Again the presentation is clear . . . Background notes giving information about the operas and the scenes from which these extracts come and, where appropriate, useful directions are given in the score. In addition there is a singing translation in each piece. While Rutter allows himself some margin in the precision of the translation he does achieve a version that marries well with the melodic line and which gives a good overall sense of the scene.

John Rutter studied music at Clare College, Cambridge and first came to notice as a composer and arranger of Christmas carols and other choral pieces during those early years; today his compositions, including such concert-length works as Requiem, Magnificat, Mass of the Children, The Gift of Life, and Visions are performed around the world. John edits the Oxford Choral Classics series, and, with Sir David Willcocks, co-edited four volumes of Carols for Choirs. In 1983 he formed his own choir The Cambridge Singers, with whom he has made numerous recordings on the Collegium Records label, and he appears regularly in several countries as a guest conductor and choral ambassador. John holds a Lambeth Doctorate in Music, and was awarded a CBE for services to music in 2007.