Paradoxically, a two-voices-to-a-part chorus achieves more immediacy than a larger choir, coupled with a stylish and delightfully intimate band. Yet again, Butt demonstrates that less can be more.

Butt's direction combines spontaneous freshness with a care for expressive phrasing and precise colouring. The 11-strong chorus - the solo cast plus reinforcement - is vital incisive, packing a fair punch even in the ceremonial final chorus.

Butt's consort of soloists do this great music proud, sounding larger than their number would suggest...I'll return to this recording for the winning drive, dramatic conception and expressive phrasing of Butt's direction, his crack Baroque orchestra and his exceptional male cast

the score is an absolute treasure-trove of arias: highlights include the alto lament ‘O Jordan, Jordan, sacred tide’ (ravishingly sculpted by a plangent Robin Blaze), Esther’s defiant rage aria ‘Bloody wretch’ and the gorgeous pair of tenor arias in which the king Assuerus puts love before duty. The ever-excellent James Gilchrist is at his most mellifluous here, and like his fellow soloists blends seamlessly into the whole for the choruses.

the scholarship is only a means to an end, and is never allowed to get in the way of the wonderfully crafted music making. Textures are lean – 11 singers, including the soloists, 20 instrumentalists – but wonderfully precise, and the solo contributions, with soprano Susan Hamilton as Esther, are models of stylishness.