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One of the best known of the works of
Gilbert & Sullivan, The Pirates of Penzance tells the story of Frederic, who, as
a child was mistakenly apprenticed to a band of orphaned pirates by his nurse.
Frederic, upon completing his 21st year, rejoices that he has fulfilled his
indentures and is now free to return to respectable society. But it turns out
that he was born on February 29 in a leap year, and he remains apprenticed to
the pirates until his 21st "birthday". By the end of the opera, the pirates, a
Major-General who knows nothing of military strategy, his large family of
beautiful but unwed daughters, and the timid constabulary all contribute to a
tuneful polyphony that can be silenced only by Queen Victoria's name. |
