In 1701, Daniel Purcell wrote his Judgement of Paris for a competition to encourage the development of English opera, created by Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax and his friends. Purcell’s entry came an inglorious third and has been largely neglected ever since. But in the rescuing hands of Spiritato!, the Rodolfus Choir and a strong team of soloists in this celebratory performance at St John’s Smith Square, Purcell’s opera sparkled at us across the silent centuries.

Click here to read my full review on Bachtrack.

Click here to read more about Spiritato!’s project. You can buy the recording from Resonus here, or on iTunes. I confess it went straight into my iTunes library…

The Judgement of Paris, by Rubens