Judith Weir's opera, commission by Glasgow District Council for the 1990 City of Culture celebrations, takes three Scottish folktales, all concerned with disappearance: The Inheritance features a runaway bride, a singing forest and a lost sum of gold; The Disappearance tells of a man abducted by supernatural forces; and The Stranger is the story of an independent-minded girl wooed by a sinister stranger.

Weir's writing combines lush descriptive soundscapes with ethereal choruses and Gaelic folk melodies; the romanticism of the three tales is offset by the sardonic humour and down-to-earth attitude of their protagonists, and of the composer herself.

Ailish Tynan soprano

Anna St?phany soprano

Andrew Tortise tenor

Owen Gilhooly baritone

Jonathan Lemalu bass baritone

Artists

Stephen Jeffes (narrator), Andrew Murgatroyd (vocals), Christopher Bowen (tenor), Edward Goater (tenor), Edward Price (baritone), Jonathan Lemalu (baritone), Ailish Tynan (soprano), Owen Gilhooly (baritone), Andrew Tortise (tenor), Nicolas Simeha (baritone), Jonathan Saunders (bass), Paul Haas-Curievici (tenor), Olivia Robinson (vocals), Sian Menna (vocals), Lynette Alcantara (soprano), Anna Stéphany (soprano), BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers, Martyn Brabbins