Siegfried is the problem child of the Ring. It has fewer characters and less incident than Rheingold, Wälkure and Götterdämmerung. It engages in repetitive argument, exposition and recapping of events for much of its length – Siegfried stretches to four hours of music – and is heavily dominated by a handful of men, all damaged to a greater or lesser degree.

Melbourne Opera made a gallant attempt at staging this tricky beast but the night didn’t come together seamlessly.

Bradley Daley in Melbourne Opera’s Siegfried. Photo © Robin Halls.

In the first two episodes of Wagner’s monumental music-drama, conductor Anthony Negus clearly made the needs of singers paramount. That was less the case in Siegfried, particularly in the first act. The Melbourne Opera Orchestra had its ups and downs although the ups were more numerous. The same could be said for some of the singing. And director Suzanne Chaundy didn’t always find an absorbing way around the talky, static, austere nature of much of the work.

For the first few hours, Siegfried’s sound world has a forbidding aura, with tuba, bassoon, clarinets and violas weaving a sombre fabric that only...