WITH Michael Barker-Caven’s new production of Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica), Opera North has completed Puccini’s trilogy of one-act operas, Il Trittico. Paired with the first panel in this triptych, Il Tabarro (The cloak), it makes for a bleakly powerful evening, unleavened by the only comedy in the group, Gianni Schicchi.

No opera depends more heavily on its title role, and Anne-Sophie Duprels assumes it with a versatility that outshone even her several previous appearances in Leeds. The tale of an aristocratic woman banished to a convent after an unwanted pregnancy calls for delicate treatment. Duprels combines a graceful demeanour with an underlying disquiet. Above all, she subtly underlines the intention of Forzano’s libretto that Angelica should appear more devout than her peers.

To her normal lightness of tone she adds sumptuous glory in her stirring plea to the Madonna; we share her agony after she discovers the death of her son. Alongside her, Fiona Kimm makes an imperious Abbess, Louise Collett finds traces of humour in the Monitress, and Patricia Bardon, stunningly dressed in a gold ensemble, is a haughty Princess, Angelica’s reproachful sister.

The miraculous denouement, always a problem, is cleverly done. Hannah Clark’s cloister slides aside to reveal the outlines of a rose window, which quickly fills with stained glass, then transmutes into a foetus, before dissolving into a heavenly galaxy. It is intentionally shocking, but it works. Jac van Steen conducts sensitively, and Barker-Caven gives the sisters distinctive cameos.

York Press:

Stuart Laing as Tinca, left, Richard Mosley-Evans as Talpa, Giselle Allen as Giorgetta and David Butt Philip as Luigi in Il Tabarro. Picture: Tristram Kenton

Il Tabarro was first seen in Leeds as one of the ‘Eight Little Greats’ in 2004. David Pountney’s production, here revived by Barker-Caven, is centred round the cut-away hold of a large barge in Johan Engels’ set, which dominates the stage.

Giselle Allen’s Giorgetta combines a carefree exterior with a restless conscience, both amply reflected in her relaxed tone. David Butt Philip’s Luigi ladles on resonant ardour in their tryst, but tastefully, while Ivan Inverardi’s lumbering Michele captures the essence of a man losing his amatory grip, in his vengeance aria atop the hold. Anne-Marie Owens is a perky La Frugola.

The closing scene finds Giorgetta unwittingly lying alongside her lover’s inert body, as Michele, cloak now flung wide, is silhouetted menacingly: a haunting finale. Van Steen is especially delicate with the chamber music textures, but holds back nothing at the close. Martin Dreyer

Further performances on October 20 and 26, then on tour; www.operanorth.co.uk