In the lead role, Takesha Meshé Kizart – the grand-niece of American blues legend Muddy Waters – proves a Tosca of rare presence. Strikingly beautiful, with a voice that shivers with power, the American soprano commands the stage – and gives a persuasive account of a woman who is little more than an object of lust.

In the other main roles, Mexican tenor Rafael Rojas as Cavaradossi provided a brilliant portrait of a man torn between his love for Tosca and his own survival, with Robert Hayward an icily brutal Scarpia.

On this opera's Rome debut, the conductor was threatened with a bomb for daring to perform something so subversive. A century or so later, this production shows that Tosca remains as unsettling as ever.

Tosca runs at The Grand Theatre, New Briggate, Leeds, on selected datesfrom Tuesday, October 14 to Friday, October 31, at 7.15pm. Tickets cost £10-£45. To book, call 0844 848 2722