Though Ernani shows Verdi at his dramatically incisive best in this early stage of his output, the opera still needs a special advocacy that it doesn’t always receive on this new DVD. With conductor James Conlon seeming to provide a solid bedrock, the production is close to being ideal but the singing is far from it – amid a history of Ernani DVDs featuring the great Verdi singers of the past generation.

Musically, Verdi bested his own accomplishments in later operas, which is perhaps why Ernani is not often excerpted in aria programmes. Yet it still emerges as a major score when heard in its own context of a Victor Hugo-based story about the nobleman turned smuggler Ernani hoping to marry the high-born Elvira, even though she is pursued by the rich, older Silva and the soon-to-be-crowned Holy Roman Emperor Don Carlo.

Though set in 16th-century Spain, the opera is usually updated to the approximate time of its composition (1844), but is best left to tell its own story, as it does here in Federica Parolini’s bare set of wooden walls that can look rustic in the opening scene at the outlaw hideout, suggesting Goya’s grittier paintings, but can fade into neutrality when inhabited by a bridal chorus dressed in white. Alessandro Verazzi’s lighting design plays a major role in this dark story as outsize shadows are cast on the walls, having both symbolic and atmospheric value. Those wanting to get to know this great tenor showcase will find it clearly spelt out with clarity (no fancy concepts), assuming one’s ears aren’t easily fatigued by the over-singing that’s rampant in the cast. Vibrato becomes particularly intrusive, causing ensemble passages to lose the harmonic definition that, by the way, is one of the best features of the score.

The title-role is innately stentorian – moments when Ernani is begging to be killed should never be demure – but the seasoned tenor voice of Francesco Meli isn’t caught in its best form in this 2022 live recording (accomplished on a single live performance). The kind of phrase-shaping and degrees of expression heard from Meli in a 2019 radio relay (Opéra National de Lyon in a visit to Paris) are in shorter supply here. Also, his vibrato is unusually aggressive and loosely wound in ways that are easier to hear in the opera house than in the closer proximity of DVD. Meli’s Ernani warrants a recording but this was not the performance to preserve. As Elvira, María José Siri matches his amplitude, but at a similarly ungraceful price. Oddly, both effectively pull back their respective voices in their Act 2 reconciliation, suggesting their loud singing elsewhere was a choice rather than a technical necessity.

The most affecting singing comes from Vitalij Kowaljow as the loyalty-torn Silva. But as Don Carlo, the vocally solid Roberto Frontali is not well served by the video direction in his great Act 3 soliloquy ‘Oh, de’ verd’ anni mici’, which demands something more intimate than a mid-distance camera placement. A missed opportunity. Is it fair to compare him with Renato Bruson, one of the great Verdi baritones of the last century, who received a close-up revealing tears welling up in his eyes in the Teatro alla Scala DVD (Kultur)? Well, the memory is unforgettable – in an early-1980s cast with Plácido Domingo, Mirella Freni and Nicolai Ghiaurov under Riccardo Muti. The Metropolitan Opera production from 1983 with Luciano Pavarotti in good vocal form looks like a 1960s historic epic film – why not? – with Sherrill Milnes excellent as Don Carlo (Decca). Both are better alternatives.