Grange Park Opera is putting the frighteners on us as it celebrates its 15th season of innovative musical entertainment in a glorious sylvan setting in rural Hampshire. This has nothing to do with the weather, since the company’s well-appointed theatre, steadily upgraded over the years, safeguards against the arctic blasts so feared by other suppliers of ‘country house opera’ — in an unfortunate phrase that appears to value the venue above the productions on offer. It is two of these which this year seem designed to startle audiences at The Grange: Mozart’s Idomeneo, in which the axe-wielding Elettra of Hye-Youn Lee struts the stage in evident determination that someone’s head is for the chop, and Tchaikovsky’s too-rarely-given The Queen of Spades in which the ghost of an octogenarian Countess (Anne-Marie Owens) appears from behind the panelling (ooh-er!) with malicious misinformation designed to blight the life of an addicted gambler.

Much musical delight is to be derived from both. For the Mozart, conductor Nicholas Kraemer guides the English Chamber Orchestra through the glories of this great opera seria which, remarkably, was given its first professional production in Britain as recently as 1951. David Danholt supplies a powerful portrait of the Cretan King, Idomeneo, who having survived a disaster at sea welches on a promise to Neptune to show gratitude by sacrificing the first living thing he sees on shore. This has turned out to be his son Idamante (soprano Daniela Lehner), beloved of both the Trojan princess Ilia (Amy Freston) and the vengeful Elettra.

Outraged at this insolence, Neptune wreaks havoc on Crete. This is not arranged in this instance through the agency of a monster (though we still are told of one in the surtitles); instead, the director and designer Charles Edwards has Neptune himself, in the towering presence of bass Matthew Hargreaves, striding the land (a tad absurdly) as dispenser of destruction.

Young members of the chorus are on splendid form in Idomeneo as they are in The Queen of Spades, where their work as roistering soldiers — a fine drinking song is among the varied melodic delights of the work — lends a special vigour to this compelling picture of St Petersburg life.

Director and designer Anthony McDonald has updated the action from the 18th-century to the months just prior to the Russian Revolution, allowing for an appearance of the Empress (Inge Hunter) at the costume ball — another fine visual set piece.

American tenor Carl Tanner is in superb voice as the mooning army office Herman whose true love turns out not to be for the lovely Lisa (Anne Sophie Duprels) — stolen from Quirijn de Lang’s suitably princely Yeletsky — but for the secret of supernatural gambling success possessed by her countess granny. Other admirable performances include those of Sara Fulgoni, as Lisa’s friend Polina, and — especially — Roman Lalcic as Tomsky. Stephen Barlow propels the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra through this night of rich pleasure.