Performer: Teatro Comunale di Bologna

Vick enjoys working with young singers, and in with the young second cast he is spoiled.

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.

One wonders why Emma Dante's concept, which explores the plight of women crushed by romantic catastrophes, is not done more often.