author
Engelbert Humperdinck
1854–1921
Best known for the fairy-tale opera Hänsel und Gretel, this late-Romantic German composer brought warmth, color, and theatrical charm to the stage. His music helped bridge Wagnerian richness with a more intimate, storybook sense of wonder.
1 Audiobook
Hänsel and Gretel: A Fairy Opera in Three Acts
by Engelbert Humperdinck, Adelheid Wette
About the author
Born in Siegburg, Prussia, on September 1, 1854, he studied music in Cologne and Munich and went on to build a career as a composer and teacher. Although his parents had hoped for a different path, he showed musical talent early and became part of the German late-Romantic tradition.
A major turning point came when he worked with Richard Wagner in Italy and later assisted with the preparations for Parsifal. That experience shaped his sense of orchestral color and drama, but his own voice remained gentler and more lyrical than Wagner's.
He is remembered above all for Hänsel und Gretel, first performed in 1893, a work that has remained a favorite in opera houses for generations. He died in Neustrelitz on September 27, 1921, leaving behind music that mixes fairy-tale imagination with rich, heartfelt writing.