1buxtonfestival.co.uk ❘ FEBRUARY 2015

Opera Series: Women embracing their destiny

Peter Conrad’s wonderfully evocative and challenging book about opera spins deftly the conceit of ‘A Song of Love and Death’.

There are always exceptions to catch-all analytical understandings or perceptions, but a truth emerges in astute hands. Certainly our three chosen operas for the 2015 Festival answer to the lasso Peter throws. Verdi’s Giovanna d’Arco loves God and France, and certainly dies for that love. Lucy Ashton in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor loves one man and dies insane after murdering another she is forced to marry instead. Finally, Gustave Charpentier’s Louise is also passionately in love, although it is difficult to decide whether it is Julien, her lover, or Paris and ‘freedom’ that she loves most; no-one dies in this opera but true to its French verismo spirit it could be said that Louise’s father suffers despair and traumatic loss when his daughter finally renounces her home life in favour of the exotic lights of Paris.

However, these three operas are all centred upon women, around which their surrounding world is powerless to affect what becomes transparently inevitable. All three heroines take full control of their destiny sooner or later. The politics of how to be and what it is to be a woman are never far from many operas’ deliberations. Does the music raise the game in these three operas? Yes, undoubtedly. Because all three composers clearly felt enormous emotional and philosophical sympathy for

their protagonists, each of them makes their case, with the result that a sense of tragedy is undeniably the overwhelming impact at the end of each journey.

Donizetti was at the peak of his powers around 1834 and 1835 when Lucia was conceived and completed; both Maria Stuarda and Lucia were written in hot succession along with several others, it has to be said, in keeping with Donizetti’s speed of composition. But these two stand out for their dark romantic tragedy which, to my mind, is where Donizetti scales heights to which Verdi took a while before equalling. Lucia is my idea of his life’s masterpiece. The depths of characterisation belie the concision within this work, considering that Walter Scott’s novel of 1819 is predictably of epic length. I have read Scott very happily, but I think the libretto for Lucia is a shining example of perfect structure and length, allowing an almost graphic musical imagination to summon up key scenes and atmospheres freely and seemingly spontaneously. Elin Pritchard, an absolutely remarkable young soprano, will make her debut as Lucia and her debut at the Festival. I’m so pleased that Stephen Gadd will return bringing his bel canto pedigree to bear as Enrico.

Verdi’s Giovanna was premiered in 1845, only 10 years later. Elijah Moshinsky warmly enthuses about this work, and his experience and pre-eminence from directing Verdi all over the world will give us a Giovanna to remember. For me, it is Verdi’s attacking power allied with music of aching tenderness that characterises his growth towards the greater complexities of La traviata and encompasses a world of tension but also conviction and destiny. It’s a powerful work. Kate Ladner who spellbound audiences with her ▶

Festival dates: 10—26 JulyFestival operas:

Giovanna d’Arco by Verdi 11, 14, 17, 21 & 24 July

Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti 12, 15, 18, 22 (matinee), 25 July

Louise by Charpentier 16, 19 (matinee) & 23 July

Visit the Festival website and sign up for our monthly e-newsletter list for regular updates.

Booking dates2 March: Benefactors, Patrons and Gold Friends booking opens

9 March: Friends booking opens

1 April: General booking opens

You will receive a copy of the brochure and booking form by post. All orders will then be dealt with in order of membership level regardless of when received.

3 The Square, Buxton, Derbyshire SK17 6AZ Telephone: 01298 70395 friends@buxtonfestival.co.uk www.buxtonfestival.co.uk

Festival and Friends

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Desdemona in Rossini’s Otello last summer will be in her element as Giovanna, and the brilliant young tenor Ben Johnson (Carlo) is already setting the world alight.

Gustave Charpentier in our day and age is now known for very little except for his masterpiece, Louise. In fact he composed very little in relative terms. But this opera links Jules Massenet (his one time teacher)

and Claude Debussy, and is a perfect example of how one wants to think of French late romantic music, like Strauss with feet planted both in the past and in the future. His orchestrations are masterly and so inventive, and his grasp of music drama so precise, that one feels sympathy (as with Strauss once again) for each and every character. Not least though is his gift of making through-composed opera

sound like one long unbroken melody, of which the happily well known aria Depuis le jour is the best example. If one ever sheds a tear for La bohème, (and Charpentier’s Louise, premiered in 1900, inhabits just the same Paris as Puccini’s masterpiece) one certainly will for this touching and glorious work.

