“When I first heard this opera almost 10 years ago, the music immediately grabbed me,” Pawsey says during a three-way call that also includes music director Leslie Dala. Astrolabe’s founding artistic director and general manager, renowned soprano Heather Pawsey, tells the Straight that the British opera, composed by George Benjamin with words by Martin Crimp, has been on her to-do list for nearly a decade. On May 19 and 20, Vancouver’s Astrolabe Musik Theatre will stage the Canadian premiere of one of them, Into the Little Hill. In the current century, it has been the basis of no fewer than three operas. The Pied Piper legend dates back to the Middle Ages, and it simply refuses to die, inspiring artists from the Brothers Grimm and Robert Browning to Walt Disney and Atom Egoyan. So, he pulled out his pipe, began playing, and strolled out of town-this time with all the children of Hamelin following in his footsteps. Upon his return, however, the piper found that the payment he was promised for his services was not forthcoming. He did this by means of a magical pipe or flute, playing a tune so hypnotic that the rats were compelled to follow him as he led them away from Hamelin, never to be seen again. They’ll tell you that when the German town of Hamelin was overrun by vermin, a rat-catcher was hired to get rid of the rodents.

Ask any half-dozen random strangers to relate the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, and you will likely get six variations on the same basic story.

The pied piper of hamelin browning