 The album was recorded shortly after a series of theatrical performances of the opera at Covent Garden in January 1980.Covent Garden's staging, a co-production with English National Opera, was produced by John Copley and used sets designed by Stefanos Lazaridis and costumes designed by Michael Stennett.The singers on the album and in the opera house were the same, except that in the theatre Jonathan Summers was Albert and John Dobson was Schmidt.