Stephen BarlowArtistic Director

Controversy, Conversation & Inspiration—Literary Series 2015We are still putting the finishing touches to July’s talks, but we have some exciting headlines to share with you at this stage.There are several anniversaries to celebrate, and we mark the 200th anniversary of Waterloo with Andrew Roberts talking about his magisterial biography of Napoleon, and historian David Crane exploring the wider context of that great battle throughout Europe. The making of Magna Carta is vividly retold by historian Marc Morris, and Robert Douglas-Fairhurst marks the 150th anniversary of Alice in Wonderland with his gripping Story of Alice. We couldn’t ignore Vera Brittain’s Testament of Youth, which Mark Bostridge has made his own subject; he will offer a subtly different perspective from that of Shirley Williams last year. Meanwhile Antonia Fraser, a festival favourite, returns to talk about how history captured her imagination, and historians A N Wilson, Anne de Courcy and Claudia Renton bring their subjects Queen Victoria, Margot Asquith, and the wild Wyndham Sisters vividly to life. And to tie in with our operatic lead production, Verdi’s Giovanna d’Arco, Helen Castor will tell the extraordinary story of Joan of Arc.

The book that has swept the board with critics and public alike is the prize-winning H is for Hawk, and its author Helen Macdonald will share an afternoon with James Rebanks, the Cumbrian shepherd known to thousands through Twitter as the Herdwick Shepherd. John Hemming, veteran of the Royal Geographical Society, introduces three Amazonian adventurers in his new book Naturalists in Paradise.

Jean Seton will discuss the turbulent history of the BBC with Dame Janet Smith, Will Hutton takes a long hard look

at the consumer society, Peter Hennessy questions whether we have a meritocracy, Tony Little offers an Intelligent Person’s Guide to Education, and Sir Christopher Frayling presents an entirely new perspective on China, The Yellow Peril. Controversy, conversation and inspiration are here in spades, with more to follow shortly.

Saturday 11 July—AN Wilson (Victoria: A Life); Robert Douglas-Fairhurst (The Story of Alice); Selina Hastings (The Red Earl)

Sunday 12 July—Andrew Roberts (Napoleon); Claudia Renton (Those Wild Wyndhams)

Monday 13 July—Christopher Simon Sykes (Hockney); Helen Macdonald (H is for Hawk); James Rebanks (The Shepherd’s Life)

Tuesday 14 July—Peter Hennessy (Establishment & Meritocracy); Louis de Bernières (The Dust That Falls From Dreams); Richard Davenport-Hines (The Seven Lives of John Maynard Keynes)

Wednesday 15 July—Jean Seaton (Pinkoes & Traitors); Judith Flanders (The Story of Home); Ferdinand Mount (The Tears of the Rajas)

Thursday 16 July—Carole Hillenbrand

(Islam); Antonia Fraser (My History); Anne de Courcy (Margot at War)

Friday 17 July—Peter Stanford (Judas); Penny Junor (Prince Harry); Gordon Carera (The Secret History of Computers & Spies)

Saturday 18 July—Helen Castor (Joan of Arc); Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (An English Spring)

Sunday 19 July—Mark Bostridge (Vera Brittain & The First World War)

Monday 20 July—Christopher Frayling (The Yellow Peril); Will Hutton (How Good Can We Be?)

Tuesday 21 July—Marc Morris (King John)

Wednesday 22 July—John Hemming (Naturalists in Paradise)

Thursday 23 July—Robert Sackville-West (The Disinherited)

Friday 24 July—Matthew Dennison (Behind the Mask: Vita Sackville-West)

Saturday 25 July—Bill Oddie (Unplucked); Henry Marsh (Do No Harm); David Crane (Went the Day Well)

For more details of these events, and others as they are added, please keep checking the website.

