The Stage

BBC2 to broadcast Royal Opera House’s Hansel and Gretel

Published Thursday 27 November 2008 at 15:15 by Matthew Hemley

BBC2 is to record the Royal Opera House’s new production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera Hansel and Gretel and will broadcast it as part of its Christmas highlights.

Directed by Colin Davis, the cast includes Angelika Kirchschlager and Diana Damrau as Hansel and Gretel, with Anja Silja as the witch and Thomas Allen taking the role of the children’s father.

The broadcast will be introduced by Katie Derham and will include behind the scenes interviews.

Hansel and Gretel opens at the Royal Opera House next month.

Meanwhile, BBC1 will also provide viewers with the first chance to see highlights from the Doctor Who Prom, which was part of the prom line up this summer.

Over 60 minutes, the programme looks back at four series of the show and features the music that accompanied them.

Performed by the BBC Philharmonic and London Philharmonic Choir and conducted by Ben Foster, the music is accompanied by specially-edited film sequences from the series.

Elsewhere, Channel 4 has announced plans to broadcast a new film by Julien Temple of an opera by Jonathan Mills and Dorothy Porter called The Eternity Man, which played at the Almeida in 2003.

It stars Grant Doyle and is the first feature-length opera by Temple, who is best known for his work with the Sex Pistols, including the film The Great Rock’n’Roll Swindle.