What is operetta?
Operetta, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, is "a theatrical production that has many of the musical elements of opera but is lighter and more popular in subject and style and contains spoken dialogue." Also known as light opera, the form originated in the 17th and 18th centuries, but reached its full flowering in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Composers such as Jacques Offenbach in France and Franz Lehar and Johann Strauss in Germany created masterful light operas that continue to be performed today.
Gilbert and Sullivan
The fact is, though, that the operetta that people in the English-speaking world generally know best has to be the works of Gilbert and Sullivan. Gilbert was a master of sharp satire and tongue-twisting lyrics, creating such memorable patter songs as "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General" and "The Nightmare Song." Sullivan wrote grand opera as well (Ivanhoe) along with orchestral and choral works and a number of well-known hymns (including "Onward Christian Soldiers") but he is remembered primarily as the composer of some of the best light opera ever created. His partnership with Gilbert gave rise to 14 operas (of which only 13 survive; the score to Thespis, their first collaboration, has been lost). The most famous of their joint works are probably The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, and HMS Pinafore.
Most of the operettas were performed originally at the Savoy Theater in London, under the auspices of Richard D'Oyly Carte. D'Oyly Carte also sponsored performances of many other English operettas, though the G&S works of the 1880s were the most successful. (A good list of operettas performed in the 1890s, with libretti and cast lists, is available.) The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, led first by Richard D'Oyly Carte's widow Helen, and then by his son Rupert and his daughter Bridget, continued to perform G&S and other light opera through most of the 20th century, until 1982. It was revived in 1988, but the New D'Oyly Carte's status is precarious due to funding difficulties.
Gilbert and Sullivan each worked with other collaborators. While none of the resulting works have gained the popularity of their joint efforts, some of them are still performed (often in conjunction with more familiar works). The list of 1890s operettas above includes some of these works, such as The Rose of Persia by Sullivan and Arthur Hood.
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