Henry MarshHelen Castor

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Something for everyone in the Music SeriesBuxton Festival’s music series continues to go from strength to strength, with a wide range of acclaimed soloists and ensembles already confirmed for this summer.For our opening night concert, we are excited to welcome the English Chamber Orchestra, with a programme including works by Mozart and Tchaikovsky.

Following his triumphant appearance at last year’s Last Night of the Proms, Roderick Williams returns to the Festival, this year in the company of pianist Susie Allan. Gillian Keith will be starring in a one-woman show highlighting Debussy’s muse (accompanied by Simon Lepper). We also welcome up-and-coming soloists including mezzo soprano Rosalind Coad and tenor Ben Johnson (who will be featuring in our production of Giovanna d’Arco).

Instrumental soloists this year include pianists Stephen Hough and Mei Yi Foo, violinist Benjamin Baker and guitarist Laura Snowden.

Amongst the ensembles appearing at this year’s Festival are The Schubert Ensemble, The Hallé Soloists, the Elias String Quartet, Manchester’s Psappha, the Frith Piano Quartet and Inner City Brass.

Our late-night jazz evenings in the Pavilion Café have established themselves as a popular part of the programme, and this year vocalist/violinist Lizzie Ball and James Pearson (pianist and MD of Ronnie Scott’s house band) make a welcome return. This year also sees concerts from violinist Alex Yellowlees and his band as well as the Jazz Repertory Company, featuring drummer Richard Pite, saxophonist Pete Long and vocalist/trumpeter Georgina Jackson.

Further details are being confirmed all the time, so keep checking our website for new announcements as they arise.

Friday 10 July– English Chamber Orchestra

Saturday 11 July—The Alex Yellowlees Band

Sunday 12 July—Roderick Williams (baritone) & Susie Allan (piano); The Schubert Ensemble

Monday 13 July—Eudald Buch (piano); Maria Camahort Quintet

Tuesday 14 July—Fitzwilliam String Quartet

Wednesday 15 July—Soraya Mafi (soprano); Samson Tsoy & Pavel Kolesnikov (piano duet)

Thursday 16 July—James McOran Campbell (baritone); Lizzie Ball & James Pearson

Friday 17 July—Mei Yi Foo (piano); Lizzie Ball & James Pearson

Saturday 18 July—Ukes & Lutes; Lucy Russell (violin) & John Butt (harpsichord)

Sunday 19 July—Ben Johnson (tenor)

Monday 20 July—Hallé Soloists; Rosalind

Coad (soprano) & Gregory Drott (piano)

Tuesday 21 July—Elias String Quartet

Wednesday 22 July—Benjamin Baker (violin) & Robert Tompson (piano)

Thursday 23 July—Gillian Keith (soprano) & Simon Lepper (piano): Debussy: Songs for his Muse; Frith Piano Quartet

Friday 24 July—Stephen Hough (piano); Laura Snowden (guitar); The Jazz Repertory Company: From Berlin to Bacharach

Saturday 25 July—Psappha; Inner City Brass; The Jazz Repertory Company: Another 100 Years of Jazz

Stephen Hough

Mei Yi FooRoderick Williams

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Chairman’s Message A very Happy New Year to all our Friends.We enjoyed some excellent Friends events since this newsletter last went out to members,

beginning with the wonderful recital at Moorcroft House by kind permission of Pat and Philip Holland and then later in the autumn we had our usual opera break centered on the visit to Buxton by English Touring Opera. A few days later fifty Friends enjoyed a musical evening with Stephen Barlow and Friends in his music studio at the bottom of his garden.

I am looking forward to our visit to Hassop Hall on 12 April to hear Lisa Hilton talk about her book Elizabeth I: Renaissance Prince. This is a first for the Festival Friends, holding a Literary Lunch. The committee are aware that a lot of our members now are purely interested in the literary side of the Festival and I hope this event will entice you to join us for what promises to be a lovely occasion. In May we return to Tissington Hall, following an eight year gap, by kind permission of Sir Richard and Lady Fitzherbert. For this event we revert back to our usual musical entertainment. If you have not visited Tissington Hall before then please

do consider making this your first, it is a beautiful house set in the middle of the tranquil village of Tissington. We have also been working with our travel partner, Grosvenor Travel, to bring you some exciting opera holidays for 2015. Details of these are enclosed with this newsletter. We have had a total of 64 holidays with Grosvenor Travel since we started our partnership with them in 2004 and I hope you will be able to join us on one this year. Elsewhere in the newsletter we hear from fellow Festival Friend Ann O’Brien who has attended an amazing 34 of these holidays.

