Gilbert & Sullivan: H.M.S. Pinafore
Breathes there a soul so dead that the very thought of a  Gilbert & Sullivan operetta fails to bring a smile to the lips and a  spring to the step?Pinaforehas reigned (along withThe Mikado) as the  most popular of the lot, and you can't go wrong with a D'Oyly Carte  production. Some may prefer the more operatic version  withMalcolm Sargent on EMIor  the D'Oyly Carte troupe'searlier incarnationsof  the work. But this may well be the best of the bunch, thanks to a cast  for whom singing G&S; is as natural as breathing. Standouts include  Thomas Round, whose lovelorn hero strikes just the right Victorian  note, veteran Donald Adams, a superbly malevolent Deadeye Dick, Isidore  Godfrey, whose buoyant conducting keeps the good ship afloat, and...  well, they're all so good, why go on? Kudos to the  engineers, too--their early stereo sonics don't sound dated at all.--Dan Davis