'Les Vêpres Siciliennes' allowed Mr Py to present a vast canvas of oppression and resistance.With the addition of several great vocal performances and the taut musical direction of Enrique Mazzola, the production turned Verdi’s most conspicuous attempt to adapt his style to Parisian tastes into an engaging spectacle

There is always the danger that new productions will simply coast on the charm of the music without bothering to make a strong case for the continued relevance of the story

Given director Stefan Herheim’s previous successes in realising the most conspicuously magical episodes of Rheingold and delineating the subtle character drama of Walküre, one had high hopes that he might even be able to pull off the impossible task of creating a Siegfried that didn’t drag in its opening acts.

The first two instalments of Stefan Herheim’s new Ring cycle for the Deutsche Oper – Das Rheingold and Die Walküre – were ingenious pieces of theatrical invention, delightful as standalone works of drama, yet brimming with images and ideas that seemed to pull its central concept in any number of directions at once.

One emerged from the auditorium slightly battered, and with a bad taste in the mouth;which, one suspects, was Mr Kosky’s goal.If parts of the staging leaned in the direction of excess, much of the music was notable for its restraint.

Between a superb ensemble cast and Daniel Barenboim’s perfectly-judged musical direction, it was a thrilling opening to the Staatsoper’s new season

For its first run of live performances, the production benefitted from both the buzz of a real audience and a generally superior cast to that of the première.Vincent Huguet’s staging, however, remained aggressively bland and perplexingly uninspired, a triumph of sets and costumes over ideas and characters.