There was a sense of déjà vu as the audience gathered for the second part of Melbourne Opera’s Ring Cycle, almost exactly a year after part one, Das Rheingold, broke Melbourne’s pandemic-induced opera drought last February. The city’s opera lovers were once again thirsty for a live experience as, after a welcome gush of productions in May 2021, there has been nothing but a brief reprise of Victorian Opera’s operatic cabaret, Lorelei, in June.

Warwick Fyfe is outstanding as Wotan in Die Walküre, Melbourne Opera, 2022. Photo © Robin Halls

We were also keen for another taste of director Suzanne Chaundy’s multi-year Ring Cycle that had begun so well, and confirmed Melbourne Opera’s growing artistry and confidence. Die Walküre doesn’t disappoint. Indeed, it’s probably a tad better than last year’s Das Rheingold, with even more impressive production design and all-Australian cast, led by an outstanding Warwick Fyfe.

After excerpts were performed in Vienna in 1862, Die Walküre premiered in Munich in 1870. It opens with the unexpected arrival of Siegmund into the unhappy home of Hunding and Sieglinde, who runs off with this stranger. In the...