Charles Mackerras's second recording of The Makropulos Case was taped live during the opening run of English National Opera's production last year. Christopher Alden's staging, which held its emotional punches back until the closing scenes, was considered unsympathetic by some, and its chilly quality can transfer to disc, above all in Cheryl Barker's performance as Emilia Marty, the ageless diva, searching for the elixir that once prolonged her life. Barker captures Marty's frustration superbly. Following Alden, however, she gives no hint of the woman's vulnerability until she reaches the final pages with their assertion that life only has meaning when it is finite. Mackerras's conducting is phenomenal. Hearing the opera in English makes it easier to follow, but his first version in the original Czech is deeper in its subtlety.