Reviewing Opera Australia’s 2016 Melbourne Ring Cycle for Limelight, Clive Paget remarked that Anna-Louise Cole revealed “a Wagnerian soprano to be reckoned with as Third Norn”.

In the first two cycles of OA’s Brisbane ‘Digital Ring‘, directed by Chen Shi-Zheng, Cole played Sieglinde. In his five-star review of the first cycle for Limelight, Jansson J. Antmann praised her “wonderfully haunted” performance and said, “You’re in for a treat if you’ve booked to see the third cycle in which Cole makes her Brünnhilde debut.”

And so we were. From her opening “Hojotohos!”, which she sang with a ringing, dashing vibrancy, Cole proved herself to be a born Brünnhilde, making a triumphant debut that was greeted with cheers, rapturous applause and a prolonged standing ovation at the Götterdämmerung curtain call, the likes of which I haven’t seen in aeons.

Anna-Louise Cole as Brünnhilde in Götterdämmerung, Ring Cycle, Brisbane, 2023. Photo © Wallis Media

Cole has a clear, sumptuous soprano, laced with emotive hues and textures. Her voluptuous lower register is full of warmth and depth, while her glorious top notes are thrilling. Dramatically, she allows the character’s inner feelings to be read,...