Haydn’s Creation is like a really good, long-standing friend: however many times you meet up, you learn something new. This new recording (OP008/9) is the result of a collaboration between the Oxford Philomusica and New College Choir, and it renews another old friendship too: sung in English, it’s based on the venerable Novello score, familiar to countless choral societies down the years – but following along in my dog-eared copy, a couple of exciting changes to the choruses jumped out, which I will let you discover for yourself.

“This involving performance certainly whetted the appetite for the CD,” I wrote when the recording was previewed in a live concert last May. In fact, there are considerable differences between the two, the main change being that the Philomusica’s Marios Papadopoulos was on the podium in May, while the recording is directed by New College’s Edward Higginbottom. Beginning with a raw Representation of Chaos, Higginbottom extracts a lively response from the orchestra – the string playing, in particular, is as fine as I have heard from this band. A big problem with the live performance was the tendency of the powerful modern instruments to swamp the baroque-style choir. Higginbottom’s vast choral experience, and careful sound balancing, largely solve this difficulty – big set pieces like By Thee with Bliss work extremely well. Crucially, where sonic battle is still joined, New College’s superb diction makes sure that the all-important words are fully audible.

Two of the three soloists differ from the live performance. Bass David Stout continues to relish his words splendidly, while the terrific tenor newcomer, Rufus Miller, colours his arias with descriptive dynamics. Soprano Mhairi Lawson isn’t quite the equal of her live counterpart, sounding best in her quieter moments. But forget the nitpicking, this new recording magnificently affirms the life-giving spirit of Haydn’s masterpiece. It should be required listening for anyone who is going to sing in a performance.