Sullivan: The Mikado

It was called a comic opera in its day. If you call it operetta now, few will argue - but it makes no difference to me. This early recording lacks dialogue but has some intriguing performances.

Isidore Godfrey with d'Oyly Carte
Mikado: Darrell Fancourt
Nanki-Poo: Derek Oldham
Yum-Yum: Brenda Bennett
Koko: Martyn Green
Katisha: Josephine Curtis
Poo-Bah: Sydney Granville
PishTush: Leslie Rands
Pitti-Sing: Marjorie Eyre
Peep-Bo: Elizabeth Nickell-Lean

Act I
Overture ... Opening
A wandering minstrel I
Our great Mikado
Young man, despair
Behold the Lord High Executioner
As some day it may happen
Three little maids
Were you not to Koko plighted
With aspect stern
Oh, fool that fleest

Act II
Opening
The sun whose rays
Brightly dawns our wedding day
Here's a how-de-do
Miya sama, miya sama
A more humane Mikado
The criminal cried
The flowers that bloom in the Spring
Heart don't break
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