A row of lights leads the way through the darkness up a path to a performance area on top of a sand dune overlooking the spectacular Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and the spellbinding Field of Light, where 50,000 glass spheres change colour, glinting and gleaming like illuminated flowers.

Opera at Uluru

Table settings for breakfast at the first Sunrise performance, Opera at Uluru, 2022. Photo courtesy of Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia

We are at a Sunrise Performance as part of Opera at Uluru, a four-performance event held under the stars in the spiritual heart of Australia, organised by Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia and featuring artists from Opera Australia.

One hundred guests have gathered for this Saturday morning sunrise concert at which four singers and a string quintet perform Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes. It’s freezing cold, but we’d been warned to expect low temperatures so the audience is all rugged up in coats, hats and scarves. Pity the poor singers and musicians! Singers Samuel Dundas and Nicholas Jones are in tux, while Cathy-Di Zhang and Kylie Bailey are dressed in elegant, light-weight outfits. The string quintet is a little more warmly clad, with cellist...