OPERA North’s compelling double bill pairs Leanard Bernstein’s short satirical opera, Trouble in Tahiti, with the boisterous Symphonic Dances from his legendary musical West Side Story. It is like following a sedate suburban hop with the raw visceral energy of an inner city rave. An irresistible combination in Opera North’s joint production with their Leeds based neighbours, Phoenix Dance Theatre.

Trouble in Tahiti is one of Bernstein’s darker works for the musical theatre. The sun kisses the pretty red-roofed house of young middle class couple Sam, sung by Quirijn de Lang, and Dinah, sung by Sandra Piques Eddy. But things are not as they seem. A now loveless marriage is held together for the sake of their twelve year old son. The opera’s most poignant moment comes in Piques Eddy’s performance of Dinah’s lovely song There is a Garden. Her life has grown distant from the 1950s American dream extolled by the smiling vocal Trio of Laura Kelly-McInroy, Joseph Shovelton and Nicholas Butterfield. The bittersweet flavour of Bernstein’s score is lovingly captured by conductor Anthony Hermus and the Orchestra of Opera North.

Following the interval, Halfway and Beyond bridges the route to West Side Story. The ten-minute piece is beautifully written and spoken by Khadijah Ibrahim. It is given an intense physical presence by the eleven Phoenix dancers choreographed by Dane Hurst, the company’s new artistic director. Amazing to discover that the Orchestra of Opera North had improvised their own original musical backing to Ibrahim’s piece.

Bernstein arranged his infectiously rhythmic Symphonic Dances from West Side Story as a stand alone concert suite in 1961. Every nuance of his life-affirming music vividly depicts the toughness, vibrancy and ultimately the heartbreak of life in the diverse upper west side of New York City. The lavish orchestration which includes an array of exotic percussive effects is infused with the necessary high voltage electrical charge by the sixty-piece Orchestra of North, conducted by Antony Hermus. The orchestra is complemented on stage by the wonderfully expressive Phoenix Dance Theatre, subtly lit by Kieron Johnson.

This unmissable Bernstein Double Bill continues at Leeds Grand on the 20th, 22nd, 29th & 30th October.