I looked out my Glyndebourne programme of 1973. Out fell contemporaneous reviews all heaping plaudits on the Figaro, Peter Hall’s first – and memorable – effort at staging Mozart. I was pleased to find the DVD almost lives up to fond memories of the occasion. As far as I can tell, this is its first appearance since its television relay.

Hall’s unfussy staging is set in John Bury’s lived-in, warmly coloured decor and combines well with John Pritchard’s unassumingly stylish conducting. Dave Heather’s TV direction is worthy of the original, and the picture looks as if it might have been filmed yesterday. The sound, however, lacks a little in clarity and range.

The cast that season was choice. Kiri Te Kanawa, youthful of mien, glowing of voice, sings the Countess. It is a wonderful memento of her great promise and appreciable achievement at the time. Her admirably priapic Count is Benjamin Luxon, singing with firm, velvet tone and a fine line.

The participants below stairs are of equal stature. Ileana Cotrubas is an alert, cool-headed and warm-hearted Susanna, and she sings faultlessly. Knut Skram, her Figaro, isn’t such a definite character, but is unobtrusively right. The young Frederica von Stade’s Cherubino is sparky and wide-eyed if vocally a little thin. It’s a cast welded into a true and rewarding ensemble. This set matches but doesn’t quite surpass its 1994 Glyndebourne successor.

Ten years later Trevor Nunn produced his first opera, Idomeneo, in the house, with equally felicitous results. John Napier’s designs imaginatively evoke the Cretan milieu, supported by restrained, dignified costumes and lighting. The spare setting, about which I had reservations at the time, now seems a model beside what usually passes for decor today. Within it Nunn directs his principals and chorus with economic yet pointed care.

Philip Langridge is a compellingly distraught and haunted Idomeneo and sings with his customary feeling for word-painting. He easily encompasses the longer version of ‘Fuor del mar’. Carol Vaness offers a fiery, richly contoured Elettra. Yvonne Kenny’s beautifully sung Ilia is more conventional and Jerry Hadley is a fresh, pleasing Idamante. Bernard Haitink conducts a lithe, forward-moving account of the score, though you will need a high volume setting to get the best out of the sound.

La Scala’s Così fan tutte from 1989 is also welcome. It enshrines a straightforward, witty production by Michael Hampe. Riccardo Muti draws ravishing effects from his disciplined orchestra and paces the work with a nice blend of brio and subtlety, once or twice driving the music too briskly.

Daniela Dessì is the main beneficiary of Muti’s caring attitude towards his singers, singing with steady, warm and pliable tone throughout, and Dolores Ziegler makes a fresh, eager contrast as Dorabella, though her voice is a touch heavy for the part. Josef Kundlak, denied his second aria, is a forthright yet sensitive Ferrando, Alessandro Corbelli a persuasive, personable Guglielmo. Adelina Scarabelli’s truly Italianate Despina is neatly sung and acted. Claudio Desderi, as was his wont, easily commands the stage. Sound and picture are excellent. The Gardiner version, using period instruments, is just as inviting, if a shade less idiomatic in style.