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The elegant Derbyshire spa town of Buxton will host the 29th edition of its acclaimed festival which celebrates the works of the great English operatic partnership. Productions by international companies of many of Gilbert & Sullivan’s best-loved works are presented in Frank Matcham’s stunning opera house. Our four-night holiday this summer will include four separate productions as part of the Festival, as well as a private talk given by one of the Festival’s trustees, Bernard Lockett, a passionate Gilbert & Sullivan expert who written several books on the subject, and broadcast on BBC Radio and TV. In addition, we will have time to explore Buxton itself and visit some of Derbyshire’s spectacular stately homes.
...when you travel with Kirker
Oliver has an MA in organ performance studies from Cardiff University where he studied under the renowned Bach scholar Peter Williams. He also has a Premier Prix from the Conservatoire at Rueil Malmaison, Paris. Following his MA, Oliver worked at Classic FM Magazine for five years, before leaving in 2004 to become the editor of BBC Music Magazine.
He has broadcast on BBC Radios 3, 4 and the World Service, recently reporting from Siberia for From Our Own Correspondent, and has appeared twice on BBC One’s The One Show playing the organ and exploring the history of famous pieces of music. Oliver has given recitals around the UK as well as in France and Denmark, has played at the City of London Festival and appeared three times at the North Norfolk Music Festival. Oliver has toured the UK with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestras as the soloist in Saint-Saëns’s ‘Organ’ Symphony.
Wednesday 9 August at 19.30
National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company
Composed towards the end of their working partnership, The Yeomen of the Guard opened on 3 October 1888. Set at the Tower of London, the plot involves a marks a slight departure from the G&S farcical comedy format, with a more serious tone – though not without its share of humour. It also features one of Sullivan’s finest scores, including highlights such as: ‘I have a song to sing, O’, ‘When a Wooer goes a-Wooing’, and ‘Free from his fetters grim’.
Thursday 10 August at 19.30
Savoynet
The tenth of fourteen comic operas written together by Gilbert and Sullivan, Ruddigore was first performed by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company at the Savoy Theatre in London on 22 January 1887. It tells the supernatural tale of the Baronets of Ruddigore, cursed to commit a crime every day or perish in agony, and the rightful Baron who is disguised as a young farmer in love with the elusive Rose Maybud. In classic Gilbert style, this parody melodrama turns the stock tropes upside-down: good becomes bad, bad becomes good, and ghosts come back to life.
Friday 11 August at 19.30
National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company
Enduringly popular, The Mikado was the most successful of the Savoy Operas, running for an astonishing 672 performances in London on its first London run, which began on 14 March 1885, and going on to dozens of international productions. The plot pokes fun at English bureaucracy, under the thin veil of a setting in the Japanese town of Titipu, where a decree of the Mikado – or emperor – throws the locals into farcical scenes. Classic musical numbers include: "A wand'ring minstrel", "Three little maids", "Tit-willow", and the Act II finale.
Saturday 12 August at 19.30
National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company
“Pirates” was premiered at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City in December 1879, before reaching London in April 1880, where it enjoyed no less than 363 performances at the Opéra Comique. It has become one of the most popular Gilbert & Sullivan operas, famous for its brilliant patter song, “I am the very model of a modern Major-General”. The story revolves around Frederic, who, at the age of 21 is released from his pirate apprenticeship before meeting and falling in love with Mabel. The problem, however, arises when he realises that his birthday of 29th of February (during a leap year) means he must serve the pirates for another 63 years…
Tour Leader
Oliver has an MA in organ performance studies from Cardiff University where he studied under the renowned Bach scholar Peter Williams. He also has a Premier Prix from the Conservatoire at Rueil Malmaison, Paris. Following his MA, Oliver worked at Classic FM Magazine for five years, before leaving in 2004 to become the editor of BBC Music Magazine.
He has broadcast on BBC Radios 3, 4 and the World Service, recently reporting from Siberia for From Our Own Correspondent, and has appeared twice on BBC One’s The One Show playing the organ and exploring the history of famous pieces of music. Oliver has given recitals around the UK as well as in France and Denmark, has played at the City of London Festival and appeared three times at the North Norfolk Music Festival. Oliver has toured the UK with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestras as the soloist in Saint-Saëns’s ‘Organ’ Symphony.
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