Born in 1868, Granville Bantock was roughly contemporaneous with Ralph Vaughan Williams. His music, similarly informed by folk tunes though less immediately distinctive, often looks north for its inspiration and in particular to the Scottish isles (try his splendid Hebridean Symphony, or even better, his glittering Celtic Symphony for string orchestra and six harps). His melodically powerful, if occasionally sprawling works remain underrepresented on record making this recording of his only foray into opera especially welcome.

Premiered in 1924, The Seal-Woman is described as a folk opera and cost the composer seven years of hard labour. The initial stimulus was his enthusiasm for Songs of the Hebrides, a three-volume compilation of Gaelic folk material published by the Scottish musician and collector Marjorie Kennedy-Fraser. The opera’s gestation of was convoluted (as detailed in the excellent booklet notes). Suffice it to say, Bantock’s work sets a libretto provided by Kennedy-Fraser herself while incorporating 20 Hebridean songs drawn from volume two of her collection, the words adapted by native Gaelic speaker, the Reverend Kenneth Macleod.