London Symphony Orchestra/ István Kertész, Philharmonia Hungarica/Antal Doráti Decca Collectors Edition 476 2303 (4 CDs) ****

Decca served Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály well over the years. This new collection brings together Decca’s recordings (from the 1960s and 1970s) of his mostly folksy, colourful and tuneful orchestral works under Antal Doráti, with István Kertész’s versions of the oratorio

Psalmus Hungaricus

and the musical numbers of

Háry János

, a Singspiel with a dependency on spoken text that has limited its appeal in the opera house. Decca solved the dialogue problem by hiring Peter Ustinov as a multi-voiced, summarising narrator with sound effects.

And the music is as instantly appealing as the selection in the popular Háry János Suite (also included) would lead you to expect. It’s a pity that this attractively-priced set has no libretto. See url.ie/4w4k