It is fashionable to regard any opera with an ‘exotic’ setting as problematic but does that make Casablanca ‘exotic’ because of its location? Its plot is not too dissimilar from that of Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers – one woman, two men who love her, one lets the rival escape with her from certain death. Or is it the woman’s status as a perpetual virgin, dedicated to interceding with the gods on behalf of the community? Bit like a nun, then.

Whatever, Opera North’s production, directed by Matthew Eberhardt, eschews any geographical location, resorting to designer Joanna Parker’s black box. Up till the interval, the stage is cluttered with ‘pearls’ of all sizes, some slung in nets to be raised or lowered. In Act 3, the pearls are replaced by long tables with floor length covers. There is also some imaginative lighting from Peter Mumford, spots hung above the stage to rise and fall with dramatic effect, particularly from the way the beams crisscross.

Zurga and Nadir, the childhood friends who fell out over a woman, are in modern dress, as is the black-clad chorus. The priestess Leila is, inexplicably, in a pale peachy-pink ruffled negligee, over a corset and Victorian-style drawers with deep lace trim – except for the execution scene, where she dresses as a mini-me Nadir in knee-boots, jodhpurs, shirt and waistcoat.

No sooner has his community chosen Zurga to be their leader, than his old childhood friend, the trader Nadir reappears and they sing the bromantic duet. Nico Darmanin’s tenor certainly soars above Quirijin de Lang’s baritone, but de Lang’s voice is clearly heard. Then the boat arrives with the priestess who will remain veiled, chaste, sing and thus protect the community and its activities. Sophia Theodorides has a light, clear voice which floats above the orchestra and is heard and recognised by Nadir as the woman who he loved.

The inevitable happens, with much protestation on the part of Leila, who fears the consequences, and so does the further inevitable – they are found out by Nourabad (James Cresswell), the local priest, and the community calls for their death, while Zurga says their fate is his choice. While Darmanin’s Nadir soars and emotes, de Lang’s Zurga is more measured, restrained, until Leila pleads for Nadir’s life. That’s where he almost loses it, incensed that Leila admits she loves his rival but, even then, de Lang has Zurga staying in control. All the while, the chorus are sitting at the tables, swathed in multiple strings of pearls, which they run through their fingers and display at each other. 

There is some luscious playing in the orchestra, conducted by Matthew Kofi Waldren, not least from the harp. The recurrence of the duet melody, in its various guises, floats in and out of the action like a memory, a reminder.

Finally, Nourabad returns to Leila the locket she had given to him on arrival, Zurga sees it yet, despite his own backstory with Leila, his emotions are still suppressed. A bit like Bogart, really.