Every time I return to the Grimm tale I’m shocked at its brutality and starkness. That’s always a surprise. Even the Disney version of Snow White is scary for children. But what is so interesting is that it’s also chilling for grown-ups. If you look around you see that these are not unrealistic situations at all: the Queen’s decision to murder the child, her obsession with beauty above all things, the terror of being lost in the wilderness.

It feels like these stories are hardwired into our psyche and the characters are part of our DNA as humans, so when we see them in a movie or musical we recognise their faces, their rhythms, their effect on us. That recognition is universal; these stories connect all humans no matter what language or version, and the fact that they have a moral dimension makes us alert to the lesson we need to learn embedded within them. Humans recognise their wisdom, yet we are also deaf to it – look at the state of the world today. “Will we ever learn?” one asks.

Telling a story through music adds another dimension to the storytelling experience. But this is not really an opera in...