When ‘Law’ Rhymes with ‘Flaw’: the Sounds of British Justice in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury (1875) by Joël Richard

“…Gilbert and Sullivan’s second operatic collaboration, Trial by Jury (1875) is often discarded as a ‘minor’ work, compared to their later, better-known operas such as The Pirates of Penzance (1879), The Mikado (1885) or The Gondoliers (1889). Yet I would argue that as early as the mid-1870s, the composer-and-librettist duo had successfully started working on what might be perceived by their audience as the ‘sound’ best fit to satirize a number of Victorian institutions—here, the judicial system, turned topsy-turvy by a banal breach of promise case. …”
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Topsy Turvy de Mike Leigh : l’envers du décor ou la norme mise à mal by Isabelle Cases

“…This film, which is rather unusual in his work, depicts a particular moment in the career of the famous musicians Gilbert and Sullivan, namely the writing and staging of one of their comic operas, The Mikado. Mike Leigh faithfully describes the collaboration between Gilbert and Sullivan, as well as a rigid Victorian society nevertheless characterized by resistance in many ways. …”
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