Alessandro Amoretti, vocal coach for the production, has worked with Shanghai Opera House for almost 10 years, walking Chinese singers through operas in French, Italian and German. "I've seen their tremendous artistic and professional development, and I've seen the development of the Shanghai Opera House," he says.

"It's really amazing to see how young the audiences are here. The audience that comes to opera in the west is aging. We are struggling to create a new generation of young people that are interested in opera.

"But here, you see young people, girls and boys, genuinely excited to listen to classical music. It's very encouraging."

To promote the opera's premiere, the Shanghai Grand Theatre designed a series of public educational programs. Among the most creative were yoga sessions held in the theater's lobby, accompanied by Wagner's music. "It was a really nice idea," says Dirk Girschik, executive director of the opera. "I'd never thought of connecting yoga to Wagner," he admits, "but then Tristan und Isolde has deep philosophical themes — from Western mysticism to Sanskrit and Buddhist metaphysics — so it really fits."

Contact the writer at zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn