This was the very epitome of a Chelsea Opera Group evening. A pair of divas past their youthful prime yet with enough of a bejewelled and feisty presence to fill a hall with adoring acolytes; an English tenor of reliably robust character and musicality; an orchestra and conductor who give their all, and a chorus whose diaphragms and larynxes are now a little slack.

This was Adriana Lecouvreur by Francesco Cilea. If Puccini hadn't done it better, they say, Cilea would still be at the top. Well, Adriana, the most successful of his operas, scarcely proves the point - and the succession of overblown verbal and musical clichés certainly doesn't necessitate a subtlety of performance that is not forthcoming.

Nelly Miricioiu, COG's favourite soprano, immediately magicked her audience with her distinctive, resinous timbre, finely tapering phrases and hidden, half-suppressed vocal sob. The little bunch of violets with which the wicked diva would poison the saintly one rested on her music stand in place of a score: Miricioiu has sung this role at La Scala, the Bolshoi and in Rome, so every note is deeply etched within her being.

Rosalind Plowright it is who murders her, as the very incarnation of the anguished Princesse de Bouillon, her ever more resonant mezzo burning with jealousy for Adriana's beloved Maurizio. Peter Auty, slightly torn between Adriana and the music stand, nevertheless gave a powerfully focused performance. Andrew Greenwood, at one with Cilea's heartbeat throughout, perfectly paced their final duet, and ensured that the supporting cast, including Craig Smith's aptly dry Michonnet and fine cameos from Daniel Grice and Andrew Mackenzie-Wicks, were more than mere bystanders.

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