There have been a number of decapitations at Leeds Town Hall recently, as Opera North's temporary relocation has caused a few heads to roll. December's semi-staging of Saul introduced Goliath's in a linen bag; now it is John the Baptist's turn, his served on a silver plate.

Perhaps it is small mercy that we are spared the sight of the severed head, as this is a concert performance. Yet the lack of visuals suits a voyeuristic work that is principally about what happens to people who refuse to avert their eyes.

Even so, if the performance were supposed to contain no outwardly dramatic element, the message does not appear to have filtered through to Susan Bullock. While most of the other singers cling stiffly to their music stands, Bullock's free-ranging Salome is every bit the dangerous loose element the drama suggests. Bullock inhabits the role, and though she may not be blessed with the prettiest of tones, her vocal cords display security under pressure.

It is a performance of such fervid psychological commitment that it seems a bit of a disappointment when all that happens at the climax of the Dance of the Seven Veils is that the tenor takes off his jacket. Yet Peter Hoare's sweating Herod gives the perfect, feverish impression of a man lusting for a glimpse of his 16-year-old stepdaughter.

The Opera North orchestra is exemplary throughout, though even with the singers ranged in front of him, conductor Richard Farnes cannot avoid submerging them occasionally in the density of Strauss's score. Daniel Sumegi's portentously booming Jokanaan at least has an amplification system for his off-stage interjections, strange though it may seem that King Herod has an intercom to the basement.

· Further performance on Friday. Box office: 0113-224 3801.