Each year, the German magazine Opernwelt conducts a survey among 50 international opera critics to identify the best artists, works, and performances of the year. The 2013 "Rediscovery of the Year" is Giacomo Meyerbeer's Vasco de Gama, the original version of his opera L'Africaine.

Vasco de Gama was performed in a much-acclaimed production of the new Critical Edition in Chemnitz last season. Conductor Frank Beermann says about his experience with Meyerbeer: "Personally, it has given me a new perspective on the 19th century." Further productions of Vasco de Gama will follow in Venice and Berlin in the coming seasons (Photos: Dieter Wuschanski).