F our years since English National Opera unveiled its previous Tosca (a hyper-stylised affair directed by Christof Loy), the curtain goes up on another new production, this time by ENO’s artistic director Annilese Miskimmon . The appeal of Puccini’s work to any company – never mind one urgently committed to stabilising itself – is clear. Tosca is one of opera’s most bankable titles and a complex, compact drama about power with endless potential for contemporary “relevance”.

It’s also an opera rooted in the specifics of three real locations – at least according to the original text and stage directions. Where other operas’ settings are regularly reimagined, Tosca’s ultra-realism has proved exceptionally immovable.…