Thrills from the pit in Un Ballo in Maschera

The mix of genres is Shakespearean, but sadly Mario Martone’s production, first seen in 2005, only skims the surface.

Prior to the opera’s 1859 premiere, censorship forced Verdi to set it in the United States.

Martone follows suit, opting for a Civil War location, although the precise setting is hardly crucial.

More important is the stage language, which remains bound by hoary convention.

Physical interaction is clumsy and we’re never allowed to forget that we’re watching big stars in a big theatre.

Only in the final act, when a giant mirror-wall tilts to create a split-screen effect, do we get a sense of real theatre, and the singers correspond accordingly.

For this second revival, overseen by Daniel Dooner, the cast is starry, with all the principals new to the production.

Most convincing is soprano Anna Christy as the eerie lady-boy Oscar, the voice bright and ping-y, the manner busy and domineering so that Oscar seems to drive everything which goes on around him/her.

Or perhaps the catalyst is the sorceress Ulrica, sung with goggle-eyed fervour (and in black-face) by the Russian mezzo Elena Manistina.

Like Christy, she gives the impression of possessing a lively theatrical instinct in need of more inspired guidance.

The drama pivots, though, on the uneasy three-way between Riccardo, who loves Amelia, who’s married to Renato, who’s Riccardo’s friend.

Here is where you need the big voices, which Covent Garden has, even if none of them consistently rises to the occasion.

As Renato, Dalibor Jenis’s baritone has a brutal edge but there are moments of tenderness as well as fiery anger.

Angela Marambio’s Amelia is more monochrome, the voice tending to attack the notes rather than caressing them.

On paper, the vocal star is Ramón Vargas, who produces some thrilling sounds, and his phrasing is spot-on but too often the voice loses the vital juice Verdian tenors require.

The most satisfying musical performance comes from the pit, where conductor Maurizio Benini coaxes his players to walk the line between superfine delicacy and gaudy brashness.

If an orchestra was all that opera needed, this would be a thrilling evening.

Until 17 July (020 7304 4000, www.roh.org.uk).

Un Ballo In Maschera
Royal Opera House
Floral Street, WC2E 9DD