‘Ringing’ Up The Numbers
After running for nearly one month in Melbourne, Opera Australia’s first Ring cycle has come full circle bringing to an end an assemblage of outstanding performances by artists and musicians, acclaimed by the critics, and attended by audiences from near and far.
The number crunchers have trawled through the details of the production and totted up some fascinating figures:
Number of performers: just over 400
Number of hours of rehearsal: over 800, in both Sydney and Melbourne
Amount of confetti used in staging: over 200 kg
feathers: over 1,500
weight of scenery: over 5,000 kg
Total number of people involved in the production: around 600
Conductor Pietari Inkinen and associate Conductor Anthony Legge lead an ensemble which included Principal Artists Judd Arthur, Susan Bullock, Richard Berkeley-Steele, Jacqueline Dark, Taryn Fiebig, Warwick Fyfe, Deborah Humble, Graeme Macfarlane, Stuart Skelton, Terje Stensvold, Miriam Gordon-Stewart, Daniel Sumegi and Stefan Vinke.
Directed by Neil Armfield, the creative team included Robert Cousins (Set Design) Alice Babidge (Costume Design) Damien Cooper (Lighting Design) and Kate Champion (Associate Director and Choreographer).
The Melbourne Ring Orchestra comprised players from Australia and overseas, including Orchestra Victoria, the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra; the Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland, Tasmanian, and West Australian Symphony orchestras; the Orchestra of Beethovenhalle Bonn; the Lucerne Symphony; and the Oslo Philharmonic.
The Chorus was the Opera Australia Chorus. The ‘Sea of Humanity’ comprised generous volunteers from around Melbourne.
