And when the opera was over and soprano Diana Damrau stepped forward to take a solo bow as the heroine, Violetta, many members of the near-capacity crowd leaped to their feet in one of the more heartfelt and sustained standing ovations in recent memory.
The on-loan Middlesbrough forward made an instant impression on his Swans bow after replacing Stephen Dobbie at half-time against Leicester City at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.
The captain proceeded in the fjords at very slow speed, barely moving forward, by lowering an anchor from the bow to a depth greater than the hull of the ship.