7—25 July 2012 www.buxtonfestival.co.uk Tickets: 0845 12 72190 ’a happy marriage of music, opera and books’
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Festival diary
SATURDAY 7 JULY 10.30am 1pm 3pm 6.15pm 7.15pm
Justin Webb Piano 4 Hands Flanders and Swann Opera talk Intermezzo
WEDNESDAY 11 JULY 19 31 31 18 9
SUNDAY 8 JULY 10.30am 10.45am 1pm 3pm 3pm 6.15pm 7.15pm
Orlando Figes Festival Mass Give Me Your Hand The Fairey Band Rob Wilson art demonstration Opera talk Jephtha
20 56 32 32 55 18 12
MONDAY 9 JULY 10.30am 12pm 1pm 1pm 2.30pm 3pm 3pm 4pm 6.15pm 7.15pm 10pm
Claire Tomalin Town walk Simon Thacker recital Dr Ian Robertson Oliver Twist The Russian Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Robert Macfarlane James and the Giant Peach Opera talk Double Bill Camerata Ritmata
20 54 33 20 33 34 20 17 18 10 34
TUESDAY 10 JULY 10.30am 12pm 12.30pm 2pm 3pm 3pm 4.30pm 5pm 6.15pm 7.15pm 10pm
Cleve West Entertaining Buxton walk Svara Kanti Too Hot to Handel Anne Sebba A Taste of the Peaks Organ recital Friends’ and Patrons’ Dinner Opera talk Intermezzo A-cappella-Chor Villach
21 54 35 13 21 55 56 55 18 9 35
Front cover image commissioned from Ingrid Karlsson-Kemp, a Derbyshire-based mixed-media artist.
10.30am 12pm 1.30pm 1.45pm 3pm 4pm 6.15pm 7.15pm
Duncan Campbell-Smith Paul Edmund-Davies recital James and the Giant Peach L’Olimpiade Frances Wilson James and the Giant Peach Opera talk Jephtha
21 36 17 14 21 17 18 12
THURSDAY 12 JULY 10.30am 12pm 1pm 3pm 3pm 6.15pm 7.15pm
Antony Beevor & Joanna Lumley Buxton’s heritage walk Gillian Keith recital An Acquired Taste Lisa Hilton Opera talk Double Bill
22 54 36 37 22 18 10
FRIDAY 13 JULY 10.30am 12.30pm 2pm 3pm 6.15pm 7.15pm 10pm
Fiona MacCarthy Tianwa Yang recital The Tempest John Guy Opera talk Intermezzo Seven Saints choir
22 37 38 22 18 9 39
SATURDAY 14 JULY 10.30am 12pm 12.30pm 2.30pm 3.30pm 6.15pm 7.15pm
Peter Conrad & Stephen Barlow A Taste of the Peaks Opera workshop The Frolick with Calliope Kitty Whately & Njabulo Madlala recital Opera talk Jephtha
23 55 39 40 40 18 12
SUNDAY 15 JULY 10.30am Sir Ronald Harwood & Michael Pennington 11.15am Festival Mass 1pm My dearest Bauxerl 3pm Sacconi Quartet 3pm Ingrid Karlsson-Kemp art demonstration 6.15pm Opera talk 7.15pm The Marriage of Figaro
23 56 41 41 55 18 15
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Festival diary
MONDAY 16 JULY 10.30am 1pm 3pm 3pm 6.15pm 7.15pm 9.45pm
Orwell v. Kipling Mark Stone recital Andrew Marriner & Sacconi Quartet Jon McGregor Opera talk The Turn of the Screw Just Wyn
SATURDAY 21 JULY 23 42 42 23 18 16 43
TUESDAY 17 JULY 10.30am 10.30am 12.30pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 4.15pm 8pm
Sherard Cowper-Coles Opera Scenes: Double Bill Andrew Marriner recital An Acquired Taste Hugh Cavendish Double Bill Buxton Soundtrack Joan Rodgers recital
24 43 44 37 24 10 44 45
WEDNESDAY 18 JULY 10.30am 12.30pm 2pm 3pm 4.30pm 6.15pm 7.15pm
Ben Macintyre A Good Reed? The Marriage of Figaro Anne de Courcy Organ recital Opera talk Jephtha
24 45 15 24 56 18 12
THURSDAY 19 JULY 10.30am 12pm 1pm 3pm 3pm 6.15pm 7.15pm
Sarah Bradford Entertaining Buxton walk Rhythm is the Soul of Music Northern Chamber Orchestra Anna Reid Opera talk Intermezzo
25 54 46 46 25 18 9
FRIDAY 20 JULY 10.30am Helena Matheopoulos 10.30am Opera scenes: Jephtha 12pm Town walk 12.30pm With much love… 2pm The Turn of the Screw 3pm Lisa Chaney 3pm A Taste of the Peaks 6.15pm Opera talk 7.15pm Double Bill 10pm Alex Yellowlees Hot Club Jazz Quartet
