First performed in 1723, Flavio is something of an oddity among Handel's operas. The subject - monarchical corruption and responsibility - seems typical enough; Flavio is a philandering Lombard king, whose determination to get his mitts on the daughter of one of his ministers sets in motion a train of events that leaves two families nearly torn apart. In tone and style, however, Handel breaks with many of his own conventions. The opera is unusually compact, while the scoring is comparatively austere. Classical dramaturgy is dispensed with when Handel puts a murder on stage, and the tone becomes mordant and claustrophobic.

Netia Jones's production for the Early Opera Company captures much of its uncertainty; though, by only introducing the trappings of power in the closing scene, she fudges its politics.

What we have is a cross between Men Behaving Badly and The Office. Flavio (Andrew Radley) slobs out in an armchair eating junk food. His ministers squabble over petty promotions. Emilia (Claire Booth), one of the opera's two heroines, dreams of cosy bourgeois comfort with her fiance Guido (Stephen Wallace), while Teodata (Kim-Marie Woodhouse), the object of Flavio's desires, plays erotic games with her boyfriend Vitige (Catherine King).

It's decently sung, though the title role lies a fraction too low for Radley. Booth sounds exquisite as she registers Emilia's growing distress. King reveals a wide-ranging mezzo of considerable power. Wallace, who gets to sing the finest arias in the work, has the potential to become one of the finest countertenors, while Latvian bass Pauls Putnins is outstanding as Lotario. Christian Curnyn's conducting is appropriately hard-edged.

· At the Iford festival until July 16. Box office: 01225 448844.