Once again I have been organising the Literary Series and I have really enjoyed working with the Festival team. We have an interesting line up of speakers for 2015, notice of which appears elsewhere in this newsletter.

Each year the Friends sponsor a major new Festival production and this year we are proud to be supporting Giovanna d’Arco by Verdi. Your support of the Festival makes this possible.

The support we are able to give to the Festival is due largely to the generosity of the many individual members of the Friends subscribing at one of the four levels of membership we have and of course your altruistic support of our fundraising events and giving generously to our appeals. Thank you as always for

this vital help. You may be interested to know that last year Scottish Opera Friends gave £46,000 in support and WNO Friends £80,000 worth of support to their respective companies. This bears no comparison to the amount raised by the Buxton Friends, raising £177,000 for the Festival last year. Much of that amount is due to voluntary work of our committee and volunteers which reduces the expenses enabling us to donate most of what you are able to give to support the Festival. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking the Committee and volunteers for all that they do.

It was with great sadness that I heard Cedric Coates passed away just before Christmas, a wonderful gentleman and a huge supporter of the Festival and Friends. I will miss his friendship and the support that he brought to the Festival. Sadly, last year we lost Margaret Williams and Peter Low both were former Chairman of Friends in the earlier years of our existence. I would like us to remember their huge contribution to the Buxton Festival. I send my condolences to any of our members who have lost a loved one.

Thank you all for your continued support and enthusiasm for the Festival. It is greatly appreciated.

Best wishesLouise Potter DL

Friends of Buxton Festival

Accommodation and Peak District Visitor Guide—available now!For helpful advice on booking your accommodation for the Festival, call the team at Buxton Tourist Information Office Tel: 01298 25106 or email: tourism@highpeak.gov.ukVisit Peak District, the area’s Tourist Board have also produced a beautiful 100 page guide to the area which has detailed information on accommodation in Buxton and the surrounding Peak District as well as information on many places to visit and new experiences. To obtain a guide visit www.visitpeakdistrict.com or call the Buxton Tourist Information office on the number above.

Thank you!We would like to take this opportunity of thanking all our members who have promptly renewed their membership of the Friends.

The amount raised from membership alongside our other activities allows us to donate around £170,000 to the Festival each year. This amazing amount helps keep the Festival going for all our enjoyment. We would also like to thank those who in addition to their membership gave generously to Festival’s telephone appeal which has raised a further £18,000 to support the Festival.

Our Membership Secretary, Judy Barker, would like to remind those who have yet to renew to do so as soon as possible so that you don’t lose your priority booking benefit.

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The Buxton Spa Prize 2015Launched in 2014, The Buxton Spa Prize gives artists the opportunity to paint ‘en plein air’ in locations around Buxton during April, May and June.The 2015 competition will be judged by renowned artists Harold Riley and Ken Howard who will also be in conversation during the Festival on 17th July. The competition features an open, young artist, teen and children’s category.

Artists can win cash prizes of up to £5,000, a holiday to Porthleven as well as an opportunity to showcase and sell their work in an exhibition during the Festival at the Green Man Gallery behind Buxton Museum.

For further details visit www.buxtonspaprize.co.uk

Sad FarewellsIt was with great sadness that the Festival learned of the death of two close friends Cedric Coates and Michael Kennedy. Michael Williams, Festival Board member, writes his tribute to these two gentlemen.

Cedric Coates

Cedric Coates’ death on 19 December has deprived the Festival and the Friends of one of their longest standing supporters. He and his wife Hazel joined the Friends in 1984, the early days of this organisation and he later served on the Festival Board from October 1995 until his retirement in July 2012, being Vice-Chairman from 1999.

