Cohen spins a deft line through a score that can be utterly bewitching...Gábor Bretz and Anna Goryachova, Quixote and Dulcinée, both make the most of their big numbers, his Act I serenade and her rejection of his marriage proposal. And Massenet knows how to squeeze the emotions in the last act – it’s real tears you shed for Quixote dying under a giant stage-painted oak tree.

Musically everything is well sorted and balanced under the baton of Daniel Cohen, who keeps a good pulse while never exaggerating the more choreographed scenes. Filmed with good attention to both the rhythm and geography of the production and well recorded from an audio point of view, this new set can be warmly recommended.

Lanky and oaken-voiced, Gábor Bretz’s Don Quichotte scarcely moves a muscle…This is an outstanding performance, spiritually attuned to Massenet’s spare writing…Earthily direct, David Stout is another class act…This knightly drama demands to be seen as well as heard, and Clément’s thought-provoking production hits the quintain square on.