Not many reputations stand to be enhanced by this. Among those that do is Jerome Hines, whose sonority matched by his height and strongly etched features makes him an impressive Mephistopheles. Then there is the Cio Cio San whose good style, even vibrations and dignified presence go with an unfamiliar face, so that one consults the programme with interest and finds Gabriella Tucci. Anna Moffo and Sándor Kónya are attractively paired in the balcony scene from Roméo et Juliette, the misty condition of the film somehow adding to its charm, as in a rare excerpt from a silent film, though of course with sound. Moffo is also a sympathetic Mimì playing opposite the blandly complacent Rodolfo of Richard Tucker.

For the rest, it’s a mixed report. There’s Victoria de los Angeles acting as for a theatre audience rather than the cameras, and Brian Sullivan not acting at all. Robert Merrill sings magnificently as Iago but little is gained by seeing him, while James McCracken, whose Otello remains vivid in the memory after all these years, is diminished by being seen in a savagely cut and poorly staged excerpt. Crespin’s Tosca is tonally as unpleasing as I remember it being when she was so applauded at Covent Garden. The Quintet from Die Meistersinger is scarcely recognisable as the lovely piece it potentially is. Birgit Nilsson is in fine voice but out of character. Gianna d’Angelo makes a pretty Gilda but never even looks at Jan Peerce who, it must be said, is not a pretty Duke. Where scenes are staged, one rarely wishes to look twice. The conducting is rigid, the announcements are unctuous. I fear these Telephone Hours have had their day.