. . . ["Abraham and Isaac"]: This performance catches Pears and Procter in excellent form and is perhaps the best I know . . . ["Bottom's Dream" from "A Midsummer Night's Dream"]: he shows every bit of his enviable ability to act in his singing without distorting the character or the words (which are wonderfully clear here) . . . These really are rare and mostly first recordings of these Britten pieces and, indeed, they are good to have for that reason.