Music! Lyrics! Comedy! It's the greatest English operetta of all time.
There's too much flirting going on in the town of Titipu — and it's against the law! So the Mikado (emperor of all) decrees that heads must roll.
But what can you do when love is in the air? Nanki-Poo (wandering minstrel and errant son of the Mikado) longs to marry lovely Yum-Yum — but he's promised to the older (and unpleasant!) Katisha — and Yum-Yum's supposed to be the bride of Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner!
Beheading, boiling in oil...punishments galore are devised to make the "criminals" pay. But fear not — this is a comedy, and you'll be smiling the moment the curtain goes up and humming the tunes for weeks.
James Morris, one the most celebrated bass-baritones ever, is the Mikado!
Stephanie Blythe is a fabulous, take-no-prisoners Katisha.
Neal Davies, eminent Handelian baritone, is an equally marvelous Ko-Ko.
And Toby Spence and Andriana Chuchman will be divine as the young lovers!
NEW PRODUCTION
On the Record
Roger Pines, dramaturg at Lyric Opera, recommends these recorded performances.
CDs
Adams, Suart, McLaughlin, Rolfe Johnson, F. Palmer, Van Allan; Welsh National Opera, cond. Mackerras (Telarc)
Ayldon, Reed, Masterson, Wright, Holland, Sandford; D’Oyly Carte Opera Company, cond. Nash (Decca)
Despite the undeniable authenticity of the D’Oyly Carte performance, the loveliness of Valerie Masterson’s Yum-Yum, and the incomparable Kenneth Sandford’s Pooh-Bah, the first choice on CD is the Telarc performance. With the exception of Richard Suart (an expert Ko-Ko) and Donald Adams (a classic, standard-setting Mikado), the rest of Telarc’s cast does not have extensive background in operetta, but they project the text in every number with relish, and their actual vocalism is consistently more impressive than that of their D’Oyly Carte counterparts. The late Sir Charles Mackerras, renowned in seemingly every repertoire from Handel to Janáček, has long been one of the most knowledgeable and commanding interpreters of Gilbert and Sullivan, and he was definitely on his mettle in Telarc’s sparkling performance.
DVDs
Adams, Reed, Masterson, Potter, C. Palmer, Sandford; D’Oyly Carte Opera Company, cond. Godfrey, dir. Burge (VAI)
The D’Oyly Carte Opera Company was always a genuine ensemble — the artists in this film performed this opera (G&S called their works operas, not operettas) hundreds of times together all over the world. Their physical characterizations and their delivery of the dialogue, as well as their music-making, all stem from the authentic traditions of G&S style carried down over the decades. The show is stolen by Valerie Masterson, one of the most accomplished sopranos in D’Oyly Carte history (she had an important career in “serious” opera after leaving the company, including Les contes d’Hoffmann at Lyric in 1982). The late John Reed, even with his slight voice, simply is Ko-Ko, crystalline in his projection of the words, whether in his patter song or “Tit-Willow.” The others are similarly at ease in their roles. This is a studio film, meaning that everyone lip-synchs the musical numbers, which is never ideal. Still, the rewards of watching the D’Oyly Carte company in action in G&S’s most popular work shows a degree of authenticity to equal that of witnessing La Scala performing Verdi or the Bolshoi in Tchaikovsky.
DVD of special interest
Topsy-Turvy: Corduner, Broadbent, Spall, Henderson, Manville, dir. Leigh.
Director Mike Leigh scored a triumph with his 1999 film Topsy-Turvy, essential viewing for anyone who enjoys Gilbert and Sullivan and is interested in the way they worked. Their complex working relationship is fascinatingly revealed by Allan Corduner (Sullivan) and Jim Broadbent (Gilbert), as the two prepare the Mikado world premiere. The actors playing that production’s cast members all do their own singing. A standout, both on- and offstage, is the irresistible Shirley Henderson (possessor of one of the most distinctive speaking voices in movies), who plays Leonora Corbett, G&S’s first Yum-Yum. The film, which reveals Victorian London in spectacular detail, justly deserved its Oscars for make-up and costume design.