GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET: "Hansel and Gretel" Broadcast in HD starting March 26, 2008 on PBS. (check local listings) Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck Librettists: Adelheid Wette; English translation by David Pountney Production: Richard Jones Conductor: Vladimir Jurowski Performers: Alice Coote (Hansel), Christine Schäfer (Gretel), Philip Langridge (The Witch), Rosalind Plowright (Gertrude), Alan Held (Peter), Sasha Cooke (The Sandman), Lisette Oropesa (The Dew Fairy) Synopsis: The second season of GREAT PERFORMANCES at The Met on PBS features 14 operas from the Met’s series of live high-definition transmissions initially presented in movie theaters around the world. The season launches with the family favorite Hansel and Gretel, in a production by Richard Jones, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. Most fairy tales—while charming on the outside—resonate long past bedtime with darker underpinnings. Alice Coote and Christine Schäfer play the siblings lost in a shadowy world of unknown menace, pursued by the Witch, portrayed by tenor Philip Langridge, who seeks to devour them. The English-language production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s adaptation of the beloved story by the Brothers Grimm was originally created for Welsh National Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago. Funding for GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET: "Hansel and Gretel" has been provided by Toll Brothers, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The Herman Lissner Foundation, and PBS. Top banner photo: Alice Coote and Christine Schäfer in the Met's "Hansel and Gretel." photo credits: Ken Howard/The Metropolitan Opera Vladimir Jurowski, Conductor Alice Coote, Mezzo-soprano Christine Schäfer, Soprano Philip Langridge, Tenor Browse our guide about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.