Mel Giedroyc | My Music: ‘I think with a piece like Pinafore, there is so much room just to have a good laugh’

I have such vivid memories of my mum and dad’s record collection. I can almost see it like a Rolodex of vinyl in my head. There was an amazing Polish concert pianist called Paderewski, we used to listen to him playing Chopin. There was another Polish pianist called Małcużyński, who was a friend of my Polish grandmother. We listened to a lot of Chopin, which sounds terribly highbrow, this was also a family that watched a lot of telly, so we counterbalanced.

But I would say those childhood memories of classical music are really part and parcel with the record collection. The first record I was ever given by my dad was The Love for Three Oranges by Sergei Prokofiev and my mum gave me Jesus Christ Superstar. My prized possession, which I was given when mum and dad died, and their record collection was divided: I got to keep My Fair Lady in Dutch. It’s an absolute cracker. We used to listen to it, and we did laugh quite a lot. It sounded so absurd and out there.

I did HMS Pinafore at school; I was around 14 and I played Buttercup. And the weird thing about doing it now with the English National Opera, 43 years later, as soon as they start singing, I find I know absolutely every word. It’s bizarre! I’m mouthing along! I haven’t sung it since I was 14. That’s the power of music, isn’t it? It’s unbelievable.

But to say that I feel like an imposter in the rehearsal room is an understatement. I sit in the corner and listen to their beautiful, glorious voices just washing over me. It’s like an extraordinary masterclass every day and they just do it so effortlessly. You know, I told a few people I was going to be working with the ENO and they said, ‘Oh my God, you’re going to have so much fun.’ And I was quite surprised when people said that because I thought opera was very serious, a highly regarded, highbrow art form, and I’m some sort of crapulent TV presenter that comes bowling in. But they are utterly delightful and really funny, like proper funny. I feel like a competition winner!

My husband, Ben, who is very into his classical music, has a cousin in the Royal Opera House chorus. He’s been with them for 30 years and he’ll call us up and he’ll say, ‘look, there’s an open dress rehearsal, come and see this’ or ‘I’ve got some tickets for this.’ The first opera I ever saw was on a school trip. I was at a very normal Catholic primary school, nothing fancy. And we had this amazing teacher who organised a trip to Covent Garden. It was fantastic from this little primary school, that didn’t have a specialism in music or anything, I think there were a few recorders knocking around and maybe a xylophone.

We went to see The Tales of Hoffmann and I can tell you every single detail about the whole day. The texture of the curtain, the colours, the production, the music, it was just absolutely spellbinding. And I remember my dad was so lovely. He was worried that I was not going to know what was going on. So, he took me through the story, and we listened to it at home. It’s quite macabre in a way and very spellbinding, for a nine-year-old from Leatherhead.

And now being in HMS Pinafore at the ENO, it’s such a fun opera. What’s lovely about this production is that it’s an absolute feast for the eyes as well as for the ears. And because Cal McCrystal is directing it, there’s impish, gleeful fun added to the mix. Gilbert and Sullivan were really clever, they were satirists and Pinafore is a satirical piece. And I think with the passing of time, we tend to look at these works of art as preserved in aspic and they must be bowed to and everyone’s very reverential. But I think with a piece like Pinafore, there is so much room just to have a good laugh. We honour it but Cal’s really clever at just weaving in another dimension of humour, of physical comedy. It’s a ‘pinch me’ moment. I can’t believe I’m going to be performing at the Coliseum!

HMS Pinafore is at English National Opera until February 7