This was the most successful of Sousa’s 15 operas but it still needed far more restoration than Joplin’s Treemonisha before it could reach full performance. Fisher and Martin have made a convincing authentic realization as opposed to the various extracts and adaptations that have done the rounds. The marches emerge triumphantly but Sousa was not limited to his most characteristic genre, although tied to his European operetta models in Offenbach and Sullivan. The story of El capitan is replete with mistaken identity and ensuing subterfuge, but it’s well sung and spoken here and provides a genuine missing link.'