Compulsive disorders make a fascinating subject for an opera, as Edward Rushton’s The Shops seeks to demonstrate. This revolves around figures who are all, more or less, dysfunctional: the fanatical stamp collector who steals from museums to assemble a collection that may resemble that of his long-gone father; the girlfriend who acts as decoy, spending her “reward’ on expensive fancy goods; the mother whose attitude depends on a blurred distinction between him and his father; the police officer whose own stamp obsession forges an unlikely bond between captive and captor; the psychologist whose diagnoses are an extension of her neuroses; the retired journalist whose stamp-collecting prowess is his only yardstick of self-worth. So far so promising, and it is a pity Dagny Gioulami’s libretto largely fails to bring out individual sensibilities behind the stereotypes: none of them engages one’s sympathy fully or for long enough to make their various emotional collisions of more than anecdotal interest, meaning that any involvement palls well before the denouement.

It may have helped had the music sacrificed its technical expertise for a less predictable means of expression, as rarely are the issues conveyed with other than a generalised irony. Yet the cast is a lively and committed one – they and the musicians interacting with that tightness of ensemble which makes The Opera Group a vital force among present-day companies. A DVD presentation might have been advisable: without the visuals, The Shops passively entertains when it should actively engross and thus promises more than it delivers.