Duke Bluebeard’s Castle is in many ways the ideal opera for CD; stage action is less of the essence than a highly descriptive orchestral score, and the “plot� provides as much mental as visual stimulation. There are plenty of good Bluebeards on disc, and this new Naxos production is a welcome addition to the ranks. Imaginative moments are in generous supply. For example, Judith’s blasé, low-key response to Bluebeard’s pride as he throws open the Castle’s fifth door, her implied rolling eyes at his “spacious country�, a passage thrillingly prepared by Marin Alsop and the orchestra. There’s the feverish orchestral build-up approaching the sixth door, the lake of tears, and at 1'21" into tr 10 the moment when Judith asks Bluebeard to tell her who he had loved before her – less “asks� in this context than dares to enquire in the thrall of a terrible fear. Andrea Meláth sounds stunned, even terror-stricken, and Alsop draws a sickly-grey backdrop from her Bournemouth players. Best of all is the faltering path to the seventh door: “I have guessed your secret,� cries Judith, and Alsop charts the tortuous course of this terrible moment to perfection. In context it proves the drama’s high-point, more overwhelming in fact than the internment which isn’t quite as effective as on some rivals.

Less impressive is Meláth’s response to the “mountains of gold� beyond the third door, where Christa Ludwig (for Kertész) conjures such a vivid sense of wonder. The voices here are good but uneven, Meláth often impressive in the higher registers but lacking in colour (and tonal quality) at mid-range and with a tendency to excessive vibrato. Gustáv Belácek’s Bluebeard is theatrically characterful but vocally grey, though I liked his animated singing of the opening sequence. Alsop has the measure of the score, much as she had of The Miraculous Mandarin on a previous Naxos release (6/05). Certainly this Bluebeard is more than good enough to introduce a great and compelling work but if pressured to choose while ignoring of the price-tag I would opt for John Tomlinson’s Bluebeard under Bernard Haitink.