A deeply satisfying production...Spectacular to look at, too, with death-defying stage flying...the closing pages of the score blaze rather than smoulder with Robin Ticciati and the LPO playing their hearts out as the Prince begs Rusalka for the kiss that will bring death. Sally Matthews is magnificent. She may not sing Rusalka as ‘beautifully’ as others have, but she is a consummate performer...Fairy stories are rarely well-mannered – this Rusalka is no exception.

The temperature rises whenever Evan Leroy Johnson’s Prince comes on. The pleasures of his fluent tenor—easily leaping to that infamously exposed high C in the final duet—are enhanced by subtle colourings in mezza voce, and dynamic acting which uses the text as well as the notes. Robin Ticciati conjures an effectively robust if straight-laced orchestral web.