Luchi de Gyldenfeldt plays the role of the Witch in “Hänsel und Gretel” at the Teatro Avenida. In this interview, she shares her experience and challenges in taking on this role and talks about this production, which will be staged on July 6 and 13 at 8 p.m. Tickets are available through Ticketek.
By Virginia Chacon Dorr
Invited by Graciela de Gyldenfeldt, director of the Opera Festival of Buenos Aires, Luchi reveals how the opportunity arose as a challenge in 2022 and how time allowed her to develop and mature the character, highlighting the vocal and stage demands it entails. Additionally, she reflects on the profound meaning of the work and the importance of supporting self-management in Argentina’s operatic culture.
-How did the role of the Witch come into your career?
-It was proposed to me by Graciela de Gyldenfeldt, who, besides being my aunt, is the director of the Opera Festival of Buenos Aires. She was thinking about doing ‘Hansel and Gretel’ in German, with a strong desire to revive some of the tradition of German opera in Argentina. This year, she successfully staged Wagner’s ‘The Flying Dutchman’ and now she is also reviving ‘Hansel and Gretel’.
It was an invitation like, “Why don’t you try this?” For me, it came as a challenge. I auditioned for her at my father’s house in Santos Lugares, and when I sang it, I surprised myself by seeing that I could do it. This was in early 2022, more than a year before we staged ‘Hansel and Gretel’ in 2023. The time gave me confidence to prepare the character and encouraged me to explore the range: the Witch is a character with an enormous vocal range, spanning more than two octaves, sometimes even within the same page, in three or four bars.
-It must have been a laborious process…
-Maturing the role was, and still is, quite an experience. At that time, in 2022, I was singing various works in the bel canto repertoire, which allowed me to focus on vocal beauty and a healthy, balanced approach for myself, so as not to overextend with this very histrionic role. Moreover, being a characteristic role, as they say in opera, it is important to sing it with the healthiest principles possible.
I feel like I’m rediscovering the Witch, my particular Witch – Luchi de Gyldenfeldt
-How did you get there and what do you remember about the premiere?
-I remember it was a great challenge. It was wonderful to have arrived with confidence thanks to the work we did with Pablo Manzanelli, who was the director of the production, and it was fantastic. The premiere was very exciting and foundational for my confidence. I remember it as a very important event: I overcame that initial fear, and it was like saying, “Yes, I can do it, I’m here, and I can sing this.” After that, it’s about “softening” it. And, although I had already sung in heels with Ópera Queer on many occasions, it was quite a challenge to go out with all that stage impact of the Witch… I was two meters tall, with a wig, heels, singing in German, with an orchestra. It was also a huge challenge to premiere the role at 33 years old, being one of the first leading roles I sang in a theater as a contralto-mezzo.
-Rediscovering things about your voice, your body, your throat, are you also rediscovering things about the Witch?
-I feel like I’m rediscovering the Witch, my particular Witch. Much of it is thanks to the conversations I have with Graciela (Ed. note: de Gyldenfeldt), who has always contributed a lot to me, and with the work we’re doing now with Maestro Helge Dorsch. With him, we’re doing more specific work on the German, which is very important since he’s a German speaker. We’re looking for that meticulousness in the vowels, phrasing, articulation… This is in addition to the first semester in the Baroque Opera Specialization at the Instituto Superior de Arte of the Teatro Colón, which has allowed me to sing wonderful things with teachers like Federico Ciancio, Victor Torres, and Andrés Gerszenzon, and to work alongside the beautiful voices of my colleagues with whom I share the course. All this background is now allowing me to find many more colors in the Witch. I’m very grateful to repeat this role because it is very complex. I think from the first day, from the first performance, I felt that I wanted to sing it several times.
-How would you invite the audience to experience this work and what can they expect from the production?
-The opera is for all audiences. The Opera Festival of Buenos Aires is making an incredible and very valuable venture for opera by staging productions like Wagner’s “The Flying Dutchman.” The invitation is for the artistic event itself; it’s something you can’t miss. The cast is fabulous: Ana Sampedro as Gretel, Lídice Robinson as Hänsel, Maestro Luis Gaeta (with whom it is an honor and a pride for me to share the stage), Virginia Lía Molina as the Mother, Lorena Sayegh as the Sandman and the Dew Fairy, and the direction of Helge Dorsch, a specialist in the German repertoire.