25 43 54 47 16 25 55 18 10 47
10.30am Martin Gayford 12pm Adrian Butterfield recital 1.45pm L’Olimpiade 2.30pm Salomé 6.15pm Opera talk 7.15pm Jephtha
26 48 14 48 18 12
SUNDAY 22 JULY 10.30am 11.15am 12pm 1.30pm 3pm 4pm 4pm 8pm
Joe Cornish Festival Mass A look back and forward… Hungarian Dances Opera talk Intermezzo The Rape of Lucrece Leslie Howard recital
26 56 49 49 18 9 50 50
MONDAY 23 JULY 10.30am Michael Morpurgo & Joanna Lumley 10.30am Opera scenes: Intermezzo 1pm Rachmaninov – an illustrated lecture 3pm Calefax 3pm Gabrielle Walker 6.15pm Opera talk 7.15pm The Marriage of Figaro
26 43 51 51 26 18 15
TUESDAY 24 JULY 10.30am 12pm 1pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 6.15pm 7.15pm
Edwina Currie Buxton’s heritage walk Claire Rutter recital Navarra Quartet Paul Torday A Taste of the Peaks Opera talk Double Bill
27 54 52 52 27 55 18 10
WEDNESDAY 25 JULY 10.30am 1pm 3pm 3pm 6.15pm 7.15pm
Lucy Fleming & Joanna Lumley Love in Time of Unicorns Northern Chamber Orchestra Tim Birkhead Opera talk Intermezzo
27 53 53 27 18 9
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Contents
Diary
2 6 7
Miscellaneous
Booking information
Ticket prices and seating plans
Special offers
Intermezzo
Where to stay
Where to eat
What to do
Map and travel information
Support Engage Opera
9 10 Jephtha 12 Too Hot to Handel 13 L’Olimpiade 14 The Marriage of Figaro 15 The Turn of the Screw 16 James and the Giant Peach 17 Opera talks 18 Literary Series 19 Mainly Music 28 Enjoy Buxton 54 Double Bill
Artistic Director Stephen Barlow Chairman Dame Janet Smith Chief Executive Glyn Foley
Supporters
Tickets (from 2 April) 0845 12 72190 Information info@buxtonfestival.co.uk www.buxtonfestival.co.uk 01298 70395
56 57 58 59 60 64 66 70 72
Welcome
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WELCOME I imagine all of those who know Buxton Festival well, and no doubt those who know of it but have not yet become aficionados, have an idea of what a visit in July each year to this beautiful spa town can offer. The Festival has grown though, over 30 years, through aspiration and careful pragmatism, without sight being lost of the founding aims to produce the highest quality Opera in a repertoire whose flavour is unique to Buxton, within a festival atmosphere that is as attractive to visiting artists as it is to audiences, both local and from further afield. As I begin my tenure as Artistic Director those founding aims remain as firm as they have ever been. However, as audiences have increased steadily under inspired Artistic Directorship and CEO Glyn Foley’s fervent, watchful and not least his creative eye, so too has the breadth and variety of artistic events, revealing a peacock’s tail, a fully fledged summer festival of Opera, Concerts and Literary Events, whose reputation is well known far and wide. Over 19 days, we present three new Buxton Festival opera productions all with outstanding creative teams, and four visiting opera productions. The Concert Series encompasses everything from virtuoso instrumental and vocal recitals, chamber music, instrumental ensembles of varying size and makeup, to orchestral concerts. Our Literary Series this year is a particularly exhilarating prospect of authors’ talks and eminent men and women in conversation on diverse subjects.
