CATHY and Heathcliff are back at the Alhambra, more than a decade after the world premiere of Northern Ballet's stirring adaptation of Wuthering Heights.

Starting and ending with a moving portrayal of the carefree relationship between the couple, this is a passionate, powerful production encompassing the key elements of Emily Bronte's classic.

Choreographed by artistic director David Nixon, the ballet focuses on the intense, playful and ultimately tragic aspects of Cathy and Heathcliff's love for each other.

Like most adaptations of Wuthering Heights, it ends with Cathy's death, but we are left in no doubt of the torment that follows for Heathcliff. Staggering across the moor, grief-stricken and middle-aged, he is only complete when death comes and reunites him with his beloved Cathy.

The haunting score by Claude-Michel Schönberg, the man behind the music of Les Miserables and Miss Saigon, portrays the contrasts in the central relationship - as joyful and carefree as it is dark and tense - and the stark set conveys both the bleak moorland setting and timeless essence of the story.

Tobias Batley and Martha Leebolt were mesmerising as Heathcliff and Cathy; portraying the love, jealousy, obsession and despair of their complex relationship through a series of powerful pas de deux.

Strong performances too from Rachael Gillespie and Jeremy Curnier as the young Cathy and Heathcliff, capturing the youthful optimism of two people who start out believing they will always be together, and Giuliano Contadini as Edgar and Hannah Bateman as Isabella.

A beautifully performed, haunting production, and a real treat to see this Northern Ballet triumph come home again.

Runs until Saturday.