Our October Recording of the Month is historically informed, but not as we know it. When Oklahoma! hit Broadway in 1943, the American musical changed for good. For the first time, a serious-minded book and sensitive lyrics were wedded to music in a way that deepened the experience on both sides. And what’s more, audiences loved it. Now John Wilson and his marvellous Sinfonia of London have gone back to basics to give us every single bar of this groundbreaking musical as opening night audiences would have heard it (Chandos CHSA53222).

Wilson has long championed musicals of this period and really gets the genre. Every bar, every word, every phrase is meticulously shaped and played from the heart. Robert Russell Bennett’s orchestrations have never sounded better with Wilson including oboe d’amore and bass oboe – who knew? – and the drummer and guitarist playing instruments from the 1940s. With a great cast that includes Sierra Boggess and Nathaniel Hackmann, whom Wilson conducted in the 2017 Proms version, this is not just a document, it’s a five-star work of art.

It’s a bonanza month for opera, choral music and song, but before we dive in, there are a...