I’m delighted that as usual, so many artists of world-wide reputation can be found within these pages. It would be invidious to single any out here, but dipping in and turning up 17 July for example or 25 July shows amidst the full schedule Andrew Marriner and Joan Rodgers at the top of their game in recital, Janis Kelly and Richard Suart deeply ensconced in Gilbert and Sullivan, an extremely rare and enthralling operatic Double Bill of RimskyKorsakov and Sibelius (both receiving at the very least their first full production in this country) the Northern Chamber Orchestra, expanded, in Strauss’s rarely-performed Wind Sonatina, and a new production in English of Strauss’ Intermezzo. Further exploration will reveal for example Irish music, ‘Flanders and Swann’, three of our most celebrated sopranos in recital, Michael Pennington and Sir Ronald Harwood, Antony Beevor, Joanna Lumley, two visiting European choirs, late night jazz, words and music, chamber music of the highest calibre, Handel’s Jephtha boasting a cast that would be the equal of anywhere in the world, and, as always, younger artists keeping company with the well established. Along with the undoubtedly new, such as our opera Double Bill, you will certainly find masterpieces of chamber music repertoire, concerts and literary events that complement our Operas, and celebrated artists performing composers with whom they have a special relationship. 2012 is an important year for Buxton Festival. At the same time as I begin, Glyn Foley retires from his post as CEO. First and foremost Glyn is a musician and has therefore been the Festival’s stalwart champion in every way for 14 years. (Rumour has it that he will be appearing not once but twice as a performer this summer.) So change is upon us, but I hope you will explore these pages fruitfully, and find that at a time when previous certainties are perhaps not so sure, Buxton Festival is a panoply in celebration of the arts in robust health.
SONG AT SIX Catch Festival artists each day on the bandstand in the Pavilion Gardens. Enjoy a song, a serenade, a surprise – ten minutes to relax in the busy Festival day.
Stephen Barlow Artistic Director
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Support
SUPPORT
Box Office income only pays for the first half of the performance! We are very grateful to the public funders and private sponsors who invest in our programme, but we wouldn’t be able to mount our exciting and ambitious Festival without the support of our Friends and Patrons. To help us put on the second half do please consider the following:
Patrons
£150 single / £200 joint membership Priority Booking opens on 5 March
Gold Friends
£55 single / £80 joint membership Priority Booking opens on 12 March
Friends
£25 single / £35 joint membership Priority Booking opens on 12 March
Education donors
A small (e.g. £3) monthly or other donation to support our education work
Festival Foundation
Please do consider a legacy to sustain the long-term future of the Festival.
We’ve introduced a new level of support, Benefactor, whereby you can link support to specific aspects of the Festival, with bespoke benefits including a personalised booking service and opportunities to meet the artists and writers:
£500
Chorus, Wardrobe, Recital or Literary supporter
£1,000
Cast, Chamber or Community supporter
£2,500
Opera or Orchestra supporter For further information on any of these groups please contact the Festival office on 01298 70395 or info@buxtonfestival.co.uk.
Engage
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ENGAGE Every year the Festival involves more than 2,000 local people in creative arts activity through our community and education programme. All projects are free and engage different sections of our community.
Other projects include: Buxton Soundtrack
The highlight of the 2012 programme is a large-scale community music project:
A group of teenagers from Buxton Community School will work with composer Duncan Chapman to create new soundtracks for old silent movies of Buxton (see page 44).
James and the Giant Peach
Poetry and Photography Competitions
100 local children and young people will work with Festival musicians over the summer term to prepare for performances of Herbert Chappell’s musical based on this Dahl classic (see page 17). The show will be performed four times during the Festival, including one free performance for local schools and the elderly.
National competitions to encourage creative thinking. To celebrate this year’s Olympics and Jubilee our theme is ‘Welcome to Britain’. Winning entries can be seen at a free exhibition at the stunning Devonshire Dome throughout July and August 2012. This year we host a poetry workshop for young people with poet River Walton.
Festival for a Fiver
To welcome new audiences to opera and make the experience affordable, we’re offering all Festival tickets for only £5 to under 30s. We hope to welcome around 500 young people to the Festival for the first time this year (see page 59).
Wandering Minstrels
Festival musicians visit daycare and residential centres for the elderly in and around Buxton to bring some Festival cheer to those who are unable to attend other events.
Live Music Now!
