Even more than in Glyndebourne’s other Britten opera releases, the pluses and minuses of live recording are the most important factor here – stage noises, audience laughter and the unmissable immediacy of a (mostly) English-speaking cast engaging with an audience in their own language. The DVD recording of Peter Hall’s magical 1981 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Warner Vision) enhanced by a starry cast including Ileana Cotrubas and James Bowman, is perhaps starting to look its age now. This purely audio recording, captured in lively (if not impeccable) theatre sound, brings us up to date with the cast of the 2006 revival.

Its number one strength is the imposingly sung Bottom of Matthew Rose. No mere buffo bass, he brings a proto-Wagnerian grandeur of voice to the role, together with a very un-Wagnerian sense of humour. Not surprisingly, it is the ‘rude mechanicals’ who benefit most from the live rapport with the audience, and their interplay, most clearly voiced by Henry Waddington’s Quince and Michael Smallwood’s Flute, has an infectious energy. The fairy kingdom is less memorably represented: Bejun Mehta’s Oberon, though other-worldly in tone, is no match for Bowman, and Iride Martinez, his Tytania, is on the brittle side. Young Jack Morlen, whose Puck sounds a real scallywag, is the best of them. The four mortal lovers, led by Kate Royal’s strong Helena, do their best but there is a lot of restless movement in their scenes and too many of their words get lost.

Thanks to the placing of the microphones, we are almost rubbing shoulders with the celesta, harpsichord and percussion. From the perspective of this tinkling fairy world, the score can hardly fail to sound a thing of enchantment and Ilan Volkov proves a conductor in the best Britten tradition (listen to his sharply drilled rhythms in the dances of the closing masque). Other CD recordings have better casts – Britten’s own retains its authority and Hickox’s is worth seeking out – but this one enjoys a rude energy of its own. Readers who have been writing in to Gramophone recently to complain about applause may feel differently but, on balance, the live character of the recording this time is a plus.