Billed as a "Fairy Opera," Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri premiered on November 25, 1882 simultaneously at the Savoy Theater in London and the Standard Theater, New York. In London, the show ran for 398 nights, a success dwarfed by that of The Mikado less than two and a half years later. It was the first work by Gilbert and Sullivan to premiere at the Savoy, a theater built especially for their operettas.

The audience at the Savoy on opening night of Iolanthe experienced the first fully electrified show on a London stage. (The Savoy had use electric light for the previous show, Patience, but could generate enough power to light only the auditorium.) The chorus of Fairies even had battery-powered stars in their hair.

Evidently, Gilbert originally had entitled the operetta, Perola, continuing the series of works featuring the letter "P" in their titles (Pinafore, Pirates of Penzance, Patience, and later, Princess Ida) At the last minute, Gilbert change the name to Iolanthe, although the subtitle, The Peer and the Peri, probably satisfied his superstitious obsession.

Critics have compared the quality of Iolanthe to that of Jacques Offenbach's La Belle Hélène (1864) and Johann Strauss, Jr.'s Die Fledermaus. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Iolanthe is its continuous dramatic impetus. Fourteen songs follow one another in rapid succession, all the while driven by a conflict between the Fairies and the Peers underpinned by Sullivan's rhythmically intoxicating setting, culminating in the march, "Young Strephon Is the Kind of Lout."

The wit of Gilbert's dialogue and sparkle of his lyrics is matched only by the energy of Sullivan's setting, imbued with his sense of both Mendelssohnian grace and simple, Victorian popular song. In two acts, Iolanthe presents the convergence of two worlds. Strephon, and Arcadian shepherd, the fairy Iolanthe, Strephon's mother, and choruses of Fairies interact with earthly characters such as the Lord Chancellor and the Earls of Mountararat and Tolloller, supported by choruses of all levels of British gentry—dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts and barons. Their worlds collide when Strephon interacts with members of Parliament. Fairy tale or not, Iolanthe focuses on contemporary issues and even makes jokes about contemporary politicians and businesses that have lost their meaning. Both Peers and Peris live "on credit," and are indebted to others for their existence. Peris owe their life on Earth to higher powers and ancient myths, while Peers are in a position of privilege stemming from politics that go back hundreds of years.

Sullivan's overture to Iolanthe is one of his finest, faintly resembling that of Mendelssohn's Oberon, and is capable of being performed successfully apart from the operetta. Sullivan developed separate musical voices for the Fairies and the Parliamentarians. The Fairies, in particularly, have music that creates a sense of floating, weightlessness and constant motion. Often, however, there is an incongruity between what they say and how they sing it, revealing that their fluidity is merely an illusion: "If you ask the special function / of our never-ceasing motion / we reply without compunction / that we haven't any notion." The choruses for the aristocratic men, however, are appropriately dignified and the bucolic solos by Strephon, Phyllis, and Iolanthe stand in stark contrast to the marked, prickly numbers for the Lord Chancellor.

In Iolanthe, as in other operettas, Sullivan's harmonic language is not adventurous, but there are unusual moments, such as "The Nightmare Song," in which a harmonic transition depicts the rising sun. This divergence from the rest of the consummate patter-song, with its pedal-tone accompaniment, is striking.

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