The holy man falling prey to the temptations of the flesh has long proved an alluring subject to writers, composers and newspaper editors alike. Massenet's Thaïs, based on a novel by Anatole France, caused a sensation in Paris in 1894 - though the "wardrobe malfunction" that exposed more of the leading lady, Sibyl Sanderson, than was expected may have contributed.

The holy man in question, the monk Athanael, has wet dreams about the courtesan Thaïs, and decides he has to save her soul. He leads her to God, falling in love with her in the process, only to find she has relinquished the joys of the flesh. The anti-clericalism perceived in France's story in the 1890s is less evident today. Rather the message might seem to be: life is cruel, especially for those who pursue extremes of debauchery or abstinence.

Thaïs is rarely performed these days - it has not been heard at Covent Garden for more than 80 years - yet it provides a showcase for a top soprano and baritone. Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson were lined up for this concert performance (repeated tomorrow night and to be broadcast by Radio 3 in November), but Hampson's withdrawal gave the excellent Italian bass-baritone Simone Alberghini the opportunity to make an impressive début with the Royal Opera.

His eyes burning with the puritanical zealotry that only a celibate could display, Alberghini conveyed the monk's repressed ardour with impassioned but well-controlled tone.

Fleming was undoubtedly the star turn, however, and liberated from a score she managed the progression from titillating flesh-pot to enraptured saint with aplomb.

Joseph Calleja was suitably exuberant as the sybarite philosopher Nicias, and if Clare Shearer (Albine) proved a formidable abbess, that is only to be expected of a former Valkyrie.

Andrew Davis drew a supple, subtle account of the score from the excellent ROH orchestra, whose leader, Peter Manning, rose splendidly to the occasion for the violin solo in the celebrated Meditation.

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