From March 24 to April 30, Bendigo will play host to another destination art event for Australia.
Melbourne Opera’s Ring Cycle Cultural Festival is a truly rare opera occasion, drawing opera lovers from around the world to the regional Victorian city.
The not-for-profit arts organisation’s $5M festival will employ over 250 Australian singers, musicians, creatives and technicians.
The exclusively regional production is expected to drive major tourism to Bendigo, and encourages longer stays in the Bendigo region, which has hosted a range of international arts and culture exhibitions and events in recent years.
The festival is built around an Australian regional-first staging of one of the biggest productions in all the performing arts, Wagner’s Ring Cycle.
A 15-hour epic encompassing four operas, the Ring Cycle will be staged three times at the Ulumbarra Theatre over a total of six weekends and will be conducted by international Wagner specialists, Anthony Negus and Malmsbury local, David Kram AM.
The production will be complemented by gala dinners, symposiums, recitals, and intimate concerts held at unique venues around the city including the Deborah Gold Mine, the Capital and Langley Estate plus appearances from legendary two-time Grammy Award-winning Wagnerian tenor Siegfried Jerusalem who starred in the acclaimed Chereau Ring in 1976.
Wagner’s Ring is known to be the inspiration behind many great themes, stories and soundtracks across the ages. The plot is understood to have inspired Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings
, and the score includes highlights such as Siegfried’s Rhine Journey and Funeral March, Wotan’s Farewell, and the infamous Ride of the Valkyries, known to modern audiences for its memorable use in iconic films such as Apocalypse Now.
The Ring Cycle is led by one of Australia’s leading Wagner directors, Suzanne Chaundy. Suzanne is thrilled to crown her immense staggered staging of Wagner’s epic Ring with a season of three fully staged cycles.
“We will tell this tale as an adult fairy tale, full of mythical horror and deep-seated psychological yearning,” Chaundy said.
Visitors are encouraged to stay in Bendigo to experience the full Ring Cycle and associated festival events, with Cycle 1 from March 24-April 2, Cycle 2 from April 7-16, and Cycle 3 from April 21-30.
More information as well as tickets to each cycle, single operas and cultural festival events can be found via www.bendigoringcycle.com.au. Audiences are encouraged to book speedily, with tickets more than 70 per cent sold out and remaining seats selling fast.
