Orpha Phelan's new Opera North production has, most dramatically, with the linguistic extravagance largely unavailable in the form, brought much more violence on stage and is both explicit and subtly done, often to maxim effect set to a jarring melodic counterpart in the score.

A child is groomed in the skill of killing, executing a victim from the rival family.

One stunning scene has Juliet imagining what may be her fate at the hands of the Montecchi - a chilling rape in which her double is flung about the stage on the end of a wire.

The action is relocated to an unspecified urban war zone in the late 20th century, but it remains distinctly Italian.

These are gangsters, mafia thugs driven by family 'honour' and mob mentallity.

The bel canto* Romeo (Sarah Connolly) may be in love with Giulietta (Marie Arnet), but he's also more than willing to allow his followers to blast the Capuleti headquarters to bits, leaving Lorenzo (Henry Waddington) and Tebaldo (Edgaras Montvidas) to deal with the wounded.

Bellini's star-crossed lover is inescapably bound by violence, even as he is torn by love.

The scenes between the lovers have a tender, concentrated stillness that separates their relationship from the violence around them,and are the musical highlights of the work.

In Bellini's more fluid second act he dispenses with the more formal conventions and creates a compelling mix of ensemble passages and florid individual performance demanding much of the artists' acting skills. Unaccompanied recitative and silence are employed to brilliant effect.

Connolly's climactic encounter with Montvidas - in which each acknowledges the other's grief and hurt - is breathtakingly done.

But it is Connolly and Arnet, vulnerable throughout dressed only in a flimsy nightdress, who capture a remarkable lustre and refined passion in their singing.

Mal Morris

* Bel canto refers to the Italian vocal style of the 18th and early 19th centuries, and includes the qualities of perfect legato production throughout the range, the use of a light tone in the higher registers and agile and flexible delivery. Bel canto operas feature extensive and florid ornamentation, fast scales and coloratura.