And then there is Mozart ... He must have shuddered at the start of this performance of his score. For, after a rather well played overture, the extraordinary emotional trio on the death of the Commendatore was painfully banal. The rest of the opera fared better, and even included musicians on the stage. All this under the baton of Kenneth Montgomery, a Mozartian, who conducted the orchestra well. All in all, a fine success for this Don Giovanni which deserves proper appreciation.

Of course, all this was possible only because of the miraculous balance in volume between the pit and the stage, an osmosis in which some slight divergences in tempi were transformed into so many opportunities to restore harmony and beautiful music-making. And even the members of an orchestra reputed to be difficult found the necessary elegance and colours, with Yvon Repérant impeccable on the continuo, under the attentive baton of Kenneth Montgomery who carefully shaped the work, modulating its ebb and flow.

KM has worked a small miracle by getting a much reduced house orchestra to sound like a disciplined baroque band