Richard Wagner had very strong views on how his works should be performed, and he had specific instructions for singers who couldn’t sing them as he intended: Don’t!

Fortunately, soprano Lee Abrahmsen and Heldenbaritone Warwick Fyfe can and do, treating audiences at the opening night of this year’s Handa Opera at Millthorpe to an impromptu masterclass in Wagnerian singing.

I say impromptu, because bass Ferrucio Furnaletto had originally been scheduled to open the festival, but his flight was cancelled due to the war in Iran.

With a last-minute programming change required, Abrahmsen, Fyfe and accompanist Glenn Amer were only too happy to oblige, cobbling together a masterclass in Wagnerian singing that would do the composer proud.

Glenn Amer, Lee Abrahmsen and Warwick Fyfe at Handa Opera at Millthorpe 2026. Photo © JJ Antmann

More impressive still, it isn’t a program they had up their sleeve. This is clear from the get-go, as Fyfe opens with King Marke’s Tatest du’s wirklich? from Tristan und Isolde, a monologue he’s never sung before.

It’s a perfect 10 and the first of many, with Fyfe showcasing his mastery of Wagner’s declamatory, syllabic style and clarity of...