If it all convinces that’s because Jacobs has an absolute instinct for Weber’s score. The horns of the Freiburger Barockorchester are almost a character in their own right in this Romantic opera about huntsmen and the forest, and the woodwind – notably Weber’s beloved clarinets – near perfect.

the outstanding Freiburg orchestra remains centre stage, consistently showing how suited Weber’s vivid score is to the rich palette of colour and nuance obtainable using period instruments...Vocally, too, the overall standard is high...Like his magnificent Beethoven Leonore, it suggests that Jacobs’s greatest legacy may well turn out not to be the Baroque operas with which he was so long associated.

Jacobs's new prologue combines dialogue, melodrama and music recycled from the Hermit’s later appearance into a satisfying scene which not only makes the ending feel more organic but also lends a welcome symmetry to the piece as a whole and underlines the Christian element which is largely sidelined in the standard version. The use of period instruments provides further revelations, with rasping natural horns, fife-like flutes and judiciously wonky string-intonation all adding to the rough-and-ready rustic atmosphere.

The musical copying and pasting works well enough, and Jacobs’ performance is never short on energy and atmosphere, with the period instruments of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, especially the natural horns, adding a nice edge of menace to the sound world..

With the prologue back in place, along with other bits and bobs, Act III’s conclusion and the intervention of the hermit character finally make sense…The orchestra is consistently colourful, and the lusty Zürcher Sing-Akademie help the folksy choral numbers go with a swing. As for the supernatural highlight, the Wolf’s Glen scene, shivers went down my spine.