Simon Butteriss

For nearly a decade, Gilbert and Sullivan’s collaborations have delighted the English people. But in 1884, as a London heat wave cuts into the theater trade, their latest work, "Princess Ida", receives lukewarm press. In an effort to reconcile their creative differences and drawing inspiration from Japanese culture, they went on to create the hit opera "The Mikado", one of the duo's greatest successes.

Opening with the first day of rehearsals of the London production of "Sweeney Todd", this ninety-minute documentary focuses on the rehearsal process with the musical's director, composer and actors.

As a young child, Frederic had been apprenticed to a pirate by mistake when he should have been apprenticed to a pilot. Now, having reached his 21st year, Frederic's indentures are at last over and he happily leaves the service of the pirates. When Frederic meets the beautiful Mabel, one of the many daughters (or wards in Chancery) of Major-General Stanley, they fall in love and decide to marry. However, complications arise when the pirates decide to marry the rest of the Major-General's daughters, themselves - and Frederic's birthdate turns out to be not all it seems.

Premiered in Stockholm in 1978, the work is based on a play by Michel de Ghelderode (1898-1962) and unfolds in an imaginary land inspired by the famous Dutch painter Pieter Brueghel the Elder: Nekrotzar, the Grand Macabre, announces the end of the world; but in a land ruled by eros, alcohol and corruption, his plan to unleash the Apocalypse bursts like a soap bubble. LIVE RECORDING FROM THE GRAN TEATRE DEL LICEU, BARCELONA, 2011

Composer John Wilbye spent his entire working life in the employ of Sir and Lady Kytson at Hengrave Hall in Suffolk. Unusually, after his second book of Madrigals was published in 1609 it appears he did not compose again despite being kept on at the house by Lady Kytson until her death in 1628. Draw On Sweet Night examines this mystery in a sumptuous costume drama, produced in collaboration with renowned vocal group I Fagiolini.

Simon Butteriss' in-depth look at the works of Gilbert & Sullivan, the story of the first lyricist-composer double-act who sought to transform the Victorian music halls.