Szeged National Theater to open season with Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel (Jancsi és Juliska)
The Szeged National Theater will launch its 2025–26 season with Engelbert Humperdinck’s fairy-tale opera Hansel and Gretel (Jancsi és Juliska), directed by Veronika Bonecz.
Rehearsals began this week for the two-act production, which will be performed in Hungarian. The libretto, written by Adelheid Wette, is based on the original Brothers Grimm story.
“This is the first table read of the season, and unlike other years we are not starting with a spoken play but with an opera primarily for children,” said László Barnák, the theater’s director. “Since I joined the theater in 2008, we haven’t staged an opera like this, and I’ve been waiting for it ever since.”
Humperdinck, a leading figure of German late Romanticism, is known for weaving folk melodies with rich orchestration. Hansel and Gretel premiered in 1893 under the baton of Richard Strauss, and Gustav Mahler later conducted it in Hamburg.
“The musical world of the piece is extremely diverse,” said Péter Dobszay, the production’s music director. “It includes playful, childlike passages, but also magical, celestial and serene music. You hear Wagner and Strauss influences, but also Humperdinck’s own distinctive voice.”
Bonecz, who studied in Venice, said her staging emphasizes the struggle between good and evil without frightening children. Set and costume design will reflect the story’s progression, shifting from natural tones at the family’s home to bold magenta and fuchsia at the witch’s gingerbread house. Costumes for Hansel and Gretel’s family will feature natural fabrics such as linen, while the witch will wear shiny, synthetic materials.
The premiere will be the first main stage production of the Szeged National Theater’s new season.
Photos: Szilvia Molnar / Szegedify
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