Lafayette’s modest production suggests that first thoughts were good thoughts but that Leonore is a different opera from Fidelio...Playing original instruments, the Opera Lafayette Orchestra conducted by Ryan Brown are admirable, with bubbling horns – unvalved – in Florestan’s Act III aria. And that trumpet call that signals the rescue is indeed heart-stopping.

Ryan Brown leads his largely Canadian cast and fine players with directness and skill, and Jason Starr’s video direction allows us to see the instrumentalists in close-up…Nathalie Paulin’s Leonore is moving and mightily impressive despite some pressured moments in extremis…A worthwhile acquisition.