Banned before it could even open in Naples in 1838, Donizetti’s Poliuto takes the tragic story of an early Christian martyr and opens it out – in music often described as some of the composer’s best – into a provocative exploration of love, jealousy, political oppression and religious extremism.

The cast includes Ana María Martínez (Paolina), Michael Fabiano (Poliuto) and Igor Golovatenko (Severo) with conductor Enrique Mazzola and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.