A unique concert for children with special needs will be held at the Octagon this summer by specially trained young musicians. The Festival’s management team thanks the following partners for their support in this valuable work:
The Bingham Trust British Film Institute Buxton Festival Education Fund Buxton Hall Bank Trust Derbyshire County Council The Joyce Fletcher Charitable Trust The Granada Foundation High Peak Borough Council The Peter Moores Foundation The Rotary Club of Buxton
FESTIVAL OPERA
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Opera
INTERMEZZO 7, 10, 13, 19, 25 July at 7.15pm
RICHARD STRAUSS (1864–1949)
22 July at 4pm
A comedy in two acts
£10–£58
Libretto by the composer, sung in an English translation by Andrew Porter, with side-titles
2 hours 20 minutes
A Buxton Festival production,with the Northern Chamber Orchestra
Strauss’s own brilliant libretto transforms a realistic and apparently trivial domestic situation to show the power and transience of married love, in a style which is at once sweet and sharp, melancholic and dark with desire. Leading director Stephen Unwin and the Festival’s new Artistic Director conductor Stephen Barlow bring a superb cast headed by the wonderful Janis Kelly and Stephen Gadd. An extraordinarily powerful drama. Christine Storch Janis Kelly
Anna Susanne Holmes
Robert Storch Stephen Gadd
Notary’s wife Martha McLorinan
Baron Lummer Andrew Kennedy Notary Jonathan Best Kammersinger Njabulo Madlala
Conductor Stephen Barlow Director Stephen Unwin Designer Paul Wills
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Richard Strauss, one of the greatest of all opera composers, bases this musical masterpiece on real life exchanges with his wife. The resulting autobiographical comedy includes some of the composer’s most radiant love songs and thrilling orchestral interludes.
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When a love letter is mistakenly delivered to a conductor, and is intercepted by his ‘difficult’ wife, a jealous rage ensues. Will the marriage survive?
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Legal Counsellor Colin Brockie
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Commercial Counsellor Lighting designer Robert Poulton John Bishop Stroh Richard Roberts
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Opera 11
A FESTIVAL DOUBLE BILL
THE MAIDEN IN THE TOWER
KASHCHEI THE IMMORTAL
JEAN SIBELIUS (1865–1957)
NIKOLAY RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (1844–1908)
An opera in one act
An autumn fairy-tale in one act
Libretto by Rafael Hertzberg, sung in a new English translation by Rodney Blumer, with side-titles
Libretto by the composer, sung in a new English translation by Rodney Blumer, with side-titles
9, 12, 20, 24 July at 7.15pm & 17 July at 4pm £10–£58, 2 hours 15 minutes A Buxton Festival production, with the Northern Chamber Orchestra and Festival Chorus Beautiful melodies, mythical settings and magical storylines – this Double Bill features damsels in distress from captivating Russian and Finnish fairytales. The internationally acclaimed director Stephen Lawless and conductor Stuart Stratford lead a top-class team in two real operatic rarities, each reflecting their composer’s nationalism. Conductor Stuart Stratford, Director Stephen Lawless Designer Russell Craig, Lighting designer John Bishop
Sibelius’s only completed opera demonstrates the authentic voice of the composer in refined orchestral writing, a beautiful choral scene and distinct folk influence.
Storm Wind Robert Poulton Ivan the Illustrious William Dazeley
See page
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Rimsky-Korsakov’s dramatic storytelling and elaborate harmonies mesmerise in this extraordinarily original one act opera.
Kashchei Richard Berkeley-Steele
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Bailiff William Dazeley
Kashchei’s Daughter Emma Selway
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Lover Richard Berkeley-Steele
The Princess Kate Ladner
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Lady of the Castle Emma Selway
An evil wizard imprisons a beautiful young princess in his gloomy underworld. He will remain immortal as long as his daughter, a cold-hearted witch, holds back her tears. Will Prince IvanKorolevich escape the witch’s charms, rescue his beloved and defeat the wicked sorcerer?
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When a young maiden rejects the advances of a malevolent bailiff she is kidnapped and imprisoned. Racing to her rescue, her heroic lover prepares to fight a duel to rescue his sweetheart in this bright and evocative opera.
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JEPHTHA £10–£58 2 hours 30 minutes
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL (1685–1759) A dramatic oratorio in three acts
A Buxton Festival production, with the Orchestra of the Sixteen and Festival Chorus
Libretto by Reverend Thomas Morrell, sung in English, with side-titles
As Jephtha leads the Israelites into battle, he singlemindedly vows to God that if he is victorious he will sacrifice the first creature he meets upon his return. After tasting the glory of conquest, Jephtha’s jubilation soon turns to horror, when the first person to welcome him is none other than his beloved daughter, Iphis, whose tragic fate has been sealed… This meditation on the paradox of life journeys to the very heart of the psychological condition of man’s anguish of choice between duty and love. Rising star Frederic Wake-Walker directs a timeless production of Handel’s classic oratorio. Harry Christophers conducts a stellar cast, led by Susan Bickley, James Gilchrist and Gillian Keith. They are joined by the renowned Orchestra of the Sixteen and our own splendid Festival Chorus in some of Handel’s most glorious and inspired music.
Jephtha James Gilchrist Storge Susan Bickley Iphis Gillian Keith Zebul Jonathan Best
Conductor Harry Christophers Alastair Ross (21 July) Director and designer Frederic Wake-Walker Lighting designer John Bishop
Hamor William Purefoy Angel Elizabeth Karani
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8, 11, 14, 18, 21 July
Opera 13
TOO HOT TO HANDEL 10 July 2pm £10–£38
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL (1685–1759) Sung in English
A production by the Armonico Consort with the Armonico Baroque Players and Chorus
2 hours
This sharp comic take on a tale of two lovers intertwines the most ravishing of Handel’s operatic arias with the highs and lows of a couple’s jealously passionate relationship. With music drawn from Xerxes, Giulio Cesare, Rinaldo and Orlando, the highly talented Armonico Consort interprets baroque music for the 21st century with a typically innovative and individual approach. The Armonico Baroque Players and Music Director, Christopher Monks, bring to life the intricate charms of Handel’s music, while creator William Towers and soprano Yvette Bonner star with a fabulous supporting cast.
Cast Yvette Bonner William Towers Naomi Kilby Joe Bolger James Savage-Hanford Alastair Merry
Creators William Towers Emma Rivlin Musical Director Christopher Monks Director Emma Rivlin Designers Helen Stewart Gillian Malster Lighting designer Graham McLusky
Too Hot to Handel comes from the same producers as last year’s thoroughly entertaining Monteverdi’s Flying Circus.
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Rivlin is a deep-thinking young director and her staging was ingenious, often hilarious. The singing duo was a delight… and the playing from Armonico’s period-instrument ensemble was of the high calibre we have come to expect Opera magazine
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L’OLIMPIADE 11, 21 July
ANTONIO VIVALDI (1678–1741)
1.45pm
Dramma per musica in three acts
£10–£48
Libretto by Pietro Metastasio, sung in Italian, with English side-titles
2 hours 45 minutes
Set amidst the action of the Ancient Greek Olympics, this is a story of thwarted love, amorous rivalry and mistaken identities, set to some of Vivaldi’s most dramatic music. As two great friends enter the overall contest for top athlete, little do they realise that they will also be competing for the hand of the same woman… Vivaldi’s fame as an instrumental composer has overshadowed his dramatic works, but he was a true man of the theatre, composing around 50 operas, as well as frequently acting as impresario. Around 20 scores survive, of which L’Olimpiade, set to a text by the great Metastasio, is one of his finest, demonstrating Vivaldi’s flair and sensitivity with the human voice. La Serenissima are the great British champions of Vivaldi opera, with performances of five different works to their credit. The edition for this production has been prepared by Adrian Chandler from Vivaldi’s autograph manuscript.
A production by La Serenissima
Clistene Stephen Gadd
Director Richard Williams
Aristea Rachael Lloyd
Costume designer Olivia Wells
Argene Sally Bruce-Payne
Musical directors Adrian Chandler James Johnstone
Megacle Louise Poole Licida Marie Elliott Aminta Mhairi Lawson Alcandro Jonathan Gunthorpe
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La Serenissima’s sound, so joyful, so full of life, continues to showcase Vivaldi in a dazzling manner
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Intriguing, excellently packaged and delivered… first class The Sunday Times
Opera 15
THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO 15, 23 July at 7.15pm
MARCOS PORTUGAL (1762–1830)
18 July at 2pm
An opera buffa in two acts
£10–£48
Libretto by Rossi, after Beaumarchais, sung in an English translation by Gilly French & Jeremy Gray
The Marriage of Figaro charts the round-the-clock loves, lusts and intrigues of the high and low within the grand court of the Sevillian Count Almaviva. The Count plans to revive the infamous droit de seigneur, by taking advantage of his chambermaid Susanna on her wedding-day. Susanna and her fiancé Figaro are not so easily outwitted however… Beaumarchais’ immortal characters have become legendary through the music of Mozart and Rossini, but, writing eight years after Mozart’s death, Marcos Portugal offers an intriguing alternative operatic setting, equally dynamic and fast-moving, as we encounter familiar personalities in a new guise. Bampton Classical Opera has an unrivalled reputation for unearthing and revitalising rarities from the late eighteenth-century with intelligence and humour, and this lively production, marking Portugal’s 250th anniversary, is no exception.
