Tri-Cities Opera will present Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel October 16–18, offering audiences a familiar fairy tale accompanied by a richly romantic musical score and an unusually close-up theatrical experience.
In an interview on WSKG’s Arts in Depth, stage director Patrick Hansen and Kanade Motomura, who sings Hansel, discussed some of the misconceptions surrounding the opera and what audiences can expect from the production.
Although the opera includes a children’s chorus, Hansen emphasized that the principal characters are portrayed by professional adult singers. And despite its association with holiday programming, he said, Hansel and Gretel is much more than a seasonal children’s entertainment.
“It’s a perfect opera for anybody to come to,” Hansen said, whether they are attending their first opera or are longtime enthusiasts. He described Humperdinck’s score as “very Wagnerian and beautiful and full and lush and romantic and, for lack of a better word, gorgeous.”
Humperdinck studied with and assisted Richard Wagner, and his musical approach brings some of Wagner’s dramatic techniques to the familiar fairy tale. Rather than relying on the musical themes associated with Wagner’s mythological characters, Humperdinck incorporates folk-like melodies and recurring musical ideas, including the lullaby that appears throughout the score.
For Motomura, the role of Hansel offers an opportunity to explore the lively relationship between two siblings. She describes Hansel as the “bratty little brother,” opposite Gretel, played by fellow resident artist Kate Fogg, as the “bossy older sister.”
The two characters spend much of the opera together, and Motomura said their relationship provides much of the production’s humor and charm. The music itself also helps distinguish their personalities. Hansel’s lines become punchy and low when he is frustrated or angry, while Gretel’s music frequently rises into beautiful, high melodies. The witch’s music, meanwhile, uses sharply accented rhythms to suggest her mischievous and evil nature.
Although the score presents considerable melodic and harmonic challenges for singers, Motomura said its lush orchestration and expressive writing make the work especially rewarding.
Hansen’s production will take advantage of the Opera Center’s intimate setting by bringing the forest directly into the audience. Rather than placing the entire action onstage, the production will create pathways through the seating area, with trees and platforms where Hansel and Gretel will sing, pray, and fall asleep beneath the protection of the angels.
The audience will also encounter some of the characters at close range. The father will begin his entrance aria at the back of the theater and sing his way through the audience, while the witch will make an appearance among the spectators.
Hansen said the intimate setting presents particular challenges for theatrical effects, especially the scene in which the witch enters the oven and is transformed into a gingerbread version of herself. But he sees the proximity as an opportunity.
“When you have an opera singer 10 feet away from you, it’s a really different experience,” he said, describing the production as an opportunity for audiences to experience the power of opera singing at close range.
The production also features the newly formed Tri-Cities Opera Children’s Chorus, whose members will participate in the children’s chorus and return later in the season for La Bohème.
Motomura, originally from Houston, Texas, recently completed her master’s degree at Rice University. She is one of four resident artists spending nine months of the year with Tri-Cities Opera, performing leading roles as part of the company’s professional training program. Hanson said the company received nearly 600 applications for the resident artist positions.
Tri-Cities Opera presents Hansel and Gretel Friday, October 16, and Saturday, October 17, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, October 18, at 3 p.m., at the Opera Center, 315 Clinton Street, Binghamton. For tickets and information, visit tricitiesopera.com .