Plus: Royal Opera's Berenice is the best night I've had at the theatre so far this year.

The orchestra was fabulous throughout, with solos seeming more prevalent in the final act, wherein an oboe obbligato (James Eastaway) and a solo violin in duet with the on-stage cello added variety. T

The London Handel Orchestra, conducted by Laurence Cummings, is on excellent form, while the cast is also outstanding.

The result was very physical, too much so for my taste, but it worked. And the young cast created a vividly theatrical entertainment, yet one with a really dramatic heart.

The ‘stars’ of a pretty stellar line-up are Laurence Cummings, who directs the London Handel Orchestra with his customary true Handelian style, and Jacquelyn Stucker, whose Alessandro was so convi