Watched a dvd of "Le Compte Ory," an opera by Rossini, last night. Like many comic operas, it is silly, as much so as G&S. The stories of many operas are slight and unbelievable, it is the music and comedy that catches the audience.

There are many baroque operas in which the gods get involved with humans and cause all sorts of trouble, but there is a happy ending. Pure fluff, but good music, dancing, an innocent, rather stupid pair of lovers, and a happy ending. Handel, the expert showman, put on a number of these.
The music's the thing in which I'll catch the audience, should have been Shakespeare's remark.

G&S has many longhair supporters; it is the folkies who like those sad, lugubrious songs of dying and pining away.