When Nikolaus Lehnhoff’s Tristan und Isolde was staged at Glyndebourne in 2003 it was the first time a Wagner opera had been performed there. A triumphant success, the production returns as strongly cast as ever and in one respect improved yet further.

Now on the podium is Vladimir Jurowski, the music director of Glyndebourne and principal conductor of the LPO, resident in the pit once again this season and playing quite superbly on this occasion.

What Jurowski brings to the score that was lacking in Jiri Belohlavek’s otherwise impressive reading is a vibrant, nerve-tingling response to the welter of emotions that characterises the work. Every phrase is alive with the surge of sexual energy, the ebb and flow of passion but Jurowski builds these inflections with unerring skill into the larger paragraphs that make up Wagner’s acts.

As Isolde, Anja Kampe more than fulfils her promise as a rising Wagnerian star, prioritising subtleties of line and colour over sheer volume. Alas, her sovereign performance is not quite matched by that of her Tristan, Torsten Kerl, whose pinched tone inhibits expressivity, though his Act 3 delirium was convincingly enacted.

Sarah Connolly makes a more forceful impression than usual in the role of Brangaene, engaging in spirited dialogue with her mistress, Isolde. It’s a very fine performance indeed, as is that of George Zeppenfeld as King Mark, making every phrase of his famously protracted Act 2 reproach count.

Roland Aeschlimann’s elliptical, swirling set for Lehnhoff’s production, strikingly lit by Robin Carter, suggests an eye, a lens, or perhaps a vagina. In its minimal abstraction it recalls Wieland Wagner, with whom Lehnhoff once worked. But Lehnhoff shares also with Wieland a rare talent for infusing static poses with a rich inner life — the revival director, Daniel Dooner, deserving a share of the credit.

Musical, visual and dramatic values complement each other here on the highest level. All in all a tremendous achievement.
Until 30 Aug (www.glyndebourne.com)