If I had to name Britten's greatest opera, I should still hover between three, finally (I think) opting for Billy Budd. But I would have no hesitation in selecting A Midsummer Night's Dream as the one I enjoy most, even more than Albert Herring. As a successful operatic version of Shakespeare it ranks with Verdi. Why no one recorded the magical Glyndebourne production I shall never understand. But Britten's own performance, recorded in 1966, is sheer delight. His conducting, more than anyone else's conveys the sinister strata in the score which underlie the comic and fantastic.

Alfred Deller's unmatched Oberon, Owen Brannigan's Bottom, Thomas Hemsley's Demetrius, Norman Lumsden's Quince and David Kelly's Snug are the only survivors on record from the 1960 first performances. Sir Peter Pears sang Flute then but moved to Lysander on record, a pity, I think, for his comic impersonations were at once subtle and funny. Elizabeth Harwood's Tytania is a lovely performance, both warm and unearthly.

-- Gramophone [5/1990]