After an outstanding Oklahoma! and a Carousel that was almost as good, John Wilson and his Sinfonia of London turn their attention to another Broadway golden-era classic. Alan J Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s My Fair Lady is one of the most successful musicals in history and yet, despite some fine cast recordings over the years, no-one has thought to put the complete score down on disc, let alone attempt to recreate the show as the authors originally conceived it.

What we have here is every note, including underscoring, plus music cut before opening night. “This was not written in an afternoon; it was chiselled away for months,” Wilson writes, admiring the creative team as masters of their craft. “They were ruthless in excising anything they felt would not make the grade. We have a duty to set down as closely as we can their final thoughts on what they created.”

Recent research has recovered Robert Russell Bennett and Philip J. Lang’s original orchestrations, lending the whole affair an especially authentic feel. As for the performance,...