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Premiered in 1843, Wagner’s first great opera, and his most concise, looks back to the Gothic mysteries of his youth and forward to the penetrating psychological dramas he would later craft. Love, greed, hubris and obsession drive a narrative shaped by the sea and those whose lives depend on it, opening with a violent storm in which echoes of Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Weber can be heard, and punctuated by folk-like ballads for the sailors and the women who wait for their return. Cursed to sail for eternity with his ghostly crew, the Dutchman can only be redeemed by the love of a faithful woman. Daland’s daughter Senta, betrothed to Erik, is shocked to recognise the Dutchman from an ancient painting acquired by her grandmother. Their love is instant, but will it be strong enough to lift the Dutchman’s curse?

Fugitive ghosts and a bitter feud between two families form the background to Donizetti’s mesmerising Gothic tale of madness and forced marriage.

Heavily censored at its 1853 premiere, Verdi’s impassioned portrait of a celebrated courtesan in the last months of her life remains one of the most powerful stories of nineteenth century Paris, decadence, disease and selfless love.