Love, lust, betrayal, revenge and murder. It sounds more like a script for a soap opera. Opera certainly but there is nothing softsoap about Opera North’s Tosca as performed at The Lowry on Tuesday.

Corrupt police chief Baron Scarpia is obsessed with Tosca, the lover of artist Cavaradossi, and he is willing to go to any lengths to have her. When Cavaradossi is arrested and tortured for helping an escaped prisoner, Scarpia blackmails Tosca.

The deal – Tosca and Cavaradossi can go free if she gives herself to him. Violated, Tosca takes her revenge – but with terrible consequences.

The Puccini classic may have been given a more modern setting rather than it’s original Rome of 1800 but the timeless themes still resonate today.

And Puccini’s music, at times soaring, at times bleakly dark, still has the ability to sound paradoxically fresh and modern while also being comforting and familiar.

The last time I heard the aria E lucevan le stelle (And the stars were shining) was in the Church of San Giovanni, in Lucca, the Tuscan birthplace of Puccini.

That was very special. It was a magical piece of music sung in a magical place. But it lacked the context of the full drama.

Placed firmly its proper place in the third act of a stage performance, it’s power and grace was fully exploited by Rafael Rojas in the role of doomed Cavaradossi.

It really did steal the show for me, which was no mean feat up against a towering performance from Takesha Meshé Kizart in the title role.

Ms Kizart, the grand-niece of legendary blues singer Muddy Waters, made her debut with Opera North at the start of current season in September, and is obviously a prodigious talent.

Full of verve and spirit, her control of what is one of the great roles in opera, the lover who gives herself to the lecherous Baron Scarpia, was both commanding and moving to say the least. And it had to be up against a tormented and demonic Scarpia, played by Robert Hayward.

Opera North are at The Lowry until Saturday, November 8, and return in the New Year. For a full listing of performances at The Lowry, visit thelowry.com.