In his informative and substantial essay (unusually placed after the libretto in the booklet), Paul Conway describes Maconchy’s ‘dramatic cantata’ for soprano, tenor, bass, chorus and orchestra Héloïse and Abelard (1977) as her ‘magnum opus’ and a ‘consummate achievement’. Its mastery is shown not just in the handling – for most of its length with considerable delicacy – of the large choral and orchestral forces but also in its dramatic, even theatrical assurance. Maconchy composed three one-act operas and three children’s theatre pieces but – surprisingly for the composer who was arguably the finest word-setter of English after Britten – never received a full opera commission.

The three principal characters are drawn with acute sensitivity, real individuals, not just pencil sketches. Canon Fulbert, Héloïse’s ambitious, self-seeking uncle, is caught superbly by Philip Langridge in this recording of the 1979 premiere, alternately importuning the brilliant Peter Abelard to become live-in tutor to his niece or hell-bent on his mutilation after the inevitable has happened. Abelard himself, self-righteous and un-self-knowing (despite his homily to his students to ‘know yourself’), is revealed as all too weak in Tom McDonnell’s strong performance. Star of the show is Hannah Francis’s Héloïse, who develops from lovestruck student to the only person of moral strength in the drama. Her grief after Abelard’s death is deeply moving.

This recording of the premiere, given in March 1979 (in the Fairfield Halls, Croydon) and broadcast by the BBC in November that year, is taken from Richard Itter’s personal archive. The quality of the music and a very well-prepared interpretation from the Croydon Philharmonic Choir under their then director, James Gaddarn, come across well though the choral sound is congested in the louder passages; the nicely played orchestral accompaniment suffers less. Tom McDonnell’s final aria (track 11, ‘Abelard’s Planctus’) is marred 30 seconds from the end by an unfortunate but mercifully brief atmospheric noise. However, none of these technical glitches should detract from this wonderful work. It would be highly instructive to see it staged.