Hazel and he were the most generous hosts of Friends events at their beautiful

home in Nottinghamshire and latterly at their second home in Buxton. It was rare to attend a Friends fundraising event at which they were not present. Each Festival found them most engaged, helping to entertain speakers, in Cedric’s case singing in a Festival Mass, surrounded by friends all enjoying themselves in between attending operas, concerts and talks. They really were ever present.

Cedric’s opinion was always worth hearing, his contribution to Board Meetings thoughtful and helpful, and when necessary he was an exemplary Chairman. Our thoughts are with Hazel, his devoted wife of over 50 years, and his family as with them we mourn the loss of a true gentleman.

Michael Kennedy

With the death of Michael Kennedy on New Year’s Eve, the Festival has lost one of its greatest friends and most articulate supporters. The published obituaries have chronicled his extraordinary career, rising from office boy to Northern Editor of the Daily Telegraph to become one of the most accomplished and respected writers

on music in the process, and this is not the place for repetition.

What we will all miss especially is his priceless ability to make a fascinating narrative out of a series of perfectly ordinary facts, which in other hands would have been as dull as ditchwater. In all his books, the genius of the man was to make the reader reluctant to put the book down. Though scholarly and meticulously researched, everything was immensely readable. His short history of the Buxton Festival is a fine example of his literary skill in this respect.

As a critic, his love of music was paramount and always evident. He looked for the positive and one could always recognise a performance one had attended from his description of it. His criticisms were never unjustified or unfair, though like many of us he had little time for much modern operatic direction.

Despite his serious health problems, his lovely wife Joyce managed brilliantly to keep him going until shortly before his 89th birthday and deserves our undying gratitude for enabling us all to enjoy his friendship for so long.

Classical ViennaSunday 22 March at 7.30pm St John’s Church, Buxton

Beethoven Mass in C

Mozart Piano Concerto No27

Soloists:

Robyn Allegra Parton—Soprano

Adam Kowalczyk—tenor

Sophie Dicks—Mezzo

Benjamin Lewis—bass

Stephen Barlow—piano

Tickets available on the door: £12 (£10.50 concessions)

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Friends Summer Opera holidaysBulgaria, the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago, the Peralada Festival, Edinburgh and Buxton Festival

Our first summer Friends holiday, 4 to 9 June, brings us to Bulgaria where we expect to see an idiomatic Slavic performance of Prince Igor, combined with Turandot and a choral concert, given by the renowned Bulgarian female folkloric choir ‘Cosmic Voices’. Beyond Sofia we visit the National Revival city of Plovdiv, Rila monastery set deep in the southern mountains, and on an optional extension, the ancient capital Veliko Turnovo and the Valley of the Roses.

Late July, close to the Pyrenees, we can hear some great voices singing in the grounds of the restored ancient Castle of Peralada: Gregory Kunde, Carlos Álvarez, Eva-Maria Westbroek and Klaus Florian Vogt. There are two performances:

Verdi’s Otello and a recital by Klaus Florian Vogt. During the day we visit the three surreal residences of Salvador Dalí: Figueras, Portlligat and the Castle of Púbol.

In August we return to Tuscany and the beautiful lakeside setting of Torre del Lago for the Puccini festival (La rondine, Tosca, Turandot, Butterfly). Our four night holiday starts either 12 or 13 August depending whether you fly from Bristol, or from London or Manchester. Our base is the elegant Tuscan spa town of Montecatini Terme and our visit programme includes Pisa, Lucca and Florence.

There are two short-break UK opera holidays. Edinburgh and the Perth Festival, 27 May for three nights, combines Scottish Opera, Il trovatore, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra The Dream of Gerontius sung by Sarah

Connolly, Toby Spence and Alan Opie, and the Baroque ensemble Red Priest in Perth. Guided visits are to Scone Palace and to explore Georgian Edinburgh.

Our convenient package for the Buxton Festival provides excellent accommodation with breakfast and dinner at the Lee Wood Hotel. The Festival again offers an interesting and innovative programme with some award-winning youthful voices: Lucia di Lammermoor, Giovanna d’Arco and Louise (Charpentier). Date is 21 July for two or three nights.

Full details of all the above holidays are in the attached Friends Opera Holidays brochure. For additional information please call Grosvenor Travel on 01492 547744. Due to ticket deadlines imposed by the opera houses all holidays have to close for bookings at the end of February, or sooner if ticket allocation is exhausted.

Florence Edinburgh

7buxtonfestival.co.uk ❘ FEBRUARY 2015

Why travel with Grosvenor?A few weeks ago I returned from my 34th Grosvenor holiday.By no means is this a record, as there are Friends who book these

tours time and time again. Why, you might ask, travel to opera with a tour company when internet booking is so easy? Apart from the obvious benefits of having a professional do the work for you, travelling with like-minded people, and getting excellent seats at some of the most interesting opera houses in Europe and beyond, there is much more to a Grosvenor opera holiday than flying in, attending opera, and flying out. Take my most recent visit to Prague and Brno: if I had travelled independently, I would never

have found myself in a small Czech town 85km from Brno that on the surface looks rather nondescript with what must qualify as the ugliest McDonald’s on the planet, but on further inspection reveals so much about Mahler. This unassuming place that might not provide enlightenment if I named it, and that is a million miles away in style from the glitz of Vienna, was where Mahler spent his childhood. It was here that he listened to the military bands that later influenced his music, and here in the woods on the edge of town that he sought solace from an unhappy home with ill-matched parents and dying siblings. Then there was the private visit to the strange castle just over an hour’s journey from Prague, off the beaten track in the Bohemian countryside, with its galleries of guns, swords and ornate armour, where Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose murder at Sarajevo sparked the beginning of the Great War, used to come to hunt.

These, distinctly “off piste” experiences make Grosvenor holidays so worthwhile. The feature I value most, however, is the flexibility to add a few days at the beginning or end, or fly from a more convenient airport, thus combining a group tour with a tailor-made add-on. Following a wonderful group tour based in Leipzig to see Wagner’s rarely staged Die Feen, which also took in visits to Halle and the Lutheran towns of Torgau and Wittenberg, instead of flying back from Berlin with the group, I spent three nights independently in Berlin, with more opera and exploration of art galleries and museums. It provided a perfect ending to one of the best ever Grosvenor tours. Almost all of the holidays are led by Grosvenor’s Director, Antony Wise, who combines superb organisational skills with a very obvious knowledge and love of opera and music.

Ann O’Brien

Friends’ EventsFriends Literary LunchHassop Hall, near Bakewell Sunday, 12 April at 12 noon

We are pleased to be able to offer members an opportunity to attend an event at this popular Derbyshire venue set among glorious Peak District countryside on the edge of the magnificent Chatsworth Estate. If you are able to join us, Hassop Hall can also offer limited guest rooms for those who wish to extend their visit with a stay in this luxury country house

hotel. Our talk and lunch will be in the beautiful Banqueting Hall and include a 2-course lunch with wine.

We are delighted that the acclaimed author Lisa Hilton will be our guest speaker. Lisa’s majestic biography of Elizabeth I provides vibrant new insights into a monarch who continues to compel and enthrall readers. Signed copies of Lisa’s book will be available for those wishing to purchase a copy.

Menu

Traditional Roast English Beef and Yorkshire Pudding

Parsley and Chateau Potatoes Fresh Seasonal Vegetables

Crème Brulee with Fruits and Stem Ginger Shortbread

Freshly Filtered Coffee Chocolate Mints

Fruit Basket

Wines

Cuvée Jean Paul Blanc

Vallée du Rhone Rouge

To reserve your place for this special event please return the booking form sent with this newsletter. Places cost £50

each including lunch. All proceeds from this fundraising event go to support the Buxton Festival.

Lisa HiltonHassop Hall

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Tissington Hall Recital and SupperTissington, near Ashbourne Thursday, 14 May at 6.30pm

We are delighted to be able to invite you to join us for an evening of music, food and wine at the historically interesting Tissington Hall.

We have secured a String Quartet from the prestigious Northern Chamber Orchestra whom many of you will know as the resident orchestra at the Festival. The leader of the Orchestra, Nicholas Ward will be one of the players for this recital and we look forward to an evening of quality playing from this talented group of musicians.

