Melbourne independent opera company BK Opera is marking its 10th anniversary with its biggest production yet, taking on Richard Wagner’s notoriously demanding Tristan und Isolde at Northcote Town Hall this October.
Founded by Kate Millett in 2016, BK Opera has spent a decade pushing opera into darker, more intimate territory, with more than 20 productions built around bold interpretations and a distinctly Melbourne independent arts spirit.
Now, the company is tackling what Millett calls the “Mount Everest of opera”.
Tristan und Isolde brings together dual Helpmann Award-winning tenor James Egglestone, acclaimed Wagnerian soprano Lee Abrahmsen and Heldenbaritone Warwick Fyfe as Tristan, Isolde and King Marke.
Rather than staging Wagner’s epic work on a cavernous stage, BK Opera is bringing it into the much closer surroundings of Northcote Town Hall, putting performers and audiences in the same space.
Millett’s production explores the darker side of Wagner’s famous love story, focusing on desire, shame, obsession and the destructive consequences of avoiding the truth.
The production will also strip back the scale of Wagner’s score. Australian conductor-curator Kelly Lovelady, founder of London-based Ruthless Jabiru, returns from the UK to conduct a two-piano arrangement, allowing the music’s emotional intensity to take centre stage.
The wider cast includes Daniel Szesiong Todd, Henry Shaw, Belinda Dalton and James Penn.
Over the past decade, BK Opera has earned recognition including the 2017 OperaChaser Innovation Award, while Millett was named Outstanding Director at the 2024 OperaChaser Awards for Don Giovanni.
Tristan und Isolde runs this October, marking a suitably ambitious anniversary for a company that has built its reputation on making opera feel immediate, risky and very much alive. More information and tickets here.
