Hansel and Gretel review – a must-see production

In the world of fairytale, pigs might fly, and in the dream sequence of Welsh National Opera’s staging, the porcine protecting angels who provide a banquet for the starving Hansel and Gretel probably do. Director Richard Jones and designer John Macfarlane’s iconic fantasy was first performed in Cardiff in 1998 and, most recently at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, but it’s a must-see for anyone within striking distance of Welsh National Opera’s touring venues in coming weeks. Under conductor Lothar Koenigs, the singing is wholly delightful.

In Jones’s perception, Hansel and Gretel are the victims of dysfunctional parenting – a drunken father and cruel, neurotic mother verging on suicide – though it must be said that nobody in this cast looks remotely undernourished. But where, in previous outings, the siblings betrayed some nasty tendencies, here Jurgita Adamonyté’s Hansel and Ailish Tynan’s Gretel revert to a more charming and playful pair. Their physical language is perfectly realised, with none of the awkward self-consciousness of adults acting as children. Moreover, the voices are better matched than any to date. Adamonyté has a properly boyish presence, and her strong, unforced mezzo is warm and agile, while Tynan delivers her fresh, bright sound with just the right amount of bloom. Together, they judge everything beautifully, the words of David Pountney’s translation always crystal clear.

As their mother Gertrude, Miriam Murphy sings with Wagnerian expansiveness while Ashley Holland’s father is similarly ample of tone. Adrian Thompson’s witch flings ingredients and her voice around with gleeful abandon. Her gas chamber of an oven takes on a character of its own with obviously sinister overtones, giving the coming-to-life of the murdered gingerbread children an added dimension. Yet they all tuck into roast witch with gusto.