THE first of Opera North's triple bill of classic fairy tales this week, Hansel and Gretel (1893) got the eagerly awaited trilogy off to a pleasant start.

There can be no doubt about the beauty of Engelbert Humperdinck's music but the story feels like a five-minute sketch drawn to fill an hour and three quarters. Basically, Hansel (Katie Bray) and Gretel (Fflur Wyn) are a couple of lazy pre-teens who fight all day while their parents are out working.

Sadly, they bring home little bacon (the father is a drunken sot) and the children go hungry. On this occasion the children spill the only thing left to consume (milk donated by worried neighbours) and are sent out by their mother (Susan Bullock, who also played the witch) to collect strawberries in the wood.

Having had a good day selling brushes and carrying an abundance of food the father (Stephen Gadd) is remorseful and relates to the mother how the woods are a dangerous place at night and contain a wicked witch.

But with Rachael J Mosley's appearance as the nice Sandman, accompanied by Humperdinck's sumptuous and most melodious tune, we knew evil would be defeated.

Director Edward Dick uses a Blair Witch-style live camera (with the real time images projected against a back wall). This works brilliantly in the gingerbread house as we see images of chocolate wrappers festoon the walls and ceiling and conveys images of trees for the forest but for the most part the use of film just got in the way and never built any real tension that this story hinges on, especially when the witch is fattening Hansel up to cook in the oven.

Sung in English with English titles, the performances were spot on and the music wonderful. Bray and Wyn, who were on stage throughout and singing for the most part, were a joy both aurally and as actors.

Ed Waugh