There is something inherently self-defeating in the famous quote about Richard Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg being ‘the longest single smile in the German language’. Certainly, in some productions I have seen over the years, that smile has curdled into a rictus of silent suffering that comes when something is taken too seriously, thereby depleting the opera’s natural musical and dramatic energy. The idea that Meistersinger is a comedy is somehow antithetical or even heretical.

In fact, and as Melbourne Opera’s magnificent new production proved on Sunday, Meistersinger is full of life and boundless energy; it is celebratory, passionate, engrossing, exuberant, and, above all, joyously funny. There were many, many things I treasured about this performance, but what I especially valued was how the circuit of what occurred on stage and in the pit was completed by the audience – by the sound of laughter (nifty surtitles ensured everyone got the jokes) and (yes) joy. Here, we had the rare example of two distinct communities, divided by five centuries and thousands of kilometres, combining as one: the good people and burghers of Nuremberg, celebrating all that is good in life and song; and the worthy people of Melbourne. Praise be to all of us. Together, our journey was as much a pleasure as a pilgrimage.