Title: A superb Mikado!!
Review: I had occasion to pull this recording out and pop it into my car CD player, yesterday. I had forgotten how simply superb this is. The only negatives are some musical cuts, mentioned elsewhere, except that no one mentions that an entire number is missing from the second act. The singing is terrific, stylish and you can understand every word. Some of these performances are better than any others on record (the Pish Tush and possibly the Pooh Bah, although I hate to think anyone could outdo Kenneth Sanford in the role). But it is the conducting that drives this recording. The tempos are spirited, the transitions seemless. The orchestra plays superbly, with lots of little instrumental solos sounding better than I have ever heard (the bassoon run in Three Little Maids). This recording is great because of the brilliant conducting of Charles Mackerras. It is really too bad the funding dried up. What I wouldn't give to hear a MacKerras Iolanthe or Gondeliers.
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