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.