Big year for European opera

The year 2013 saw musical tributes paid to two of the greatest talents from the world of opera: Richard Wagner from Germany and Giuseppe Verdi from Italy.

China Opera House presented Wagner's Die Walkure, a work that was last performed in Beijing in 2005, and in Shanghai in 2010, by visiting companies from Germany. The production made history by being the first ever full-length Wagner opera produced and cast domestically.

Led by artistic director Yu Feng, the traditional production premiered in July at the National Center for the Performing Arts with a young and enthusiastic cast. The defiant Brunnhilde was sung by Wang Wei and Li Shuang played the ill-fated Siegmund.