Under the Dome: Melbourne Opera’s Wagner continues to impress, writes David Ames

Starting with a concert performance of Rienzi in 2013, by the time of the three Ring cycles with Anthony Negus in Bendigo in April 2023, Melbourne Opera had staged all of Wagner’s mature operas except for Die Meistersinger and Parsifal. Before he left Australia, Negus agreed to return to prepare Die Meistersinger in 2025. As had been the case in 2023, suitable Melbourne venues were full up with musicals, so the Royal Exhibition Building was used. Built for the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880 by Nellie Melba’s father, the building is famous as the site of the first meeting of Australia’s national parliament in 1901.