Listen to a Sample:

This performance of Hänsel und Gretel features some of the fine house singers of the Bayerische Staatsoper including Astrid Varnay as the Mother. In her later years, Varnay decided to give up the nomadic life of a jet-setting diva in favor of a steady job as a Fest singer and settled in Munich where she continued to perform until as late as 1995. By 1977 Varnay's voice was a little shop-worn, but she manages the demands of the mother with aplomb including an impressive high b. Helena Jungwirth and Marianne Seibel are a charming pair as Hansel and Gretel. The sound is only fair. There is a slight buzz throughout.

OD 10926-2