Das Rheingold opens as a glinting nugget as part of Melbourne Opera's first instalment of Wagner's Ring Cycle

Commissioned by Herald Sun - submitted 6th February 2021 (unpublished)

In the world of opera, Wagner’s Der Ring Des Nibelungen is its greatest show on earth, a bucket-list, 4-part epic that begins with Das Rheingold and incorporates more than 15 hours of music. Nothing short of a miraculous achievement in challenging times, Melbourne Opera has revealed a glinting nugget in this first instalment. The second, Die Walküre, is scheduled for 2022 with the entire Ring to be presented in 2023. 

Eddie Muliaumaseali’i as Wotan and James Egglestone as Loge

It’s a story of greed, dirty deals and renouncement of love to attain power, told across music of enormous expanse - a cursed ring forged from stolen gold precipitates life-altering events. Drawn on Nordic myth, gods, mortals, giants and dwarfs inhabit a world in which a sense of unease and trickery is pervasive. It sounds familiar!

Director Suzanne Chaundy instils confidence to support and endure the marathon ahead, obliging with a successful and legible interpretation in a subtly abstracted production. 

It begins lucently. Two Rhinemaidens swim across the heights via flexi-poles as their three operatic sisters sing radiantly from ringed swings. But the centrepiece of Andrew Bailey’s design is a large flat plane with a circular cut out that lowers and raises like a drawbridge, serving the drama thoughtfully all the way to the gods’ entry into their new home, Valhalla.

Just as impressive was the breadth of local expertise in the cast. 

Adrenaline-rich baritone Simon Meadows was the standout as the slimy dwarf Alberich, robber of the Rhinemaidens’ gold and forger of the ring. As Wotan, ruler of the gods, gravelly bass Eddie Muliaumaseali’i showed command and balance even when at times overpowered by the orchestra. 

James Eggelstone as Loge, Darcy Carroll as Donner,
Jason Wasley as Froh, Eddie Muliaumaseali’i as Wotan, 
Sarah Sweeting as Fricka and Lee Abrahmsen as Freia

Sarah Sweeting oozed lushness as his wife Fricka, Lee Abrahmsen was exhilarating as the ransomed goddess of youth, Freia, and clarion tenor James Egglestone was a dynamically charged Loge, Wotan’s calculating executive servant. Giants Adrian Tamburini and Steven Gallop pounded solidly as Fasolt and Fafner and a special mention to Michael Lapina’s cringing Mime and Darcy Carroll for an imposing Donner as he summoned the thunderstorm to clear the air. 

One more hurdle was getting conductor Anthony Negus out of the UK and into quarantine in time for rehearsals. What he presided over on opening night was a soundscape that rose to excellence with an orchestra of more than 90 musicians. Some fuzzy brass in the earlier stages aside, from the moment Wotan and Loge descended into Nibelheim the music remained formidable. 

Das Rheingold 

Melbourne Opera 

Regent Theatre 

Until 7th February 2021

Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo 

21st February 2021

4-stars