The
Ohio Light Opera's version of The Mikado has the virtue of including the dialogue, a relative rarity among Gilbert and Sullivan recordings. There are moments, particularly those between Ko-Ko and Pooh-Bah, and Ko-Ko and Katisha, where the interactions are deliciously over the top. The quality of the musical performances, though, keeps this from being a version that is likely to be broadly popular. Overall, with the notable exception of some individual performances, the caliber of the enterprise is that of a very talented amateur production. The difficulties are evident from the opening notes of the overture; the reduced orchestration, particularly the spartan string section, simply fails to deliver either the amplitude or timbral depth that Romantic operetta requires. Conductor J. Lynn Thompson's tempos are consistently on the slow side, so that the music's zaniness is rarely allowed to blossom. The chorus is too small to provide adequate fullness and its performance lacks precision and crispness. The soloists vary considerably in their effectiveness and impact, but several stand out. Frederick Reeder is superb as Ko-Ko; he has the voice to convincingly put the music across and he's an expert comedian.
Dennis Jesse is an appropriately pompous and deep-voiced Pooh-Bah, and Karla Hughes sings with purity as Yum-Yum. The remaining soloists tend to have modest instruments, and many have issues with vibrato and/or intonation. The sound is adequate, but somewhat shallow.