MELBOURNE Opera director Greg Hocking looked to Bendigo when planning to bring the biggest - and longest - opera in the world to life.
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Mr Hocking decided to bring Wagner's Ring cycle - the 16-hour opera officially titled Der Ring des Nibelungen - to Bendigo in March, 2023, after the four biggest Melbourne theatres were booked out with shows that were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said necessity became the mother of invention and he looked to regional areas to host the four-part show.
"We were looking for somewhere to do the whole Ring cycle," he said. "There wasn't much availability in Melbourne and it is a show that requires a lot of rehearsing.
"A four-part opera that takes seven or eight days and is 16 hours of music - we need a large pit for a large orchestra and only four Melbourne theatres can do it. Hamilton is coming in to Her Majesty's for a year, The Regent has Moulin Rouge and then Cinderella and the Princess has Harry Potter. There is no availability for a couple years.
"So we thought we should get smart and do something innovative, which is how the first ever regional Ring began. It's a golden Ring, it fits a golden city."
Mr Hocking said Melbourne Opera had enjoyed visiting Bendigo since the opening of Ulumbarra Theatre in 2015.
"Melbourne Opera has always done touring but once Bendigo built Ulumbarra, it made it a very attractive proposition for large scale works," he said. "We did a full production of Fidelio in 2020 that went very well and we started work on the Ring cycle.
"Ulumbarra is one of best facilities for large scale operas. We did The Rhinegold in Melbourne last year and were the first show back in February after lockdown. The following week we brought it to Ulumbarra and it went really well."
"It's 90 minutes from Melbourne, it has got great facilities and we are really excited. The theatre and council are right behind us. We want to turn it into real festival over Easter so it catches the school holidays. Our aim is to run an annual opera festival in Bendigo because there is also The Capital, the town hall and the churches that are interesting venues."
To give audiences an idea of what the 2023 Ring production will be, Melbourne Opera will perform the second part - Die Walkure (The Valkyrie) - on February 27 at Ulumbarra. It will feature a five-tonne set that can move vertically and horizontally.
Mr Hocking said The Ring cycle was the largest work of art ever composed and is so rarely performed in full that people dedicate themselves to travelling across the world to see it perform.
"It's a very powerful story. The music is some of most powerful written . You only have to mention The Ride of the Valkyries - it has constant huge highlights orchestrally and vocally.
"It is done more frequently in Germany but in the Anglo-Saxon world, there have been only three Australian generated productions (including ours) in history.
"Some people really follow it around the world and I expect a lot of interstate visitors. I'm very confident with Bendigo being such an interesting location and Ulumbarra being a wonderful theatre, that it will really attract a lot of visitors.
"Airlines are talking about packages from Sydney with people wanting to book tours and packages. It's a real coup and just a great conjunction of forces that will really remind people that Australia is more than capital cities."
For the final six-hour part of the Ring - the Twilight of the Gods (Gotterdammerung) - masseurs will be on hand for the brass section.
Twilight of the Gods is six hours, we want a team of masseurs backstage so we can rotate the brass players," Mr Hocking said. "It's so demanding we have to get a second shift in. It's a logistical challenge but so rare.
"From March 24 (2023), we will perform it three times in Bendigo. Friday will be The Rhinegold followed by The Valkyrie on Sunday. Then next weekend we do Seigfried on Friday and Twilight of the Gods on Sunday. And we run that three times."
Melbourne Opera's Ring cycle arrives at Ulumbarra on March 24, 2023.
On February 27, 2022, Melbourne Opera will perform Die Walkure (The Valkyries) at Ulumbarra from 2pm. Visit www.bendigoregion.com.au/arts-culture-theatres for more details or to book tickets.
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