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A Masterful Rendering Melbourne
Royal Exhibition Building
02/16/2025 - & February 18, 20, 22, 2025
Richard Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Warwick Fyfe (Hans Sachs), James Egglestone (Walther von Stolzing), Christopher Hillier (Sixtus Beckmesser), Lee Abrahmsen (Eva), Robert Macfarlane (David), Deborah Humble (Magdalena), Steven Gallop (Veit Pogner), Michael Lampard (Fritz Kothner), Henry Choo (Kunz Vogelsang), Darcy Carroll (Konrad Nachtigall), Bradley Daley (Balthasar Zorn), Christopher Busietta (Ulrich Eisslinger), Asher Reichman (Augustin Moser), Michael Honeyman (Hermann Ortel), Alex Pokryshevsky (Hans Schwartz), Peter Tregear (Hans Fotlz), Henry Shaw (Nightwatchman), Amanda Windred, Breanna Stuart, Lily Ward, Leah Phillips, Josh Erdelyi‑,Gotz, James Penn, Timothy Daly, Hartley Trusler, Daniel Felton and Finn Gilheany (Apprentices)
Melbourne Opera Chorus, Raymond Lawrence (Chorus Master), Melbourne Opera Orchestra, Anthony Negus (Conductor)
Suzanne Chaundy (Director), Andrew Bailey (Set Designer), Karine Larché (Costume Designer), Philip Lethlean (Lighting Design), Lisa Petty (Movement Director)
J. Egglestone, W. Fyfe, C. Hillier (© Melbourne Opera)
The Royal Exhibition Building is UNESCO World Heritage listed and has been central to the story of Melbourne for over 140 years. Built by the father of Australian superstar soprano Dame Nellie Melba for the 1880 Melbourne International Exhibition, it epitomised the wealth, opulence, excitement, energy and spirit of “Marvellous Melbourne” at the height of the gold‑rush era. Together the 1880 and 1888 International Exhibitions attracted over three million visitors, brought cultures, technology and ideas from across the world to Melbourne. The Exhibition Building deepened its status as a leading venue when on 9 May 1901 it hosted the opening of the first Australia Federal Parliament as the separate and diverse colonies untied into a Federation to become Australia. In 2004, the Royal Exhibition Building became both the first Victorian place and the first built heritage site in Australia to be added to the World Heritage List.
Entering the building it is impossible not to be awe‑struck by the enormous, painted ceilings and dome. Towering over the cavernous space beneath, the vastness of the building seems almost impossible to tame into a performance space for opera. However, in the spirit that drove this marvellous company to respond to the pandemic by mounting a complete Ring Cycle, they met the challenge of locating a theatre with capacious enough pit for Wagner’s massive orchestra by building one! Under the soaring dome, illuminated with gorgeous Melbourne summer sunlight, the creative team have constructed a framework of blue beams which variously transform into the church, Hans Sachs’s workshop, a Bavarian streetscape and the festival meadow. The whole concept is storybook pantomime. Naïve renditions of settings and minimal use of props and furnishings focus attention on the heroic nature of the building itself. Costumes suggestive of the period but romanticized with a muted palette seem to have leapt from the pages of Andersen’s Fairy Tales.
Director Suzanne Chaundy is synonymous with Melbourne Opera (MO). In this production, she centres attention on the essential humanity of Wagner’s characters and their lives. Personal and artistic values, love, home life and work resonate throughout and she never misses an opportunity to embellish the humour inherent in the story, most noticeably at the expense of Town Clerk Beckmesser who becomes the butt of everyone’s jokes. It is a masterful telling of the tale by a director who is clearly undaunted by the enormity of Wagner’s’ opus.
British conductor Anthony Negus returns to MO as a Wagner specialist with extensive experience and insight. Under his baton, the MO Orchestra of almost eighty players overcame the massive volume of open space in the hall, to produce a luscious and gently lulling sound. He found glorious nuance in the score and supported the singers as they found the appropriate amplitude for the setting. Each act became a single piece of music and the subtle use of leitmotifs grew organically from within the overall musical structure. This was an intellectual and thought-provoking rendition of the score. The reception Maestro Negus received at every opportunity and resoundingly at the curtain, testament to the esteem in which he is held.
Making his role debut as Hans Sachs, veteran Heldenbaritone Warwick Fyfe triumphs. The stentorian voice; his suppleness of vocal line and the vast scope of coloration he achieves are nothing short of astonishing. His stage presence as an actor alone would render his performance mesmerising but add this glorious voice and he is magnetic every time he takes the stage.
James Egglestone is a brilliantly radiant Heldentenor. Clarion highs and richly muted lows augment beautiful diction and an easy presence upon the stage. He is entirely plausible as the young knight and breathes life and love into the storytelling. He gave a superb performance and richly deserved the warmth of reception he received.
Lee Abrahmsen’s knowledge and experience with the Wagner repertoire is extensive. She returns to MO as Eva and brings deep realism as well as compassion to this fairy tale character. Her crystalline voice paired with Mr Egglestone in an inspired match from the initial, languorous rendition of their Act I duet to the rousing Finale, they are every centimetre the heroic couple. Ms Abrahmsen is adored by the audience for the precision and grace with which she renders her portrayals. In her hands, Eva is delightfully and convincingly realised.
Christopher Hillier drew without limits on his extensive stage experience to create the caricature figure of Beckmesser. His dynamic and agile vocal talents frequently subverted to the grotesque foolishness of stage business which saw him not miss any opportunity to shamelessly ham-up as the reviled Town Clerk.
The huge cast performed as a disciplined team. Many soloists and intricate movement patterns rendered this a potentially unwieldy production but on the contrary, this whole show is tight, eloquently sung and beautifully staged. The MO Chorus under Raymond Lawrence again achieve a level of excellence epitomised by the towering wall of elegant sound they produced in the Finale.
Who would have thought that the cavernous Royal Exhibition Building could have been successfully transformed into an opera theatre? It seems that there is little that Melbourne Opera cannot achieve and this funny, homely production is another dazzling achievement in their repertoire.
Gregory Pritchard
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