This lecture will examine how the peculiar geniuses of these two very different men, W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, came together under the guiding hand of the impresario, Richard D’Oyly Carte, to create one of the most individual and enduring forms of theatrical entertainment.

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The Savoy operas, with their gentle satire, celebrate the quirks and foibles of the British nation, and are as alive today as in the 1880s.

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The lecture is fully illustrated with delightful musical examples.

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Roger Askew was a chorister at Wells Cathedral School and a choral scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford. He then combined a teaching career with professional singing in London, and after obtaining a further degree in Music, became Director of Music at Daniel Stewart’s and Melville College in Edinburgh.

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He is a regular and popular lecturer for Arts Societies.