The three-act score, with its taut, hauntingly suggestive libretto by Maeterlinck, has long been recognised by aficionados as a masterpiece, but it lacks the popular touch: its beauties are just not obvious enough. Its substance lies in an ominous undertow, symphonically structured and lavishly orchestrated, through which cascading sonorities pierce like shafts of misty light. And so it was a ravishing experience to encounter Ariane in this honest performance by New York City Opera, the first time the work has been staged in the US since Toscanini conducted a handful of performances in 1911.

Paul-Emile Fourny's production, to be shared with Liège, Nice and Turin, is clear in conception, graceful in movement, eloquent in its translucent colouring. Louis Désiré's set makes fertile use of a revolving wall; the women's gowns are a work of art. In the arduous title role Renate Behle makes up in presence what she lacks in expressive timbre. The outstanding voice is Laura Vlasak Nolen's sumptuous mezzo as Sélysette. After a slow start Leon Botstein paces the work perfectly, with a fine ear for its spacious chiaroscuro.

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