The Melbourne Ring

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16 hours of opera. 4 performances spread over 8 days. Wagner's Ring of the Dwarves is reputed to be western societies longest and most complex opera. It was written over 130 years ago in Europe, using, but more often breaking, established opera conventions. Conventions that are well known in modern western movies. How many recognize Darth Vader's theme music, or who expects the music to become grand and menacing when the baddie enters the scene? All thanks to Wagner's Ring Cycle.

The production budget was $AU20 million. The orchestra pit had to be enlarged to hold the 120 musicians, 3 Wagner Horns were commissioned at $10,000 each and Brunhilde is a London Diva with a fantastic voice. Apparently, there are people who fly around the world to see every ring cycle, payed $2000 a ticket, $200 for each dinner and stayed at 5 star hotels near the Melbourne Arts Centre. We sat in the Gods at $1000 per ticket, packed picnics for the dinner breaks and caught the train to Reservoir around midnight each night, so as not to break our budget.

Opera plots are said to embrace grandiose themes of the human condition. The Ring Cycle is no exception. Even though Wagner was trying to advocate the downfall of the established world order and the advent of a new, socialist Europe, I still found it necessary to check in my modern feminist and egalitarian sensibilities at the door. Gods, dwarves, giants and river nymphs. Murder, intrigue, adultery and incest. All got a look in, with everyone dead and the world aflame, in the final scene.

Why go then? For the music! For the voices! For the jaw dropping spectacle! For all that is amazing in opera!

The music was fantastical. There are not enough superlatives to describe the rich lushness of the score. But, it needed the voices: the dramatic dialogues, the flight of the Valkyries, the love duet and the wedding chorus. And, it needed the spectacle: the seething mass of humanity reflected in a giant mirror, a sword forged on stage, the best dragon (aka the nude scene) I have ever seen slayed and a spiral staircase to Valhalla, hung with a zoos menagerie.

Transformative, is it? Or trite, might it be? Some moments struck me as deeply profound, to be pondered and integrated into my greater worldview. Other moments brought spluttering indignation and scorn for humanities frail stupidities. Eight years ago I first saw just one part and vowed to see the entire cycle. Now, I ponder if this has been a "once in a life time" event, or if I too will become a Ring Nut.

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