The Anna Russell Album? (1972)

"In the world of comedy, there are many you'd consider classic, but few you'd call classical. Anna Russell is one of the latter, gifted with an amazing classically trained voice and a wicked sense of humor. She is the funniest classical music teacher you'd ever want to hear, taking you through topics like how to write your own Gilbert & Sullivan opera, what to do if you're a singer with only one or two strong notes in your range, and how to approach your art if your aesthetic sense is brilliant but your voice is not. Pièce de résistance is a run-through of Wagner's entire four-opera Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle, in which she compresses all 20 hours down to just over 20 minutes and demonstrates just how absurd the entire plot is. While Russell is obviously very knowledgeable about her subject matter, she never makes it feel like she's looking down on you if you're not, and consequently this album is enjoyable whether you're a longtime classical music fan or just merely curious." (Sean Carruthers, Allmusic)