Another great reason to come is to support self-management. I think it’s very important to support cultural projects that really want to contribute something to the culture of this moment. I feel it’s a huge effort and a challenge to stage an opera of this magnitude at the Teatro Avenida, in Argentina, in 2024. Not only is it artistically a work not to be missed, but also, by buying a ticket starting at 3,500 pesos on Ticketek, you are contributing to ensure this continues and that everything doesn’t get centralized as has happened in other moments of crisis in our country.
You can’t miss the opportunity to reconnect with this children’s tale; Emilio Urdapilleta’s staging has a lot of that fairy-tale play – Luchi de Gyldenfeldt
-The story also presents many layers of meaning; what we perceive of this story as adults is not the same as what we perceive as children. Do you find this in the work?
-I think that appears in the production. It’s a story with many layers of meaning, dealing with evil, but also with ingenuity and even seduction. The Witch is not what one imagines, that old lady with warts and a hunched back with a cane… but rather she is a very seductive person. Suddenly, Gretel, who is the older sister, is initially attracted by the Witch’s elegance and sophistication… but in reality, it is cruelty in disguise.
You can’t miss the opportunity to reconnect with this children’s tale; Emilio Urdapilleta’s staging has a lot of that fairy-tale play, with well-defined scenes like the forest house and the witch’s house. It’s in German with subtitles, so I advise explaining to the children beforehand what it’s about to get them excited; it’s a story they already know, which creates a closeness to the work.
Returning to the human, returning to looking each other in the eyes is what opposes cruelty – Luchi de Gyldenfeldt
-You mentioned cruelty as one of the story’s layers of interpretation. Sometimes we need to see certain everyday things on stage to think about them more deeply. In this regard, do you think cruelty is “fashionable” today?
-More than “being fashionable,” I think two things about cruelty: one, that it is being excessively glorified, and two, that many people have lost sight of the purpose of this senselessly escalating cruelty. I don’t know if it is really fashionable; I think it started many years ago, but now it is escalating. What I do believe is that, if cruelty is what we face, and it affects us daily when we learn about something painful, instead of ignoring it, we must propose something different. In my case, art is a loving trench for myself, where I can be and allow myself to be. From there, I try to propose an embrace to the people who listen to me. Let the message be, at this moment, artistic, philosophical, and aesthetic, in terms of empowerment and being able to show myself as “Luchi” at this moment, as a legitimate lyric singer. To thank myself for that, to feel proud of that, and to generate empathy from that place.
This happened to me recently, when we performed the Stabat Mater with the Youth Talent Orchestra along with Mariana Carnovali, at the Niño Jesús parish in Lugano. When I came out, some people did not expect my presence in those spaces. During the course of the work, I felt those people were moved, but they couldn’t look me in the eyes. I looked for their gaze to see what they were feeling, and they avoided me. However, as the work progressed, they began to look me in the eyes, and finally, after the work, many came up to me and greeted me. Returning to the human, returning to looking each other in the eyes is what opposes cruelty.
-Before we end our conversation, I’d like to talk a bit about your relationship with Baroque music and the specialization at the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón that you’re currently undertaking.
-I feel super happy and super grateful. It is a pride for me to belong to the specialization. It is a very human and beautiful group, and the Baroque is a wonderful world. It seems to me that it offers a somewhat freer environment, with fewer structures. I am very happy and hope that the specialization continues so that more people can take advantage of it and grow. We have prepared three concerts with completely different repertoires, which generates a lot of training; you finish one concert and you already have to prepare for the next. I am very happy, it was really heartwarming to have been accepted. Having Víctor Torres as a teacher is a luxury, and we work on parts like La mensajera from Monteverdi’s Orfeo. It gives me a lot of pleasure, and it is very important to emphasize that this training is public and free. Training myself in the path of art having these opportunities, beyond being “Luchi” (and also because of it), empowers me and brings me a lot of joy.
“Hänsel und Gretel” by Engelbert Humperdinck by Opera Festival Buenos Aires
Dates and times: July 6 and 13 at 8:00 p.m.
Venue: Teatro Avenida (Av. de Mayo 1222)
Main cast: Lídice Robinson as Hänsel (mezzo-soprano), Ana Sampedro as Gretel (soprano), Luchi de Gyldenfeldt as the Witch, Luis Gaeta as the Father (baritone), Virginia Lía Molina as the Mother (soprano), Lorena Sayegh as the Sandman and the Dew Fairy (soprano)
Musical direction: Helge Dorsch
Stage direction: Emilio Urdapilleta
Ticket sales: Through Ticketek from $3450 and at the theater box office
Opera in three acts, based on the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. Premiered in Weimar in 1893, conducted by Richard Strauss
https://www.ticketek.com.ar/hansel-und-gretel/teatro-avenida
