Puritan England seems an unlikely setting for this 18^th century opera - Oliver Cromwell's army were presumably not great theatre-goers. However, the drama of thwarted desire, battle-hungry militia and the madness of a woman who believes herself to be betrayed must have appealed greatly to Bellini who wrote to Pepoli, his librettist: "Carve into your head in adamantine letters: The opera must draw tears, terrify people, make them die through singing."

The Welsh National Opera updates the story to Belfast during the Troubles, with Orange Men marching solemnly about to beautiful music. Indeed, the beauty of music was at the heart of the operatic style "bel canto", which is full of vocal ornamentation and delicious harmonies. For me, this rich pleasant melodic music is simply so enjoyable, it was harder than perhaps intended by the composer for me to emotionally engage with the terrible scenario. Even the worst excesses of Elvira's madness were unceasingly beautiful, as were the vicious songs of battle. One was surprised on looking up at the subtitle bar to see words like "We will drag the traitors here by their hair!"

The orchestra, unusually visible in the shallow pit of Oxford's New Theatre, were glorious. Conducted by Carlo Rizzi, the most was made of the beautiful moments of unison between the singers and individual instruments, and the coordination of chorus, soloists and orchestra was faultless. There are some particularly lovely off stage - on-stage duets. As the daughter of a French horn player, I enjoyed seeing the horn section trooping in and out to provide the thrilling sound of horns in the distance, creating that wonderful expansion of the imagined scene.

As for the singers, Wojtek Gierlach's voice is extraordinary and delicious. My favourite moment may have been when David Kempster growled "You fool", although closely followed by the cabaletta between these two deep voices in Act 2. The two leads - Arturo and Elvira - whose Italianate names were surely chosen for their lyrical value - were sung by Alessandro Luciano and Linda Richardson. Linda Richardson was virtuosic and controlled even in the flights of madness, gazing out with tragic eyes. Alessandro Luciano, substituting for Barry Banks who was indisposed, was fantastic, especially in duet with Elvira in Act 3. Opera is a wonderful thing and I will now go and listen again on YouTube - as advised in the WNO programme notes!

I must confess that works by Bellini do not feature among my favourite operas. Even though their style is described as 'Bel Canto' (Beautiful Singing), I would not go out of my way to catch up with a Bellini opera. However, I am always interested to see an opera that I'm not familiar with, especially if I don't have to go out of my way, (it's only five miles from my home). I was confident that the singing and orchestral playing would be accomplished from previous experience of attending WNO's productions and when I discovered that the production was be in a relatively contemporary setting, by that I mean the opera has been set in a period during my lifetime, that's always a plus point for me.

I Puritani (The Puritans) was completed in 1835, only a few months before Bellini's death at the age of thirty three. The opera was first performed in France and became 'the rage of Paris'. It continued in popularity in Europe during the 19th century and was performed in the United States and Europe from the 1920s - '60s, including notable performances by Maria Callas & Guiseppe Di Stefano in 1955 and by Joan Sutherland in the 1960s. Apart from a recording at The Met in 2007, l Puritani has not been so popular in the 21st century.

The opera, as originally conceived by librettist Count Carlo Pepoli, takes place in the English civil war of the mid 1600s and tells the story of Elvira, a daughter of a Puritan leader who is in love with a royalist supporter - it is this relationship which literally drives her to madness.

This production is directed by Annilese Miskimmon who has initially set the story in the 1970s Northern Ireland with Elvira transposed into a daughter of a Protestant leader in love with Arturo, a Catholic. As the overture is played, the scene is set in a wonderful design by Leslie Travers; a grim civic or church hall complete with monstrous radiator, fire extinguisher, battered old upright piano and cold fluorescent lighting (the latter has its own special moments in act two!) Unfortunately the opera doesn't remain in this era; Miskimmon juxtaposes the troubled 1970s Northern Ireland with the 17th century Civil War, and although on the face of it this seems a clever concept, it left the audience confused and distracted. Suddenly there were traditionally dressed Puritans released into in the 1970s set, with Elvira, played by an actor viewing 1600s Elvira sung by soprano Linda Richardson, gradually descending into madness. I found the civil war costumes too distracting as they diverted attention away from the realism and Arturo appeared to be wearing a pair of voluminous barrage balloons! I really do think the opera would have worked better if it had remained set in the 1970s. Dramatically it didn't take off for me - there was an abundance of hand wringing and clichéd moves. Elvira's madness would have been more effective if it were contained and inward looking. I just didn't find the acting credible as we didn't see any development of tortured unravelling.

Luckily, the production was redeemed by the fine musicality. There were some lovely off-stage moments performed by chorus and horns, a wonderful orchestra, powerful chorus and superb soloists, with the most notable being Linda Richardson. This is a classic bel canto role and she certainly achieved what was required musically, especially in the act two arias, with some beautifully smooth sustained singing and vocal agility when required.

Wojtek Gierlach was impressive as Giorgio with his deep resonant voice and sensitive performance of the character. WNO regular, David Kempster, gave a clear and commanding performance but I was slightly distracted by his affected mannerisms. Alessandro Luciano replaced an indisposed Barry Banks as Arturo - credit must be given as this is probably the most difficult role to cover at short notice with its vocal extremities in the upper register. I did notice that he was rather fixated on Carlo Rizzi's conducting on a few occasions, which is understandable, but I also wasn't fond of his hand gesturing. However, he did hit those extreme high notes and much more importantly, produced some beautiful soft singing with even line in true bel canto style.

Carlo Rizzi retained a good pace during the performance and produced excellent orchestral dynamics throughout.