Opera Australia have announced performances of three cycles of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring Des Nibelungen in November and December 2013 in Melbourne to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Wagner’s birth. Although the iconic Sydney Opera is the usual venue for premiere Opera Australia’s events, the cycles will be exclusive to Melbourne.
Der Ring Des Nibelungen has not been performed in Melbourne since its Australian premiere in 1913 by an English touring company formed by Thomas Quinlan as part of a grand – but ultimately unsuccessful - scheme of performing nine Ring cycles around the world in six months! Die Walküre had premiered in Australia, at the Princess's Theatre in May 1907 but Quinlan's company staged the cycle twice at Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne;
Das Rheingold on 19 August 1913
Die Walküre on 22 August 1913
Siegfried on 25 August 1919
and
Götterdämmerung on 29 August 1919
The cycle was not performed complete in Australia again until a French production was imported by the State Opera of South Australia in 1998.
The 2013 cycles will be the first time Opera Australia have stage the Ring in its entirety. A previous attempt at staging the cycle was abandoned after the first two operas only.
The 2013 project will be a joint venture between Opera Australia, the Houston Grand Opera and the Victorian Government’s Major Events Company. Melbourne philanthropists Maureen and Tony Wheeler are contributing $5 million of the $15.5 million production budget. A co-founder with her husband of the Lonely Planet travel guides the Maureen Wheeler is Wagner enthusiast, having attended Ring productions around the world.
Neil Armfield will direct the cycle which will be also be staged in Houston over four seasons - Houston Grand Opera's first-ever staging of the cycle – commencing in 2014. Armfield’s previous work with the Houston Opera includes a cycle of Britten operas. His most recent, Peter Grimes, is part of Houston’s 2010-11 season.
The musical director in Melbourne will be the Australian composer and conductor Richard Mills.
An exclusive orchestra will be created for the cycle, consisting of players from the permanent ensemble for opera and ballet performance in Melbourne, Orchestra Victoria, and its Sydney equivalent, the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and other orchestras from around Australia. Younger musicians from elite training schools like the Australian National Academy of Music will be introduced into the pool of musicians to learn the culture of the repertoire and be mentored by established musicians in order to present the cycle when it is restaged on future occasions.
Four of the singers participating have been announced. British soprano Susan Bullock will sing Brunhilde. Finnish baritone Juha Uusitalo will sing Wotan. American tenor Gary Lehman will sing Siegfried and John Wegner will sing Alberich. Bullock, Uusitalo and Wegner have sung their roles at major houses on a number of occasions. An established Tristan, Siegfried, Parsifal and Tannhäuser, Lehman is adding Siegfried to his repertoire.
Other singers, from Australia and overseas, completing the casts will be announced as they are confirmed.
Dates for the three cycles are still to be confirmed and tickets go on sale in 2011.