The 1917 HMV Mikado

Cast The Mikado Robert Radford Nanki-Poo John Harrison / Ernest Pike Ko-Ko George Baker Pooh-Bah Robert Radford / John Harrison Pish-Tush George Baker / Ernest Pike / Robert Radford Yum-Yum Violet Essex / Bessie Jones Pitti-Sing Violet Oppenshaw / Bessie Jones / Edna Thornton Peep-Bo Bessie Jones / Violet Oppenshaw Katisha Edna Thornton

Sounds on CD VGS 210 (Cover art by Matt Bland)

Chorus and Mayfair Orchestra
Conductors: George W. Byng / Arthur Wood

Recorded in London,
July 30-August 3, 1917

HMV Album Cover

Under the covers, however, the recording had hardly anything to do with D'Oyly Carte. As had been customary from the earliest days of the gramophone, the opera was recorded by stock recording artists whose voices were known to record well. There was little consistency in casting, and indeed it would appear that roles were assigned based only on who showed up on a particular day; surely, one cannot imagine that such a patchwork quilt of singing assignments would have been planned.

"78s 2 CD" GS06

This was the first complete set to include George Baker. (He had already recorded at least one G&S single—see Gilbert and Sullivan: The Early Records). Baker never appeared with D'Oyly Carte, but he had an excellent intuitive feel for the Savoy Operas. Even after HMV started casting authentic artists in most of the roles, a place was found for Baker on nearly every 78rpm set made.

In the late 1950s, twenty-five years after his last G&S recordings with D'Oyly Carte, Sir Malcolm Sargent brought Baker out of retirement and cast him as the comic lead in several of the "Glyndebourne" recordings. Even in his late-seventies he gave credible performances, but certainly not as good as his 78's, which were made in his prime.

The allocation of the split roles is as follows:

Victor used this album design when it issued this set in March, 1925. Victor later used the same album design for its issue of the 1926 recording, before replacing the design in 1931.

Nanki-Poo

Pike sings "Brightly dawns";
Harrison sings the rest.

Pooh-Bah

Harrison sings "See how the fates";
Radford sings the rest.

Pish-Tush

Baker sings "Our great Mikado" and "So please you sir"; Pike sings "I am so proud"; Radford sings "Brightly dawns."

Yum-Yum

Jones sings "Brightly dawns";
Essex sings the rest.

Pitti-Sing

Oppenshaw sings "Braid the raven hair"; Jones sings "See how the fates";
Thornton sings the rest.

Peep-Bo

Oppenshaw sings "Three little maids"; Jones sings "So please you sir."

Conductor

Wood conducts "As someday it may happen"; Byng conducts the rest.

Compared with the 1907 Odeon recording (which has the benefit of Walter Passmore's Ko-Ko) and the 1927 recording (which has D'Oyly Carte singers in nearly all the roles) this recording may seem comparatively unimportant, although George Baker's Ko-Ko has been highly praised. You can listen for yourself, if you buy the CD re-issue on Chris Webster's Sounds on CD label.

Issue History

Recording Details

Notes:

1. Francis does not report that any alternate takes were issued with this set, but Chris Webster has confirmed them for sides 4, 11, and 20.

2. Francis says that Arthur Wood conducts only s. 7, "As someday it may happen". However, s. 9 was also recorded the same day, and it seems implausible that Wood was brought in to conduct just one side. Other sides (unpublished) could, of course, have been recorded that day.

3. Francis says that s. 16 was recorded on 2 August 1917. However, the matrix number is much higher than any other in the set, so if Francis is right, we must accept the unlikely premise that a matrix number was used out of order. More likely, Francis's date is inaccurate.

4. Sides 15 & 21 were included on Arabesque's LP reissue of the 1931 Ruddigore.

Recording Sessions

The following table lists the order in which the sides were recorded. Where there were multiple attempts at a side on the same day, none of which are known to have been issued, the entire row is shown in italics, and the word "Rejected" appears in the "Result" column.

Where there were multiple attempts at a side on the same day, at least one of which was issued, the word "Issued" and the side number appear in the "Result" column. For takes not known to have been issued, the matrix number is shown in italics.

Details of unissued takes were supplied by Chris Webster, who had access to copies of the artist sheets made during the sessions. The roles sung are indicated in brackets, as it would otherwise be ambiguous in some cases.