Following the success of the Melbourne Ring Cycle in 2016, Opera Australia is proud to present the Australian premiere of a new production of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Arts Centre Melbourne this November.
Maestro Pietari Inkinen, who has become a firm favourite with Opera Australia audiences, singers and musicians alike for his command and comprehensive finesse in conducting both the 2013 and 2016 Melbourne Ring Cycle, will lead Orchestra Victoria and a magnificent cast of singers in an all-encompassing performance of Wagner’s joyful masterpiece.
The young upstart Walther sets out to beat the mastersingers at their own game, entering a singing competition to win the hand of his beloved Eva. Through the wise counsel of the cobbler Hans Sachs and despite the jealous interference of Beckmesser, Walther sings a song that changes everything for this close-knit society.
A co-production with the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, this new production by celebrated director Kasper Holten is as grand and extravagant as it is charming.
“We’re really thrilled to present the Australian premiere of this production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg,” says Opera Australia’s Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini. “Melburnians have shown a passion for the big, iconic German operas in the past so we’re sure they will embrace this one.
“Die Meistersinger is Wagner at his biggest and best and we have brought in some extraordinary talent for these performances. We’re particularly excited to see our own Natalie Aroyan stepping up to the challenge and making her role debut as Eva.”
Melbourne audiences will have the opportunity to once again experience the mastery of German tenor Stefan Vinke along with other Ring Cycle alumni Dominica Matthews, Warwick Fyfe and Daniel Sumegi, to name just a few of the 17-strong principal singers.
First conceived in 1845, it would be 22 years before the opera premiered in triumph in Munich in 1867. Wagner worked on Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg on and off over five years between 1862 and 1867, in between writing the third and fourth operas of the Ring Cycle and working on Tristan und Isolde.
Die Meistersinger is the complete Wagnerian package of drama, human foibles and successes, and challenges to the norm, all wrapped up in some of opera’s most glorious music.
Conductor: Pietari Inkinen Director: Kasper Holten Revival Director: Dan Dooner Featuring: Natalie Aroyan, Nicholas Jones, Dominica Matthews, Stefan Vinke, Michael Kupfer, Warwick Fyfe, Daniel Sumegi, Luke Gabbedy, Adrian Tamburini, John Longmuir, Kanen Breen, Robert Macfarlane, Andrew Jones, Michael Honeyman, Gennadi Dubinsky, Richard Anderson Opera Australia Chorus, Orchestra Victoria Set Designer: Mia Stensgaard Costume Designer: Anja Vang Kragh Lighting Designer: Jesper Kongshaug Choreographer: Signe Fabricius Assistant Director: Matthew Barclay
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
State Theatre – Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St Kilda Road, Melbourne
Season: 13 – 22 November 2018
Bookings: www.artscentremelbourne.com.au
For more information, visit: www.opera.org.au for details.
Image: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg – photo courtesy of Opera Australia, Royal Opera House and Clive Barda