The much debated cover shot – there was a competition to redesign it – says a lot about Anna Netrebko’s approach to verismo, the late 19th-century phenomenon that sought to bring real flesh and blood onto the operatic stage. The choice of what appears to be several costumes at once – and all of them out of Game of Thrones – shows a muddy thinking about the genre, manifested in some odd choices. What is La Gioconda doing here?

Some roles suit Netrebko better than others – she sounds too old for Butterfly, and definitely too heavy-voiced for Liù or Nedda. More mature characters like Tosca (Vissi d’arte is a real highlight), Adriana Lecouvreur and Boito’s Helen sit far better. Maddalena de Coigny in Andrea Chénier fits like a glove and her La mamma morta is often thrilling. La Wally’s Ebben? Ne andrò lontana also works well, the steel in the voice suiting this fierce maid of the mountain.

As the voice has darkened, dramatic roles like Lady Macbeth have come within her compass. To judge from this recording, Turandot (again, technically not a verismo role) is one such. Opera houses should be booking her now! Inconsistencies...