"Favorite airs from The Mikado" (music by Gilbert and Sullivan, 1885) was a 1914 production by Edison Records, performed by the Edison Light Opera Company. This was one of several phonograph cylinders put out by Edison Records (and, no doubt, others) that attempted to encapsulate an entire opera or musical in about four minutes generally, they consisted of a bit of the opening chorus, a verse or two from one or two of the songs, then a bit of the Act II finale. This one is not atypical.

The cast is not given, but in the 1913 recording of Pinafore, also by the Edison Light Opera Company, the following singers were featured:

Elizabeth Spencer, Mary Jordan, Harry Anthony, Walter Van Brunt, James F. Harrison, and William F. Hooley

The only copy of the recording I had to work from was not particularly high quality, and, though I think I managed to clean it up fairly well, I had to leave some of the background noise in, or the singers start to sound unnatural since cleanup of static does, by necessity, remove some information as well. By removing clicks and pops, then blending a noise-reduced track with the one just cleaned of the clicks and pops, good results can be achieved.

Notes

This was Edison Blue Amberol #2179, which was a reissue of Edison 4-minute Amberol #465.

Songs

All songs are heavily abridged:

• Overture (first few seconds)
• A wand'ring minstrel I
• Three little maids from school are we
• Tit-willow (On a tree by a river)
• Act II Finale: "For he's gone and married Yum-Yum" and "The threatened cloud has passed away"