It has been a few years now since we last visited Tissington Hall and Sir Richard and Lady Fitzherbert have kindly offered to be available to answer any questions about their beautiful home which presides over the picturesque estate village at the south of the Peak District. At the time of our event it will be the Tissington Well dressing, a custom practiced in Derbyshire in which wells, springs and other water sources are decorated with designs created from flower petals. If you wish to see the Wells dressing we advise arriving half an hour earlier.

Places for the evening are £40 each including fork buffet supper and arrival glass of wine.

Festival Opera LecturesLee Wood Hotel, Buxton Friday, 15 May, 10am—3pm

This popular event aims to enhance your enjoyment of the Festival with in-depth introductions to 3 of the Festival operas: Giovanna d’Arco, Lucia di Lammermoor

and Louise. We have organised 3 knowledgeable speakers to talk on these operas: Simon Rees, Roger Witts and Professor Roderick Swanston.

The day will starts with welcome refreshments, 2 lectures and after a 3-course lunch with coffee one further lecture. Places £37.50 each. For those not wishing to stay for lunch the cost is £17.50 each.

Spring Opera BreakBuxton Opera House 15 & 16 May

English Touring Opera return to Buxton this Spring with one of the best-loved of all operas alongside a little-known jewel of Italian opera composed by bel canto virtuoso, Gaetano Donizetti. ETO last toured La bohème over ten years ago; this season’s new production of Puccini’s masterpiece features some of the most exciting emerging lyric singers in the UK including Nicholas Lester who sang in The Jacobin at the Festival last year. The Wild Man of the West Indies is more of a rarity, as ETO is the first company to stage it in Britain in modern times. Based on a moving episode in Cervantes’ Don Quixote, it tells the story of a man driven mad when he witnesses his wife’s infidelity. Donizetti deftly weaves comedy with this dark plotline, writing some of his most extraordinary ensembles, in what is sure to be a night of opera unlike any other.

Friday, 15 May

4.30pm Welcome Drink

5pm 3-course dinner

6.30pm Pre-opera talk

7.30pm La bohème by Puccini

Saturday, 16 May

11am Coffee

11.30am ETO Recital

12.30pm 3-course lunch

6.30pm Pre-opera talk

7.30pm The Wild Man of the West Indies by Donizetti

Price per person sharing a twin or double room is £325, including two nights B&B at the Old Hall Hotel and the programme as listed above. If you wish to organise your own accommodation or perhaps don’t require accommodation—we are pleased to offer you a non-residential package for £160pp.

English Touring Opera RecitalOld Hall Hotel, Buxton Saturday, 16 May 11.30am

We have soprano Susanna Fairbairn, tenor Ronan Busfield and baritone Gareth Brynmor John, with pianist James Henshaw performing opera favourites including Puccini, Massenet and Offenbach. We offer this event as part of our Spring Opera break for those members who have booked the package. Coffee and tea available from 11am. Tickets £10 each.

Drinks ReceptionOld Hall Hotel, Buxton Saturday, 11 July at 6.15pm

Come and enjoy a pre-performance drink and nibbles with other members of the Friends and VIP guests before the opening night of Giovanna d’Arco in the historic Old Hall Hotel just opposite the theatre. Tickets £10 each.

Friends’ DinnerOld Hall Hotel, Buxton Sunday, 19 July at 5.45pm

Join us for a 3-course dinner at the delightful Old Hall Hotel, an opportunity to have a break from the busy Festival schedule and relax with other members of the Friends over a convivial dinner before the evening performance. Tickets £35 each.

Friends’ PartyOld Hall Hotel, Buxton Friday, 24 July at 9.45pm

This popular event is a nice way to end an evening at the opera. Come and share drinks and your views of the opera with other members of the Friends. We also invite, the cast to join us for this post opera soirée. Tickets £20 including drink and finger buffet.

Festival Chairman: Dame Sandra Burslem Executive Director: Randall Shannon Artistic Director: Stephen Barlow Friends Patron: Donald Maxwell Friends Chairman: Louise Potter Buxton Festival Foundation Chairman: Ian Johnston

Buxton Arts Festival Limited: Registered Charity No. 276957 Friends of Buxton Festival: Registered Charity No. 513970

Tissington Hall