Chisinau Opera's production of Puccini's Turandot, which is currently touring the country in tandem with Bizet's Carmen, is a great show for voice fanciers. Monika Chabros, who sang the title role on Tuesday, attacked and spanned her many and fearsome high phrases with aplomb. Apart from pitching vagueness at the extreme top, her tuning was consistently accurate and her rich tones, like her presence, were always commanding. As her unknown prince, Oghnyan Nicolov's slim figure reminded one of a ballet rather than an operatic hero. He gave pleasure with his musical awareness and relaxed delivery of the role's lyrical passages, but his laid-back demeanour lost the character's macho credibility and his lyrical tenor was strained at climactic moments and often inaudible.

There was positive singing and playing from a good team of secondary leads and a particularly strong trio of court ministers from baritone Vladimir Dragos and tenors Anatol Arcea and Vasile Micusa. But the most beautiful voices belonged to the slave girl Liu and blind King Timur. Elena Gherman sang her two arias commendably, and her floated final note at the end of the first one was magical. Vitalie Cires's sonorous bass made one wish he had some more music to sing.

The acting of the Chisinau chorus was not subtle; but its singing was quite exceptional, with a variety of dynamics that ranged from the gentlest of soft sounds to stunning loud climaxes. There was good dancing and the costumes were splendid, but the production overall was an unhappy amalgam of pantomime and musical comedy.

The cut-down orchestra played well for conductor Nicolae Dohotaru, whose generally brisk speeds never allowed the action to flag.