The trouble is that it’s not remotely sexy. A brutally truncated Act I gives little sense of languor as we scramble and dive through exposition. Only the essentials survive, marooned in this Habitat jungle, all supporting fabric of character and emotion lost at sea. It’s an urgency that seems to have spread to both cast and orchestra who, under baroque specialist Laurence Cummings, drag us so briskly along that they may as well be muttering “Keep up”. But Opera North’s contemporary instruments aren’t as nimble as their period counterparts, and the effect is often ungainly.

A young cast brings flashes of focus. Fflur Wyn is charming as Alcina’s coquettish sister, Morgana, her showstopper Tornami a vagheggiar as easy as laughter, while tenor Nick Pritchard (in the thankless role of Morgana’s on-off lover, Oronte) stops hearts and time with a ravishing Un momento di contento. Mari Askvik cuts a striking figure as Bradamante, Ruggiero’s abandoned fiancée, her androgynous mezzo an interesting foil to the softly fluttering sweetness of Patrick Terry’s countertenor. But tuning is a persistent problem, and there’s no electricity between Terry’s drooping knight and either Askvik or Máire Flavin’s Alcina.

The magic of the opera begins and ends with a figure who must be invincible – vocally and dramatically – in Act I if her collapse into impotent near-madness and abasement are to hit home. We don’t need fireworks but we do need feelings, and the chairs Flavin drapes herself over, flings aside with her staff, before barricading herself behind after Ruggerio’s betrayal, are no substitute.

The restrictions of a touring production, as well as the demands of a sustainable one (all designer Hannah Clark’s costumes and props are either repurposed or vintage) are both immense. But if you have to cut and contort a piece so elaborately to make it happen, then maybe choose another? Sustainability, after all, starts with audiences. Already thin on the ground in many regional venues, a couple of duds could easily kill them off altogether. Opera’s enchantments – like Alcina’s and Handel’s own – are fragile indeed.

On tour until March 24. Tickets and details: operanorth.co.uk; 0113 243 9999