Violetta, and I've been busting to tell you this, is the glorious Russian soprano Venera Gimadieva who sang the same role with such radiance at Glyndebourne a year or two back. Here on her Royal Opera debut she surpasses even that achievement with a voice that blends Rossinian warmth and late-Verdian power, rock-solid technique and perfect intonation, together with a riveting stage presence. Gimadieva is the most moving Violetta I can recall: she inhabits the heroine's story arc with total commitment from her first-act set piece "È strano! È strano!" to her devastating death scene.