My opinion of this 1994 ENO staging has not changed since I reviewed it on VHS. Hildegard Bechtler’s scenery for this Grimes is dour and abstract, dominated by concrete sea-walls and swathes of sailcloth. It houses Tim Albery’s Brechtian view of the piece, little sentiment and no colour allowed to lessen its Expressionist impact. The fishy props are highly stylised, while the cast is clothed in timeless costumes. Within this arrestingly dark-hued milieu, the characters of the village are no longer recognisable as English eccentrics, however prejudiced, but appear rather as louring figures of a universal bigotry out from the start to destroy the outcast Grimes, who looks duly terrified at their behaviour from the beginning. That makes the work’s message even more frightening than usual, almost too terrible to watch.

Nevertheless, human feelings are there aplenty in the execution of the central roles. As directed by Albery, Philip Langridge presents a man at once pitiful and paradoxically heroic, searing in his anger and frustration, as in his later madness, yet catching the inner poetry of his two interior monologues. Throughout, he conveys the idea of Grimes as fanatical visionary and fisherman, eyes agleam with inner fire. It is an utterly riveting portrait, sung as accurately, clearly and eloquently as any in the past.

Janice Cairns makes a profoundly sympathetic Ellen, younger than most and more obviously in love with Grimes, desperate to aid and abet him, so his rebuttal of her affection is that much more moving. She sings with sincere dignity and attention to verbal values. Alan Opie, as a rugged but none-too-sympathetic Balstrode, Susan Gorton as a vicious Mrs Sedley, and Ann Howard as a blowzy Auntie are all excellent. The rest of the roles have been better sung and interpreted in the past. David Atherton uncovers the raw bones of the score while attending with affection to its more reflective moments. Barrie Gavin’s video direction is always in the right place at the right time; the sound is excellent. With the Covent Garden Moshinshky/Colin Davis/Vickers version yet to reach DVD, this riveting, slightly off-centre experience has the field to itself.