One of Melbourne’s tiny, independent and rarely seen opera companies pops up with something even more rare: Michael Nyman’s chamber opera The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. Has it ever been seen before in Australia?

IOpera presents this one-hour, one-act work on the smell of an oily rag with a principal cast of Australians who will be pleasingly familiar to Melbourne opera enthusiasts: Robert Macfarlane, who is also the production’s director and designer; Elena Xanthoudakis; and Christopher Hillier, a champion of contemporary opera.

Elena Xanthoudakis, Robert Macfarlane and Christopher Hillier. Photo © Robin Halls

Premiering in London in 1986, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is based on the titular essay in neurologist Oliver Sacks’s popular 1985 book of 24 case studies. Christopher Rawlence’s libretto follows neurologist Dr S’s diagnosis of singer and music professor Dr P, who is experiencing visual agnosia.

Also known as mental blindness, it means Dr P sees but often struggles to recognise people and objects. We observe this in a series of simple tests with cartoons, photographs, a rose, glove and mental exercises...