Sex and religion, adultery and death by boiling oil, La Juive has them all, perhaps in too purple an abundance for today's taste which is one reason for its rarity.
Another is the sheer technical demands on soloists and chorus. Yet Halévy's sumptuous 1835 work, which oozes theatrical effect and melodrama, deserves to be heard and not just as a document of its time.
The Royal Opera wisely avoided the expense of staging it - live horses were a fashion in early productions - and settled instead for an exhilarating concert performance conducted, with gymnastic energy, by the Israeli Daniel Oren.
The outstanding cast and expert chorus took the audience by storm many of whom, one suspects - being guilty myself - had low hopes for a piece eclipsed by fashion and a discomfort at the subject matter.
Written by a Jewish composer, it nevertheless tells a confusing story of fanaticism which, finally, appears anti-Semitic. This is religion without forgiveness, only vengeance. Yet musically, its vivid palette of emotive choruses, exotic orchestration and impassioned arias holds the attention throughout.
The Russian soprano Marina Poplavskaya, a Jette Parker Young Artist, excelled as the Jewess who loves a married Christian. Her dramatic intensity and vocal power were mesmerising.
Alastair Miles gave the performance of his life as Cardinal Brogni and last year's Cardiff Singer of the World winner. Nicole Cabell, was alluring as the coquettish Princess Eudoxie.
As the persecuted jeweller Eléazar, one of the great mature tenor roles, Dennis O'Neill showed some strain at the top but compensated with a heartfelt account of the famous "Rachel, quand du Seigneur", alluded to by Proust who sardonically used that name for a prostitute.
La Juive hasn't been heard at Covent Garden since 1893. Catch the repeat tomorrow. It may be your only chance.
Tomorrow, 6.30pm (020 7304
Orchestra Of The Royal Opera House/Oren: La Juive In Concert
Barbican Hall, Barbican Centre
Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS
