All human life is here: prayer and pageant, self-sacrifice and self-righteousness, humour and hypocrisy, feast and famine.

Opera often deals with extremes of human nature but it is not usually as close to the bone as The Greek Passion, nor does it make us feel so complicit or complacent.

In Martinu's richly musicked theatrical parable, we are initially invited to identify with Manolios, the Christ-figure in the village passion play, who inhabits his role to the point of giving up his life for refugees seeking food and shelter.

But by the end Martinu makes us realise we are more likely to be the cowards and hypocrites who reject the incomers.

When The Greek Passion was taken into the Royal Opera's repertoire in 2000, it emerged as a masterpiece of moral self-examination. Now, on its first revival, the effect is even more overwhelming.

That says a lot for the freshness and commitment the company has brought to this first staging of the new season, but just as much about the quality of David Pountney's production, conducted by Charles Mackerras with typical fervour and understanding. The Greek Passion is about the power of art to address important issues, in language that is allegorical, universal and unmistakably relevant to our time.

If Martinu, himself a refugee, had pointed the finger, or used a more political style of theatre, he might have enjoyed agit-prop success before his death in 1959 but The Greek Passion would not be alive today.

When the refugees march through the stalls to the volcanic chimes of Martinu's finale, I defy any member of the audience not to be shaken.

As in 2000, the Royal Opera shuns the established edition in favour of the Czech composer's long-buried first draft, a quirkier, less "operatic" version that embraces a powerful speaking part for a Narrator (Richard Angas, excellent) and a more even-handed approach to the leaders of the village and refugee communities.

Stefanos Lazaridis's set is an ingenious construction of platforms, pulpits and pathways - symbol for a community that lives on top of itself, but also a practical solution to an opera that quick-cuts from scene to scene.

Marie-Jeanne Lecca provides quietly understated costumes, and the candle-lit arrival of the refugee chorus is just one of Davy Cunningham's lighting coups. A flawless ensemble is led by Christopher Ventris, Marie McLaughlin, Willard White, Peter Sidhom, Robert Lloyd and Timothy Robinson.

With ticket prices as low as £4, there is no reason for anyone to stay away. Tel 020 7304 4000