With its 2012 release of Handel's Esther, the Dunedin Consort continues its admirable series of recordings of little known or recently reconstructed versions of Baroque oratorios, begun in 2006 with its award-winning Dublin version of Messiah. There have been other reconstructions of the early version of Esther, Handel's first English oratorio, but the impetus behind this one, "the first reconstructable version, 1720" comes from research published in 2010 by musicologist John H. Roberts that clarifies which music reflects Handel's intentions for a private 1720 performance at Cannons, the residence of James Bridges, who became Duke of Chandos, and which was added for its 1732 revival.

Everyone – including the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and the chorus of Turin’s Teatro Regio – gets a chance to bask in the spotlight. But it’s Aleko’s central Cavatine, where he ruminates on his lover’s infidelity, that defines the drama, and Sergey Murzaev seizes his chance, singing with the histrionic grandeur we have come to expect from Russian basses. Svelta Vassileva and Evgeny Akimov are scarcely less vivid as the ill-fated lovers… it [Aleko] manifestly works on CD, and Noseda can take much of the credit. Having served an early apprenticeship in St Petersburg, he relishes the colour of the music and profiles its fine contours, never resorting to cheap emotionalism.

According to Charles Burney Handel's operas represented the most complete concerts during which, in addition to the most perfect singing and the effects of a mighty and well-disciplined orchestra, there were excellent acting and splendid scenes and stage decorations.