The first ‘panel’ of Puccini’s Trittico is arguably the closest that the composer came to verismo. It’s concise, unredemptive and culminates in a brutal murder, the resultant body revealed from underneath a cloak – hence the work’s title. No one at Capriccio seems to have briefed their art department about the exact nature and role of the garment in question, though: this set’s cover features a cloak, but it’s a red velvet number worn by a glamorous blonde apparently heading to a masked ball.

The recording itself, too, doesn’t quite capture for me the essence of the work. Bertrand de Billy conducts the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony efficiently and swiftly (his Tabarro is some three minutes shorter than Pappano’s EMI account, for example). He has three soloists with healthy, robust voices. The late Johan Botha sails through Luigi’s music impressively, as one would expect. Elza van den Heever conquers Giorgetta’s notes with a great deal of confidence, too, in a very fine performance. Of the principals, only Wolfgang Koch seems a little stretched.

What one misses, though, is any real sense of the drama that’s at play. Koch’s baritone is too smooth and avuncular. Botha’s tenor, a slight metallic sheen always part of its robustness, rarely conveys much in the way of passion or Italianate warmth. Van den Heever offers only a hint of character to match the copper-bottomed vocalism. And when she launches into ‘È ben altro il mio sogno’, for me one of the most moving of all Puccini’s duets, de Billy remains resolutely earthbound: there’s little sense of imagination and longing taking flight as it should.

The live recording is decent enough but the orchestral sound lacks depth and warmth. Here’s an impressive display of vocalism, with good work from the supporting cast, but you’ll find a lot more passion and drama elsewhere.