Engelbert Humperdinck’s “Hänsel und Gretel” at the Grand Theater in Łódź and the Baltic Opera Festival

“Hänsel und Gretel” will be the last premiere at the Grand Theater in Łódź during the current season. Since the composer himself called the work an operatic fairy tale, it is difficult to target audience age. It will appeal both to children fond of bedtime stories, and adults who like to escape into the world of fantasy and dreams.

Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera will be shown on the Łódź stage for the second time in 33 years (the first production, directed by Jarosław Kilian, premiered in 1991). The current show is directed by Natalia Babińska, with Rafał Janiak conducting on the podium.

The cast features: Zuzanna Nalewajek, Olga Maroszek (Hänsel), Magdalena Lucjan, Aleksandra Borkiewicz-Cłapińska, Patrycja Krzeszowska (Gretel), Przemysław Rezner, Arkadiusz Anyszka, Andrzej Kostrzewski (Father), Anna Wierzbicka, Agnieszka Makówka (Mother), Bernadetta Grabias, Agnieszka Makówka (The Gingerbread Witch) and Hanna Okońska, Aleksandra Borkiewicz-Cłapińska (Fairies).

The opera will be performed six times between June 1 and 6 at the Grand Theater in Łódź. On July 21, the production will be shown at the Baltic Opera in Gdańsk during the 2nd edition of the Baltic Opera Festival.

“Hansel and Gretel” is one of the most famous fairy tales written by the Grimm brothers. To distract themselves from hunger the titular characters start dancing. When their mother returns home and sees them playing, she is furious they have stopped working. As she threatens to punish them she accidentally knocks over the jug with remaining milk. Mother chases the children out to the woods to pick strawberries. An evil Witch lives in the forest… Fortunately, Humperdinck’s children are under the care of good spirits, the Sand Fairy and angels. In the fairy-tale opera, even slavery in the Witch’s gingerbread house has a happy ending.

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