Engelbert Humperdinck Königskinder opera to a libretto by Ernst Rosmer (pen name of Else Bernstein-Porges). Directed 2010 by Jens-Daniel Herzog and Nina Russi at Opernhaus Zürich. Stars Jonas Kaufmann (The King’s Son), Isabel Rey (the Goose Girl), Oliver Widmer (Fiddler), Liliana Nikiteanu (Witch), Reinhard Mayr (Lumberjack), Boguslaw Bidzinski (Broommaker), Marie-Thérèse A/bert (Broommaker's Daughter), Kai Florian Bischoff (Town Councillor), Tomasz Slawinski (Innkeeper), Anna Schlosser (Innkeeper's Daughter), Miroslav Christoff (Tailor), Wiebke Lehmkuhl (Stable girl), Pablo Ricardo Bemsch (First Gatekeeper), George Humphrey (Second Gatekeeper), and Suzanne Grobholz (a Woman). Ingo Metzmacher conducts the Chorus, Youth Chorus, Children's Chorus, and Orchestra of Opernhaus Zürich. Set and costume designs by Mathis Neidhardt; lighting by Jürgen Hoffmann. Directed for TV by Felix Breisach. Sung in German. Released 2012, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
This is the only video (out in DVD and Blu-ray) ever published of this opera. Here is a synopsis from the artwork on the back of the keepcase: Königskinder follows the story of the King's Son (the Königskind) and the beautiful Goose-girl. After a chance meeting in the woods, the Königskind and the Goose-girl fall in love. However, the Goose-girl is unable to leave with her sweetheart as she is trapped by a witch's spell. Eventually the lovers are reunited, but immediately cast out by the townsfolk. The opera is bought to a heartbreaking close when hunger forces the starving couple to eat the witch's poisoned bread.
Here are some YouTube clips that suggest that Herzog successfully updated this opera: