Haydn’s Creation, or Die Schöpfung to give it its German title, has held a place in the hearts of English and continental audiences alike for two-and-a-quarter centuries thanks to its universal message, melodic power and imaginative effects.

This new version, recorded live in the grateful acoustic of Munich’s Herkulessaal der Residenz in September 2023, comes from the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra’s house label, a veritable treasure trove of performances and the source of many fine releases in recent years.

Although Die Schöpfung is based on an English libretto, apparently rejected by the elderly Handel and 30 years later passed to Haydn during one of his London visits, the premiere took place in Vienna in a German adaptation produced by Baron Gottfried van Swieten, career diplomat, amateur musician, and patron of composers from Mozart to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. It’s this, more commonly heard version presented here, thus avoiding some of the awkward corners in the original English text.

Simon Rattle is an old hand at Haydn who he cites as one of his...