With the clear influence of Weber, Loder’s music is certainly much the best element, but quite a lot of it falls back into the limited world of the music-shop ballad – though there are undoubtedly sections of finer and more serious cast, starting with a more than respectable overture.

The score has an abundance of magical moments…The performance is mostly good. Bonynge is an old hand in this area of the repertory, of course…As far as the singers go, Mark Milhofer’s Raymond is the standout: sweet-toned, ardent and agile…For anyone interested in 19th-century opera, this a major release

Not everything works, but the numbers in Raymond and Agnes that really make one sit up are the duets and ensembles, mercurial in mood and flexing a dramatic muscle unmatched in English music of the time…[Bonynge’s] stylistic sense in Romantic British opera is impeccable, and despite some rough edges the Royal Ballet Sinfonia is awake to the nuances of Loder’s orchestration. The 24-strong chorus is exceptionally good.

So the arias are relatively straightforward in their charm and grace, but it’s in the ensembles and finales that he really becomes interesting – for example, the Act II quintet, where the voices weave across each other and take turns at the fore, showing that Loder knew his Lucia di Lammermoor sextet. The singing is good.