Giordano's Andrea Chénier, first seen in Milan in 1896, is loosely based on the life of the poet and revolutionary André Chénier. Caught up in the turmoil of the French Revolution, in 1794 he faced the guillotine as one of Robespierre's last victims during the Reign of Terror. In the opera, Andrea falls in love with an aristocrat, Maddalena di Coigny; his rival for Maddalena's love is Carlo Gérard, a servant in the Coigny household who goes on to become a powerful revolutionary.

Warner Classics releases the 2015 Covent Garden production of Giordano's verismo blockbuster on DVD. This "scrupulously researched and exquisitely realised production" (The Independent), directed by Sir David McVicar, is an operatic spectacle in the grand tradition, with a large cast, atmospheric decor, lavish costumes and expansive emotions.

At the podium for Covent Garden's first production of the opera in 30 years, was Sir Antonio Pappano, Music Director of the Royal Opera House. The New York Times praised his interpretation of Giordano's gripping score as "dynamically alive to every possibility", adding that: "Like many a Pappano night at Covent Garden, it suggested a conductor in command of everything he undertakes, whatever period, style or provenance."

The title role in Giordano's opera Andrea Chénier, an epic of the French Revolution, demands much of a star tenor. As might be expected, in his debut as Chénier, Jonas Kaufmann rose superbly to the challenge. The Financial Times, having likened Kaufmann to a portrait by the Neoclassical painter Jacques-Louis David, said: "He has never sounded better...His dark tenor smoulders with the heat of a poet's unfulfilled ardour and his top notes ring out effortlessly."

The role of Maddalena is taken by the rich-voiced and impassioned Dutch soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek, a favourite at Covent Garden in works by Puccini and his contemporaries, while the emotionally conflicted Gérard is sung by the charismatic and vocally authoritative Serbian baritone Zeljko Lucic, who received "the biggest ovation" and "hit the bullseye" (The Telegraph) in "a beautifully sung, handsomely acted portrait of a revolutionary politician". (The Guardian.)

The impressive supporting cast includes three powerful mezzo-sopranos: Denyce Graves, glamorous of presence and timbre as Maddalena's faithful maid Bersi; Rosalind Plowright (who, as a soprano in the 1980s, sang Maddalena to José Carreras' Chénier at the Royal Opera House) is the Contessa di Coigny, and the compelling Elena Zilio takes the role of old Madelon, who sends her grandson to fight for the Revolution.

With all these crucial musical and scenic elements in place, this is just the kind of full-blooded performance that brings the sweeping drama of Andrea Chénier irresistibly to life.

Ensemble:

Major-Domo John Cunningham
An Old Gardener Gérard's Father Basil Patton
Maddalena Di Coigny Eva-Maria Westbroek
Bersi Denyce Graves
Contessa Di Coigny Rosalind Plowright
Pietro Fléville Peter Coleman-Wright
Flando Fiorinelli Andrew Carter
Andrea Chénier Jonas Kaufmann
The Abbé Peter Hoare
Mathieu Adrian Clarke
Orazio Coclite Michael Kenneth Stewart
The Incredibile (An Incroyable) Carlo Bosi
Roucher Roland Wood
Maximilien Robespierre Andrew Hobday
Madelon Elena Zilio
Madelon's Grandson Ed Lyness
Fouquier-Tinville Eddie Wade
Dumas Yuriy Yurchu
Gravier De Vergennes Basil Patton
Laval-Montmorency Irene Hardy
Idia Legray Judith Georgi
Schmidt Jeremy White

Antonio Pappano – conductor
David McVicar– director

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera Chorus
Robert Jones - set designs
Jenny Tiramani - costume designs
Adam Silverman - lighting design
Andrew George - choreography and movement