The sheer scale is hard to fathom: Richard Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelungen – affectionately known as the Ring Cycle – is a four-opera retelling of a grand Nordic myth that runs for about 15 hours, has an orchestra of nearly a hundred and recounts a story that moves from the depths of the Rhine all the way to the halls of Valhalla.
No opera company in the world embarks on a Ring Cycle lightly – Sydney has never seen a fully staged Ring – so it was something of a shock when Melbourne Opera announced it was staging one – involving 130 performers and crew, and five tonnes’ worth of set – in the rural Victorian town of Bendigo.
