This 12-player arrangement of Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen was born out of the pandemic. With the cap on gatherings (and playing in large orchestras) putting the kibosh on performing the opera as written, the conductor and composer Fabrice Bollon created a chamber version that he hoped could be performed and produced on the cheap, making it possible for more audiences, including children, to experience Janáček’s wise, witty drama.

Rather than a simple reduction, Bollon set himself the task of imagining what the composer would have done if writing for 12 musicians. Gone are the brass, and inevitably some of the magic. Some of the piece’s crucial dramatic moments – so precisely orchestrated by Janáček – lose just a bit of their edge here, despite admirable performances from musicians and singers in a live recording helmed by Bollon.

Nevertheless, much of what is distinctive about the source material, which attains an unbearably raw emotional quality in the surest of hands, is carried over by Bollon, whose passion for the work is evident. While by no means essential listening, this...