Performer: Ian Storey

At its local Antwerp première, David Bösch’s new production of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane makes it the only house ever to have mounted twice.

The Comunale had teamed up with Bologna's basketball team Virtus to create a 50%-off ticket deal aimed at drawing new audiences. The subject matter of this opera might not seem the most immediately accessible, but this was playing to capture the imaginations of opera newbies.

A fascinating, psychologically penetrating reading of Verdi’s penultimate opera, performed to the highest standards, promises much for the new season at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein.