Scottish Opera - HMS Pinafore - Financial Times

Are Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas still lively entertainment or tired old hat?

This Scottish Opera performance was recorded live at last year's Edinburgh Festival. Like most concert performances, it makes a brilliant case for Sullivan's score without the sense of theatre to convince non-believers that Gilbert's satire still has life in it. 

Instead of the dialogue there is a mercifully brief narration spoken by Tim Brooke-Taylor.

A first-rate cast is headed by John Mark Ainsley, Elizabeth Watts and Toby Spence, and conductor Richard Egarr sets some fizzing, up-tempo speeds.

In fact, the music fairly sparkles.