstanding feature of this delightful new set, but the cast has been well chosen, too… Jennifer Larmore’s swaggering Hansel is perfectly matched with Rebecca Evans’s radiant and unusually voluptuous Gretel… The opera is a little miracle, and this new English version – David Pountney’s translation – deserves to attract new generations of admirers.’

Daily Telegraph
'It is more or less a foregone conclusion that a recording of Hansel and Gretel conducted by Charles Mackerras will be a triumph, and this latest in Chandos's Opera in English series proves this to be the case… (The) daybreak scene is just one example of the wonderful playing that Mackerras draws from the Philharmonia, while those harmonic twists that make Humperdinck's music so emotionally taut catch you in the gut with their timing on each occasion…
Jennifer Larmore’s laddish Hansel makes a good foil for Rebecca Evans's purer-voiced Gretel… Jane Henschel puts in a star performance as the Witch, not over-playing the characterisation in her use of vocal tone-colour, as some do, yet obviously enjoying the way such lines as "My name's Rosina Lickspittle" go from sweetness and light to malevolence in the twinkling of a barline. Rosalind Plowright's Mother and Robert Hayward's Father make solid impressions in the first act, and there are consummate cameos for the Sandman (Diana Montague) and Dew Fairy (Sarah Tynan). Last but not least, the New London Children's Choir movingly cap the performance as the revived gingerbread children.'