It is ironic that one of Marie Antoinette’s favourite composers should write an opera that culminates in the death of an “execrable tyrant” and “abominable monster” and that it should receive its premiere just four months before the storming of the Bastille sparked the French Revolution. The modern listener might imagine the executioner honing the guillotine and the clicking of the tricoteuses’ knitting needles when they hear the world premiere recording of André Grétry’s Raoul Barbe-Bleu under the baton of Norwegian Martin Wahlberg, who is a specialist in the French repertoire of opéra-comique.

Grétry’s take on the Bluebeard legend is a double parody – of Charles Perrault’s version of the folk tale and the legend the Lady of Fayel, which was very popular in the 18th century – with a libretto by his regular collaborator Michel-Jean Sedaine.

The work remained unperformed for more than 200 years until 2018, and this co-production of the Barokfest Early Music Festival Trondheim and Centre de Musique Baroque Versailles, with its top-notch cast and the excellent Orkester Nord. Judging from the production photographs in the liner notes, it’s a shame this wasn’t released as a DVD as the...