This is a splendid and authentic version of the famous ballet. Mounted by Kenneth MacMillan, it was based on the detailed notation of the original Petipa work of 1890, brought out of Russia by Nicolas Sergeyev when he fled the Revolution. Sergeyev presented this work to the Royal Ballet, and as a former director of that company, MacMillan would have been very familiar with it.

It’s a curious piece in that we don’t meet Aurora, the heroine, until what is effectively the second act, the first being a prologue in which we see the infant Aurora cursed by Carabosse, who has not been invited to her christening. And we don’t meet Prince Desire until after the second interval. But what a marvellous couple they are, as danced by Thomas Edur and his wife Agnes Oaks. Edur is a princely as they come, and Oaks is a wonder of disciplined yet lyrical dancing. She is also a fine actress, and when she finally appears to meet the four suitors who have travelled from afar to woo her, her mixture of teenage modesty and confidence in the effects of her own beauty (in this performance supremely justified) is just right. In the great pas de deux of the last act her technique is so sure that its difficulties are as nothing, and she is able to concentrate solely on giving a dramatic and beautifully phrased performance.

But this is a work with many important roles. Andre Portasio’s Carabosse is less of a caricature that one meets in many productions. Sinuous, low to the ground and suffused with hatred, he makes her a believable embodiment of evil. Elena Glurdjidze is less cold than many another Lilac Fairy, and is a terrific dancer who is also scheduled to do the lead in Oxford. Of the fairies, I particularly liked Fernanda Oliveira — one of the company’s risng stars — as the Fairy of the Crystal Fountain, and Crystal Costa’s Songbird Fairy. We saw Costa again in the last act, in the Bluebird pas de deux, giving a sparkling performance in partnership with Yat-Sen Chang, a small powerhouse of a dancer who really made the Bluebird fly.

Unusually, Peter Farmer has set Act I in a beautiful formal garden, and we don’t see inside his sumptuous palace until the final act. The costumes, mainly in gold and sparkling with jewels, are by Nicholas Georgiadis, and create an atmosphere of luxury and glamour which suits the story well.

This is a production from a company with strength in depth. It runs until tomorrow, and any of the castings on offer will be well worth watching.