Whoever ends up with what has been described as "the worst job in opera" - the directorship of the Royal Opera House - can at least take some heart from this revival of Trevor Nunn's bold, effective staging of Janacek's great tragedy. Although not an unqualified success musically, the production boasts several impressive singers and, happily for a company that recently has not been able to rely on the performances of its stars, a heroine of the highest calibre.
Amanda Roocroft's return to the title role was much anticipated, following her success earlier this year at Glyndebourne as Janacek's other haunted young heroine, Jenufa. She didn't disappoint. Vocally she was on glorious form, every note beautifully placed, each inflection expressive, her phrases seamless. Her Katya was a human being rather than a tragic heroine - even in her final scene there were no histrionics. Her interpretation allowed the audience to see to the depths of Katya's vulnerability, and the audience warmed to both character and singer as a result.
In this staging, directed by David Edwards, it's not strictly up to the singers to conjure feelings of impending meltdown - Maria Björnson's designs do that adequately enough. The action takes place in a cold, glistening whirlpool, ready to suck Katya down even before her fate is sealed. A huge, sweeping net curtain hangs in front; at its root this opera is a tragedy of family relationships. David Harvey's wan, chilly lighting only warms around Katya herself. For some reason, amid all this stark abstraction, real horses pull Tikhon's carriage. It's all rather discomforting, and doesn't leave much room for intimacy - but then, in this work all the truly passionate exchanges are left unseen.
Katya's nemesis is her mother-in-law, Kabanicha. Josephine Barstow was herself a renowned Katya in her day; her Kabanicha, a clipped, sour-faced old harridan, treads the line between being seriously unpleasant and comically so, staying just on the right side. Occasionally her look and tone hint at the bitter disappointments and regrets that have made the woman what she is.
There were several other notable performances on stage: Marianna Tarasova as Varvara, Robert Dean Smith as Boris, Timothy Robinson as Kudrjas. Yet the production didn't quite achieve the opera's full sense of latent passion and violence. This was down to those in the orchestra pit. Janacek's music is economic in its expression, but it needs more light and shade, much more space than conductor Simone Young was prepared to yield. Like Katya, the players seemed constrained, unable to let themselves go, and so the score, like the obviously mimed beating received by Boris, ultimately lacked punch.
• In repertory until November 29. Box office: 020-7304 4000.
