Gilbert & Sullivan: The Mikado

Gilbert & Sullivan (Composer), Royston Nash (Conductor), Royal Philharmonic (Orchestra), D'Oyly Carte Opera Company (Performer), John Ayldon (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, John Ayldon
• Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic
• Conductor: Royston Nash
• Composer: Gilbert & Sullivan
• Audio CD (July 21, 1989)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: London Records
• ASIN: B0000041VD
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #90,802 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. The Mikado: Overture

2. The Mikado: If You Want To Know Who We Are

3. The Mikado: Gentlemen, I Pray You Tell Me

4. The Mikado: A Wand'ring Minstrel I

5. The Mikado: Our Great Mikado, Virtuous Man

6. The Mikado: Young Man, Despair

7. The Mikado: And I Have Journey'd For A Month

8. The Mikado: Behold The Lord High Executioner!

9. The Mikado: As Someday It May Happen That A Victim Must Be Found

10. The Mikado: Comes A Train Of Little Ladies

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. The Mikado: Braid The Raven Hair, Weave The Supple Tresses

2. The Mikado: The Sun Whose Rays Are All Ablaze

3. The Mikado: Brightly Dawns Our Wedding Day

4. The Mikado: Here's A How-De-Do!

5. The Mikado: Miya Sama, Miya Sama, O N'mma No Maye Ni

6. The Mikado: From Ev'ry Kind Of Man Obedience I Expect

7. The Mikado: A More Humane Mikado Never Did In Japan Exist

8. The Mikado: The Criminal Cried As He Dropp'd Him Down

9. The Mikado: See How The Fates Their Gifts Allot

10. The Mikado: The Flowers That Bloom In The Spring, Tra La

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Crisp and authentic but overall disappointing., February 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Gilbert & Sullivan: The Mikado (Audio CD)

Over the years D'Oyly Carte have recorded numerous versions of the The Mikado. Although pleasantly precise in recorded sound, I feel that the overall performances by the cast of the 1973 company were losing impact and freshness. The success of the recording lies in the conducting by Royston Nash, formerly connected with a musical background in the Royal Marines. This musical discipline certainly 'pays-off', but the company was long past its best and in near decline. John Reed as Ko-Ko is too measured, especially in comparison with seeing him in performance. Kenneth Sandford was infinitely superior in the 1958 recording, Decca. The voice is obviously tired and being the doyen of the company ought to have been succeeded by a more youthful sounding performance. There were plenty within the company who had performed the part and were superb in the role. Two major disappointments are Colin Wright as Nanki-Poo and John Ayldon in the title role. The tenor cannot match the lyricism of Philip Potter or Thomas Round, while the bass, John Ayldon is poor in comparison with Donald Adams (1958 and 1993) and Darrell Fancourt (1950), both earlier exponents of the part. It remains for me to state that if you, on hearng the recording enjoy it, fine, but the best of Gilbert and Sullivan is certainly not this.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars lack of dialog a bit dissappointing, February 29, 2000

By 

peter sgouros "circusboy" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gilbert & Sullivan: The Mikado (Audio CD)

though the music on this CD is quite good, I found that the recording lacked the dialog of the play. This seems odd given that the other D'Oyly Carte recordings include them. The fact that this is not mentioned in any of the blurbs at amazon nor even on the label itself leaves me curious and not a little annoyed, as the dialog is as important to the operetta as the musical numbers.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An acceptable yet slightly weak performance., July 9, 2000

By 

Yi-Peng (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gilbert & Sullivan: The Mikado (Audio CD)

This D'Oyly Carte stereo remake of The Mikado, though praised as a "complete success" by the Penguin Guide, is actually a weaker performance than expected. As a matter of fact, it tends to lose its freshness after repeated listenings, and it captured the Company in its duldrums before its reformation in the 1980s. John Ayldon's portrayal of the eponymous title character seems to lack the satanic glitter immortalised in Donald Adams' portrayal of the 1958 set, and the former's portrayal is not a truly three-dimensional portrayal. The two lovers fare better, despite Colin Wright's not-so-good Nanki-Poo, which cannot match Thomas Round's famous portrayal. The selling star, John Reed, is a good Ko-Ko, but his voice has lost the freshness it once was, and so has Kenneth Sandford's Pooh-Bah. Valerie Masterson's Yum-Yum is one of the better points of the recording, as her voice is like ear-candy, and Lyndsie Holland's Katisha is as commanding as, if not better than Anne Drummond-Grant. The orchestra and chorus do an excellent job in supporting the singers, despite some slightly poorly-chosen tempi, and the sound on this remastered version is slightly dryish. Overall, I'm not really prepared to recommend this awfully strongly, and I would suggest waiting for Decca (Polygram) to re-release its first stereo D'Oyly Carte Mikado on CD. Still, this is a slightly easy performance with which to live.