DVD Gilbert & Sullivan - 4 DVD Box (RC 0)

The most successful of their Savoy operas, The Mikado made fun of English bureaucracy, thinly disguised by its Japanese setting. Enjoying over 650 performances at the Savoy Theatre, this work remains their most frequently performed work, and has been translated into numerous languages HMS Pinafore was Gilbert & Sullivans first international hit, satirising the rise of unqualified people to positions of authority, and poking good-natured fun at the English obsession with social status. As with many of their operas, a surprise twist at the end of the story turned the drama on its head. Composed in a matter of weeks, Trial by Jury pokes humorous fun at the law and the legal profession, based on Gilberts own experiences as a barrister. The outrageous antics of the characters led to the work being the toast of London, and was a runaway success. Patience satirises the colourful poets of the aesthetic movement including Oscar Wilde, and also lampoons male vanity and chauvinism in the military. The story concerns two rival aesthetic poets, each of whom is in love with Patience, the village milkmaid.