I... I am completely at a loss for words. We saw it last night at the Volksoper and I'm still reeling. My wife loves Italian opera but had never seen Flute before; I did my main undergrad conducting project on it. Somehow, she had never heard the Queen's aria... her jaw nearly hit the floor.

The Queen was amazing. Papageno was absolutely brilliant. The Volksoper is a brilliant space; both intimate and deep, which gave the art director plenty of room.

If you go to Vienna and have one night for Opera, skip the Staatsoper and do the Volksoper.