Despite a sold-out premiere season at the Sydney Festival in 2017, when it was very positively reviewed, Mary Finsterer’s opera is only now enjoying its second outing.

Why is a puzzle (beyond the usual problem of funding), as Lyric Opera of Melbourne’s new production of Biographica confirms this work is fascinating both in terms of music and subject. Handsomely sung and staged under the direction of Heather Fairbairn, it is also a significant achievement for this small, independent company in its 20th year.

With a libretto by Tom Wright, Biographica explores the life and mind of Renaissance polymath Gerolamo Cardano across 12 tableaux. He made significant advances in multiple fields, particularly mathematics and medicine, while his interest in astronomy and belief in the interconnectedness of things extended to a fixation with astrology.

As this 90-minute work dramatises, Cardano’s self-destructive nature meant he was a violent gambler, and had difficulty gaining official acceptance for his pioneering work. He was also indifferent about his troubled children. One son was executed for murdering his wife, another imprisoned for theft and, according to the opera’s Cardano, his daughter sold herself in laneways and died of syphilis.