Absolutely smitten with Purcell's 'Fairy Queen' (& no one more surprised than myself). I have Emma Kirkby singing an anthology of his songs on another CD and will admit to having managed two and then pressing the eject button. Too pure? Or the timbre of ancient instruments that somehow - like organic muesli - is just too much for my adulterated constitution?

Britten's recording has greater warmth, yet still manages to have a crystal quality. And as A. says, there's something about Purcell and the English landscape, tapping into springs - seasonal and cultural - that run deep below the polite crust of establishment culture. How strange to be listening to Belbury Poly one minute and the 'Fairy Queen' the next. Or perhaps not strange at all. For we are all Pan's People.

And here's a guilty confession. Who is singing counter-tenor back in 1970 but Charles Brett my one time music appreciation teacher. I can remember - vividly - nine years later how he tried to enthuse us with Beethoven's Pastorale symphony and the way we led him a dance. Bad timing on all counts. What I'd give now to talk about the recording, his memories of Britten ... . How we - I - squander opportunities.