Pountney concentrates on the dangers of power which obviously fascinated the opera’s creators in the newly psychologically aware 1900s – one reason why this opera is not some 19th-century Romantic dinosaur recreation (or indeed an oratorio in disguise). Saul – a riveting performance from Johan Reuter in both voice and acted intensity – is not a bad man but he cannot bring himself to let go of the attention which comes with power and has to take his own life to avoid his prophet (or founding father) Samuel’s final dismissal of him. [...] Orchestra and conductor unroll their home composer’s score with richness and dexterity. That and the feel of a home company at work add up to a result just that bit more ethnic-sounding than Chandos’s (very adequate) Neeme Järvi recording (3/91). The filming seems most sympathetic to the production’s needs. Hugely recommended – a far more powerful vote for this opera than the cartoon-like version you may access online. Mike Ashman