Can it really be 25 years since the BBC ripped up the television schedules at short notice to broadcast the new Traviata live from Covent Garden? Richard Eyre’s 1994 production is still going strong, double-, triple- or quadruple-cast most seasons. Familiarity breeds contempt, though, its knockers forgetting that bums on seats for a run of Traviata help finance the likes of Oedipe and King Roger. It’s a beautiful staging, opulently designed by Bob Crowley, from the sparkling rotunda of Act 1 to the pastel shades of Violetta’s country residence and the gilded glamour and skewed perspectives of the gambling scene at Flora’s. I happily return most runs to catch the latest soprano to don those iconic frocks.

Over the years, there have been some corkers: Anna Netrebko, along with Jonas Kaufmann and Dmitri Hvorostovsky providing one of my best nights at the Garden, Sonya Yoncheva, Ailyn Pérez, Venera Gimadieva, Corinne Winters and, surprisingly, Marina Poplavskaya, whose Act 3 was dramatically intense. One of the most gut-wrenching Violettas over the years has been Ermonela Jaho, who made her house debut stepping in for an indisposed Netrebko for three performances in 2008. The Albanian soprano has returned to Eyre’s production for three runs since then, the latest providing us with this new account on DVD and Blu ray just as the staging’s 17th revival takes place.

The production’s 1994 incarnation was full of firsts: Eyre’s first time directing opera, Angela Gheorghiu’s first Violetta and – most surprisingly – Georg Solti’s first time conducting Verdi’s great work. It’s been instructive to watch that recording again and compare it with this new version. There has been a video release in between, but that needn’t detain us, Renée Fleming phrasing everything with rehearsed precision and zero emotion. Gheorghiu is more naturally suited to Verdi than Jaho, coping remarkably well with the demanding coloratura of ‘Sempre libera’. Jaho treads more gingerly here, and her tone is never what one could call ‘lustrous’, but she gets inside the character so thoroughly that one cannot help but suffer with her; Germont’s demands wound us as they wound her and she battles so hard in Act 3 that one harbours a hope that Violetta may fight to see another day.

Charles Castronovo is a splendid Alfredo, his bright, springy tone capturing the character’s impetuosity better than the solid but vocally dull Frank Lopardo back when the production was new. His ‘De’ miei bollenti spiriti’ is wonderfully sung and his partnership with Jaho is touching.

Leo Nucci was a decent Germont père back in 1994, his baritone typically dry but firm. However, I’d take Nucci in a heartbeat over Plácido Domingo, whose masquerading as a baritone continues. Eyes glued to the prompt box, Domingo’s tone is hollow, his intonation wild. How Antonello Manacorda and the ROH Orchestra cope with his wayward tempo shifts in ‘Di Provenza il mar’ is anyone’s guess. No other singer would get rebooked on this showing. This is not how I want to remember the great tenor.

Andrew Sinclair was, once again, in charge of this revival. One of his touches I particularly like is at the end of Act 2, where Germont – instead of staring out Alfredo after Baron Duphol has challenged the youth to a duel – takes Violetta’s arm and escorts her from the room. Minor roles are effectively cast, from rising star Aigul Akhmetshina’s flighty Flora to the veteran Jeremy White’s blustering Marquis d’Obigny. Manacorda conducts sensitively, not always with Solti’s zip, but supports his singers well. ‘Baritone’ aside, an enjoyable memento of an enduring production.