The quality at Buxton goes up and down, but Aiden Lang's farewell production as artistic director is, in every sense, dazzling. Retina-searing rope lights - such as you might expect around a provincial night-club rather than a baroque opera - bounce from the reflective surfaces of the set.

Lang's reasons for setting the piece in the ruins of a Ming-dynasty spaceship remain enigmatic. One might also question the trio of nylon-haired water nymphs dressed in what appear to be shower curtains. Yet in most other aspects, the evening is a triumph.

Taking Tasso's epic poem Gerusalemme Liberata as his source, Gluck took the tempestuous story of Renaud and Armide, a legendary Crusader and the Saracen sorceress he simply cannot live without. It had been set countless times before, yet Gluck illuminated it with an exquisitely coloured score full of deft, psychological insight and febrile sensuality.

Music this complex requires a gifted interpreter, and has one here in Robert King, who draws a truly inspired performance from the Northern Chamber Orchestra, making an ad-hoc collection of players suddenly sound like a crack, baroque ensemble.

The vocal performances are among the highest Buxton has to offer. The role of Renaud is punishingly high, yet Todd Wilander maintains a sweet, even tone with no apparent sign of strain. Carys Lanes's Pleasure is pleasurable indeed; while Frances McCafferty booms like a cannon as the bilious figure of Hate.

But the evening belongs to the outstanding Brazilian soprano Rosana Lamosa, utterly riveting up to the final scene where, betrayed by Renaud, the piqued enchantress destroys her palace. A performance to bring the house down in every respect.

· In rep until July 23. Box office: 0845 127 2190.