Caitlin Hulcup has been highly praised for her 'vocal beauty' and 'convincingly boyish persona' in her recent performances as Hänsel Hänsel und Gretel at Grange Park Opera. Highlights earlier this season have included her role debut as Romeo I Capuleti e i Montecchi for Victorian Opera in Melbourne, Radamisto for Opera Lafayette in her US debut at Washington's Kennedy Centre, and Piacere Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno at Royal Danish Opera.
“Caitlin Hulcup and Soraya Mafi were quite simply the most visually plausible Hansel and Gretel I have ever seen, boisterous anarchic children of the sort that always land in trouble and wangle their way out of it. Their singing was perfection – Hulcup all boyish bravado, Mafi mercurial and sparkling.”
Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph*****
“Caitlin Hulcup is outstanding as Hansel, both in her phrasing and in her convincingly boyish persona.”
Barry Millington, Evening Standard*****
“Caitlin Hulcup’s Hansel and Soraya Mafi’s Gretel are of truly international class.”
David Mellor, Daily Mail****
“As the children, Caitlin Hulcup and Soraya Mafi are outstanding, brimming with high spirits and optimism. … Hulcup’s lovely mezzo expresses any amount of adolescent diffidence, courage and affection. Hulcup is a head taller than Mafi, which puts the finishing touch to their credibility as brother and sister, and throughout they are immensely affecting and strongly directed.”
Peter Reed, Classical Source*****
“[Mafi’s] lightness contrasted with Hulcup’s more rugged, rambunctious Hänsel, whose darker and rounder sound spoke of that character’s earthiness – very much his father’s son.”
Benjamin Poore, Bachtrack
“Soraya Mafi and Caitlin Hulcup made a delightful pairing as Gretel and Hansel, for all the picturesque charm of the characters' depiction there was a fundamental seriousness to their performance which emphasised the music's quality. … [Mafi] was matched by Hulcup's wonderfully boyish Hansel (one of the best 'boys' I have seen in this opera for a long time), with the two voices blending and contrasting. They kept the action moving so that the scenes between them in the first two acts, which can sometimes drag somewhat, flew by.”
Robert Hugill, Opera Today
“the vocal beauty of … Caitlin Hulcup and Soraya Mafi.”
Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times
“Caitlin Hulcup, a lively, lanky teenage Hänsel”
Richard Fairman, Financial Times
Performances run until 10 July. Click here for more information.
Photo credits: Richard Hubert-Smith
