The comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan are a performing arts phenomenon. Wildly popular when first produced, they are if anything even more popular today. The Complete Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan provides the complete text of all thirteen of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas still being performed today, including H.M.S. Pinafore , The Pirates of Penzance , and The Mikado . Each work is thoroughly annotated, with the text, including stage directions, given on the right-hand page, and the notes on the left. The annotations provide a wealth of information--everything from the identity of real-life people mentioned in the opera, to clear explanations of obscure words and phrases (such as legal terms) and other literary references, to comments from first-night critics, and much more. In addition, Bradley has written a marvelously informative introduction to the book as well as superb introductions to each piece, describing the genesis of the work, its performance history, and other fascinating tidbits. A goldmine of information, The Complete Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan will delight the hearts of Savoyards everywhere. `Review from previous edition Just when you thought you knew everything there was to know about GandS here comes another book with even more information to swell the cards of Trivial Pursuit. ' Musical Opinion 27/01/1997`Each left-handed page of these beautifully printed 1197 contains Bradley's assiduous annotations and commentaries ... a treasure-trove, absorbing even for the G and S non-devotee. ' Christopher Morley, Birmingham Post 27/01/1997`I found The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan ...curiously absorbing, and certainly a book I will be dipping into for a quick bite of wit and satire. The collection has been superbly edited by Ian Bradley with a succinct but informative introduction to each opera and copiously detailed notes explaining away the wildest fancies of Gilbert's wide-ranging erudition. The approach is scholarly without being heavy-going. ' Ashutosh Khandekar, Classical Music 27/01/1997 A highly informative edition of the most popular comic operas in the English-speaking world Ian Bradley is one of the world's leading authorities on Gilbert and Sullivan, the editor of a previous annotated edition of the Savoy Operas, and a consultant to the D'Oyly Carte Company on historical matters.