Roland Kaiser
"Die Gänsemagd" at the Gänsemarkt: cackle, scare and laugh - NDR
on the new production Sept. 2025 at the Hamburg State Opera by Tobias Kratzer
A princess, a false maid and a talking horse bring a lively fairy tale to the small stage of the Hamburg State Opera. The audience, young and old, are right in the middle of the action as geese. A premiere report.
"Gagagagagaga!": The young and old in the audience are the geese and sit cackling on the green floor in the centre of the room. It's completely normal for the little ones, many an opera patron at the premiere sits down on the floor with a groan and half-jokingly mutters something about age discrimination. The children are immediately drawn into the story and marvel at the princess's sparkling golden hair and the neighing horse.
Children's opera is a matter for the boss under Tobias Kratzer: the new artistic director staged the fairy tale himself.
The fairy tale takes place around the goose meadow on a kind of footbridge. It takes you from the princess's parents' house through a dark forest with eerie eyes glowing in a tree trunk to the castle of the king and the prince. You are right in the middle of the story. The stage and costumes by Rainer Sellmaier are like a fairytale book turned into theatre - this is what kings and their chambers should look like. You can hardly get enough of it.
The princess (Ida Aldrian) sets off with her servant to visit her prince. They are joined by the talking horse Falada - two men in costume like at the Cologne carnival. The landscape passes by. Even a small Elphi is painted on the canvas. The two women sing in two voices about what an adventure the whole thing is.
But on the way, the false, evil maid assumes their identity. She wants to become a princess instead of them and later a queen. Hellen Kwon plays and sings the maid in a wonderfully nasty way with a malicious witchy laugh and sinister looks - a picture-book villainess. The princess, threatened with death, is forced to work as a goose maid. All seems lost until Tigran Martirossian - the wonderfully funny, eye-rolling king - realises and sings: "Something's not right here."
A four-piece orchestra conducted by Claudia Chang with clarinet, accordion, keyboard and cello plays the contemporary music by Iris ter Schiphorst. It is avant-garde for children. The little ones don't hesitate for a second and get involved. The arias and duets have real catchy tune potential.
Tobias Kratzer, the new artistic director, is staging the fairy tale himself. Children's opera is now a top priority here. Well-known singers from the ensemble also appear on the small stage. Katja Pieweck, for example, plays the Queen. The new spirit is also reflected in the outstanding programme booklet: if you read it from the front, it is designed for children with games, lots of pictures and puzzles. If you read it from the back, there is a version for adults with enlightening and clever insights, such as the fact that the Grimm Brothers' fairy tale is also a metaphor-rich story about growing up.
The one-hour opera is also creepy. Even as an adult, your pulse starts to race when the cook (Peter Galliard) goes into the stables with a long knife and hums and then comes out with Falada's head wrapped in a cloth. The children bravely endure the thriller, snuggling just a little closer to their parents. Fortunately, the horse's head can still talk (a marvellous special effect!), betrays the false princess and brings us to the happy ending.
"Die Gänsemagd" at the Oper am Gänsemarkt - the pun is no coincidence. This opera is so lovingly and wittily designed down to the last detail: The slovenly, lanky prince, who at first is only interested in books; the family gallery in the royal chambers, whose pictures gently explain why the prince no longer has a mother; and the king, who, judging by his facial expressions, also has some interest in the princess's mother. This fairy tale is also fun for adults on the goose meadow - if they don't have backs.
The audience as a flock of geese: the fresh production at the State Opera is fun - and provides music with catchy tunes.
07.10.2025 11:25 am