Poor Grétry. A native of Liège, he was a key figure in the development of opéra comique. In 2013 the Opéra Royal de Wallonie, which is based in Liège, chose to mark the bicentenary of his death: this tiresome production is the result. Grétry’s opera, a short three-acter first performed in Paris in 1791, is a world away from Rossini’s magnum opus of nearly 40 years later. For a start, it includes spoken dialogue; and that is what sinks this (prettily designed) staging. For some unfathomable reason, the singers ham up their lines, with gestures to match, as though they were in a third-rate amateur dramatics society. The large dog endlessly scratching himself in the first scene says it all, really. If the director hoped thereby to underline the transition from rustic cheerfulness to high drama, he failed miserably. I suspect he was just sending the opera up, which is unforgivable.

Grétry’s music includes local colour, with folk-like tunes and, in the Overture and the first Entr’acte, a ranz des vaches. Act 2 opens with a graceful duet for Marie and the younger Melktal, followed by a powerful C minor outburst from Guesler (spelled Gessler on the DVD); and Act 3 begins with an impassioned air for Tell’s wife. The orchestral playing is best described as enthusiastic but there is some good singing from the cast led by Marc Laho, the star of Le comte Ory from Glyndebourne (WMV). All is not lost: buy the CD and you can programme out the dialogue. The music is appealing. But, as I said: poor Grétry.