IT’S easy to forget how much music Mendelssohn wrote for the theatre. It’s hardly surprising, really, considering the drama he built into oratorios such as Elijah or the Lobgesang, that fine final movement of the second symphony.

But it’s all too rare that audiences get to hear Mendelssohn opera. So a major bravo to both the European Opera Centre and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra for putting on The Wedding of Camacho.

Indeed, this was something of a musical milestone for this was the world première of a new edition of the work by Clive Brown, a Mendelssohn expert who has reconstituted the voice parts to correspond with those in the composer’s original vocal score of 1828. The orchestral parts are also taken from the autograph score.

It was not an easy conception for the young Mendelssohn – he began writing it when he was just 15 – and the original libretto was rewritten by von Lichtenstein. Mendelssohn, unhappy with the result, rejected the finished work and largely turned away from operatic composition during his short life.

But that libretto! Confused. Confusing. Mad, even. All the oddities of operatic libretti were there, and more. Phil audiences must have been grateful – one hopes, though one cannot be sure – for the subtitles, not that they really added much.

This was certainly a lively performance, led by Vasily Petrenko and the RLPO. However, having the orchestra on the stage with the singers did rather overpower the dialogue at times.

That said, Mendelssohn creates a witty, waspish score and Petrenko played this to great advantage. The European Opera Centre Chorus was also powerful and always supportive with a huge dynamic range and superb musical ability.

There were also some fine voices amongst the soloists. The two female parts – sopranos Katharina Persicke who played Quiteria and Christina Haldane as Lucinda – were dramatic, subtle where they needed to be and with finely developed voices which rose to the considerable demands placed on them.

Daniel Jenz, playing Vivaldo, used his fine, robust tenor voice to great advantage while baritone Andreas Jankowitsch, playing Sancho Panza and Alkade, worked his comic role to great advantage.

Just occasionally there were problems with ensemble with orchestra, soloists and chorus not entirely together but that was a minor matter. Director Ignacio Garcia can reflect on a triumph. It’s just a shame this is a one-off performance and that Liverpool is so starved of opera.