Stunning and glorious are the only words for the National Opera of Chisinau's fourth visit to Brighton, this time with Verdi's first smash-hit opera, Nabucco.

Certainly this tale of betrayal, jealousy and murder started a little coolly but, my goodness, it soon warmed up to make for a sensational night at the opera.

To think Verdi nearly didn't write it. This was his third opera and his second, a comedy, had a disastrous reception.

But, by this time, his wife and children had died and maybe it was that event which fuelled his own love of writing tragedy. His next comedy, Falstaff, wasn't until the end of his life.

Nabucco was a smash hit and rightly so. The plot comes from the Apocrapha and is set largely in Solomon's temple in Jerusalem where the Hebrews are awaiting the arrival of Nabucco, the Babylonian king who has a reputation for cruelty.

As ever in opera, there are shed-loads of complications, a proposed execution and a happy resolution at the end.

Chisinau Opera does it well and traditionally. No tricks, no nudity, no updating, no shocks. This is the opera as Verdi wrote it, told simply and with more energy than a Eurostar express.

The heart of this piece is in its choruses. And that is ideal for the hangar-like interior of the Brighton Centre.

Verdi wrote probably his best chorus numbers for this opera and, of course, it includes the show-stopping Chorus Of The Hebrew Slaves.

Moldova's Chisinau chorus is very good. It is well controlled and full-throated in sound.

In the vastness of the centre, it sounded powerful and intimate and somehow managed the difficult trick of bringing even the most intimate arias and duets to life.

Past Chisinau Opera appearances here have lost some of the intimacy of the central love stories.

True, some of the singers, more so the women, did sound a little weak but only in places.

The zest of the piece, those wonderful choruses and the splendid colour and pomp really filled the arena.

The men were really good and the baritone was superb. With solid sets, colourful costumes and some excellent work in the pit, it was as good a reading of the work as I have ever seen.

One quibble, however. At £4 for the programme, I would have expected a cast list for the night's production but there wasn't one.

I know the Chisinau Opera is an ensemble company with multiple casts that can change quickly.

Never mind, this was a great operatic night out and sent me to bed happy.