Set in the English Civil War, Bellini’s drama pivots on a love triangle between pro- Cromwell Puritans Elvira and her would-be husband Riccardo, and her Cavalier beloved Arturo.

BELLINI’S FINAL opera, I Puritani, is many things. Ask star American soprano Lisette Oropesa (whose supernaturally nimble and flexible soprano is the reason the piece is back on the Royal Opera House’s stage for the first time in 35 years) and she’ll tell you it’s the composer’s masterpiece, “almost Wagnerian” in its ambition. Ask directors and they’ll tell you it’s a tricky dramatic beast, whose rickety narrative scaffolding supports far too little action. Ask fans, though, and they’ll tell you that it’s the ultimate showpiece – a bravura vehicle for four outstanding singers, the soprano first among equals. So, in Richard Jones’ new staging for Covent Garden, which is it?

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