Trial by Jury had its premiere in 1875 and is the earliest surviving work by Gilbert and Sullivan.   Some say it remains their best!   It is unique among their works as the only one in a single act and with no spoken dialogue.   Lasting half an hour or so, it is packed with just as much satire and punchy music as there is in the longer operettas.   There are many digs at the legal profession and the institution of marriage as the courtroom farce proceeds, with the Judge being no stranger to "breach of promise" himself.   And, as always, Sullivan moves effortlessly through different musical moods and manages to parody Italian grand opera and Handel on the way.

HMS Pinafore (or The Lass that Loved a Sailor) is Gilbert and Sullivan's famous "Entirely Original Nautical Comic Opera" and this time the satire is directed at the class system and social position.   A rather improbable plot (aren't they all?) is part and parcel of the fun but there is still room for very affecting melodies from the two young lovers at the centre of the action and for some hearty patriotic stuff, both stirring and tongue in cheek at the same time.   After fairly modest runs for Trial by Jury and The Sorcerer, the launch of HMS Pinafore put the partnership on its way to lasting success with a formidable run of 571 performances in 1878.

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