KÖNIGSKINDER KING’S CHILDREN

Opera by Engelbert Humperdinck with a libretto by Ernst Rosmer. The first performance on any stage was at the Metropolitan Opera House, December 28, 1910, with the following cast: | Der König ohn | Herman Jadlowker | | Die Gansemagd | Geraldine Farrar | | Der Spielmann | Otto Goritz | | Die Hexe | Louise Homer | | Der Holzhacker | Adamo Didur | | Der Be sen binder | Albert Rei | | Zwei Kinder | Edna Walter and Lotta Engel | | Der Ratsalteste | Marcel Reiner | | Der Wirt | Antonio Pini-Corsi | | Die Wirtstochter | Florence Wickham | | Der Schneider | Julius Bayer | | Die Stallmagd | Marie Mattfeld | | Zwei Torwachter | Ernst Maran and William Hinshaw | IMG:872270115144378713_farrar_goose.png:Farrar Photo by White Farrar as the Goose Girl in “Königskinder” A king's daughter forced to act as a goose-girl in a forest, by an old witch who has cast a spell upon her, is discovered and loved by a king's son. Though she returned his love and would gladly go with him she finds that she cannot break the spell which holds her a prisoner in the forest. Leaving the crown at her feet the prince continues his wanderings. No sooner has he gone than a broom-maker and a wood-chopper guided by a wandering minstrel come to the witch's hut. They are amba adors from the city of Hellabrunn which has been so long without a sovereign that the people themselves feel sadly in need of a government. The amba adors ask the witch who this ruler shall be and by what signs the people may recognize him. The witch answers that their ruler will be the first person who enters the gates of the city after the bells have rung the hour of noon on the following day, which is the day of the festival of Hella. The minstrel notices the beautiful goose-girl and recognizes her to be of royal birth. He breaks the spell of the witch and forces her to give the lovely maiden into his keeping. He persuades her to break the enchantment and defy the evil powers by which she has been bound. The prince, meanwhile, is at Hellabrunn, acting as a swineherd. The innkeeper's daughter loves the handsome young man but he proudly repulses her advances. He dreams of the goose-girl. The innkeeper's daughter revenges herself by proclaiming him a thief. As he is about to be led away to prison the bells announce the hour of the festival, and the gates are thrown open in expectation of the new ruler. Through the gates comes the goose-girl, wearing her wreath of flowers and followed by her geese and the minstrel. The lovers embrace. But only the minstrel and a little child recognize their royal rank. The townspeople, thinking that their sovereign would appear in royal regalia, drive the kings' children from the city, burn the witch, and break the minstrel's leg on a wheel. The two lovers lose their way in a forest as the snow falls. They both die of a poisoned loaf made by the witch. The children of Hellabrunn, guided by a bird, find them buried under the same tree under which they had first met.