Sir Charles Mackerras - Gilbert & Sullivan: The Mikado (1992)

Conductor Sir Charles Mackerras has always been a champion of the music of Arthur Sullivan. In the early '90's, he began to record the Gilbert & Sullivan operettas with Telarc. Like the Sargent recordings of the '50's, Mackerras uses mostly opera singers--veterans of Covent Garden and of the English and Welsh National Operas--but he secured the services of two veteran Savoyards, Richard Suart and the late Donald Adams. Mackerras planned to record at least seven of the Savoy operas, perhaps more, but was forced to suspend the series--due to lack of funding as I understand. This fine recording of The Mikado, fortunately, was one of the four he was able to complete.
Musically, this is a superb album. It is good to have Adams' famous portrayal of the Mikado in a splendid digital recording, and Suart, D'Oyly Carte's "patter" specialist at that time, is a superb Ko-Ko. Anthony Rolfe Johnson is a marvelous Nanki-Poo, and the veteran Richard Van Allan is a capable Pooh-Bah. The other singers are less well-known, but generally very good. Nicholas Folwell stands out as Pish-Tush, with a ringing "Our great Mikado" and a rock-firm contribution to the "cheap and chippy chopper" trio. Mackerras conducts superbly, with generally brisk tempi, but able to relax the pace when the situation calls for it--e.g, in the last part of the "little list" song, where his pacing allows Suart to emphasize the "apologetic statesmen" segment.
None of the dialogue is included, and there are a few cuts to the score, most notably the second verse of the "little list." The less than memorable overture is also eliminated. The plus side of these cuts is that the entire operetta fits onto a single CD--an excellent value.
If your primary interest is in a well sung and played "Mikado," this recording is a likely first choice. Even if you are in the "must have the dialogue" camp, or you simply can't do without Ko-Ko's reference to "that singular anomaly, the lady novelist," you'll probably find this an enjoyable supplement to other recordings.