ABR gives Das Rheingold ★★★☆ and Die Walküre ★★★★★ as The Ring plays in Bendigo, complimented by supporting Ring Cycle Festival.
Australian first regional staging of Wagner’s epic Ring Cycle.
Renowned German tenor Siegfried Jerusalem will be a special guest at Melbourne Opera’s ground-breaking regional production of Wagner’s Der Ring Des Nibelungen (The Ring Cycle).
Jerusalem has sung all the major Ring Cycle tenor roles at Bayreuth, the Ring’s spiritual home, and will feature in the Bendigo Ring Cycle’s accompanying cultural festival “in conversation” with conductor Anthony Negus and mezzo-soprano Deborah Humble. He will also give an exclusive festival masterclass with Bendigo Ring Cycle tenors Bradley Daley, James Egglestone and Robert Macfarlane. Not to be missed.
A full program of festival events across all three Ring Cycles, including recitals, talks, gala dinners on stage at the Ulumbarra Theatre, and even an intimate concert 60 metres underground in a mine, is now available.
Be catapulted into a world of giants and dwarves, serpents and toads, gods and apples … and this is just the start of a wondrous mystical journey which some suggest provided the germination for the renowned Lord of the Rings.
Directed by Suzanne Chaundy, and led by internationally recognised conductors Anthony Negus (cycle 1 & 2) and David Kram AM (cycle 3), Melbourne Opera’s production of Richard Wagner’s mammoth Der Ring Des Nibelungen (Ring Cycle) is exclusive to Bendigo.
Performed in the intimate space of the Ulumbarra Theatre, with a 90-piece Melbourne Opera Orchestra, this four-part music drama comprises Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, performances which in total span 15 hours, featuring some of opera’s most memorable moments, including, the majestic Ride of the Valkyries, the poignancy of Wotan’s Farewell, the Descent into Nibelheim, the sublime Forest Murmurs and ultimately culminating in a fiery finale of Gotterdämerung, one of all theatre’s most technically challenging moments!
A distinguished cast has been assembled for the Bendigo Ring, with Warwick Fyfe continuing his acclaimed performance as Wotan, Antoinette Halloran and Zara Barrett as Brunnhilde, Simon Meadows as Alberich, Lee Abrahmsen and Eleanor Greenwood as Sieglinde, Bradley Daley and Bradley Cooper as Siegfried, Sarah Sweeting and Dimity Shepherd as Fricka, Deborah Humble as Erda, James Egglestone as Loge and Siegmund, Robert Macfarlane as Mime, Steven Gallop as Fafner, Darren Jeffery as Fasolt, Adrian Tamburini as Hunding, and a plethora of distinguished singers in the many other roles including Christopher Hillier, Christopher Tonkin, Jason Wasley, Rebeccah Rashleigh, Sally-Anne Russell, Rosamund Illing, Olivia Cranwell, Liane Keegan, Dimity Shepherd, Kerry Gill, Eleanor Greenwood, Naomi Flatman, Caroline Vercoe, Teresa Ingrilli and Jordan Kahler.
The Ring Cycle will be sung in German, with English subtitles.
Critics rave about Das Rheingold and Die Walküre
“Die Walküre: A triumphant performance from Melbourne Opera” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – Michael Shmith, Australian Book Review.
“Melbourne’s opera year begins with an impressive second instalment of Wagner’s Ring Cycle” – Limelight Magazine.
“This epic opera is as shocking and cruel as when it was first staged” – The Age.
