'An arresting start to an important series has a splendid British cast in Macbeth We have Peter Moores and Patric Schmid (of Opera Rara) to thank for many operatic pleasures on disc, none more than this one, which represents the start of a series that will eventually include first versions of five Verdi operas. This derives from a project engendered by Julian Budden, Verdi specialist and the BBC's opera guru from 1969 to 1983, in Radio 3's more adventurous days. All the performances are well remembered by those who heard them when first broadcast. Their appearance on CD has been eagerly awaited.

What makes this issue most worthwhile, however, is the superb performance. John Matheson, a most underrated conductor, directs a vital, finely timed and well-integrated account of the score that catches all of its astonishing originality, so faithful to Shakespeare. Rita Hunter is as an accomplished and appropriate Lady Macbeth as any on disc, bar the unique Callas for De Sabata. She has the right voice for the part, firm, exciting, evenly produced and resinous in tone, and sings it with élan and dramatic purpose, culminating in a haunting account of the Sleepwalking scene. Peter Glossop was not always given his due: his Verdian style is faultless and his understanding of the part complete. He may not have the biting Italian tone of Cappuccilli (Abbado), but everything else about his reading is Verdian in the best sense, and he really imbues the role with Shakespearian intensity borne of stage experience. Britain has had no more exciting a Verdian tenor in the postwar era — except perhaps for James Johnston — than Kenneth Collins, who delivers `Ah, la paterno mano' in exemplary voice and style. John Tomlinson is an imposing Banquo.'