Antonio Nicholas Morris
Susanna Emily Rowley Jones
Cecchina Caroline Kennedy
Marcellina Cara Curran
Gusmano Robert Gildon
Dr Bartolo Mark Saberton Cherubino Joana Seara Don Basilio Robert Winslade Anderson
Conductor Robin Newton Director Jeremy Gray Set designer Nigel Hook
Countess Almaviva Lisa Wilson
Costume designer Fiona Hodges
Count Almaviva John-Colyn Gyeantey
Lighting designer John Bishop
...a gorgeous production... Bampton rose to the heights of its own elevated standards... Opera Magazine Performance sponsor:
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...a work among the most interesting and attractive Bampton have discovered Opera Now
Figaro Nicholas Merryweather
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Sabotage, seduction, secret assignations, suspicion and nocturnal shenanigans in one of opera’s best-loved comedies.
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2 hours 45 minutes
A production by Bampton Classical Opera with the Northern Chamber Orchestra
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THE TURN OF THE SCREW 16 July at 7.15pm
BENJAMIN BRITTEN (1913–76)
20 July at 2pm
Opera in a prologue and two acts
£10–£48
Libretto by Myfanwy Piper, after the story by Henry James, sung in English
1 hour 45 minutes
Based on Henry James’s classic ghost story, Benjamin Britten’s masterpiece is a compact and chilling tale of the supernatural. When an eager young governess is sent from London to look after two orphaned children in a remote English country house, she quickly discovers that the apparent idyll is not as it seems. Mystery envelops the house as sinister spirits from the past return to reveal a terrible secret of innocence lost, and we begin to wonder who is really possessed, the naïve young governess or the two strange children in her care? This tense and compelling tale, combined with a scintillating score of radiant and haunting music, creates one of the twentieth century’s greatest and most gripping operas.
A production by Northern Ireland Opera, with the NI Opera Orchestra
Governess Fiona Murphy
Conductor Nicholas Chalmers
Peter Quint Andrew Tortise
Director Oliver Mears
Miss Jessel Giselle Allen
Designer Annemarie Woods
Mrs Grose Yvonne Howard
Lighting designer Kevin Treacy
Flora Lucia Vernon Miles Thomas Copeland
NI Opera, an ambitious and imaginative new company, has assembled a wonderful cast for this new production including Fiona Murphy, Andrew Tortise, Giselle Allen and Yvonne Howard.
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The youngest and feistiest of Britain’s regional companies The Independent on Sunday
COMMUNITY MUSICAL
JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH 9 July at 4pm 11 July at 1.30pm and 4pm Pavilion Arts Centre
Music and lyrics by HERBERT CHAPPELL (b.1934) based on the original story by Roald Dahl
A Buxton Festival community musical, sung in English with the Buxton Festival Ensemble
£10, children £5, 1 hour
The classic Dahl story of James, the peach and his band of giant insect friends is told by 100 local children and young people, working with the Festival’s professional musicians and creative team. A heart-warming tale for all the family. ‘James didn’t know where the little man came from. He was just there, thrusting a faintly glowing bag at James. “Here! You take it! It’s yours!” With a promise that the bag of “little green things” is magic and will free James from his horrible, cruel aunts, Sponge and Spiker, the little man is gone – and James is dizzy with joy. But in his excitement James drops the bag, and the magic is lost, sucked into the ground around the old peach tree. Would things never go right for James?’
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Musical director Tim Lole Movement director Elizabeth Foster with performers from: Thornsett Primary School Hague Bar Primary School St Thomas More Secondary School The Mad Hatters Youth Choir Young dancers from Déda Illustration by Andrea Joseph
This production is generously supported by donors to the Festival’s Education Fund.
18 Opera talks
OPERA TALKS
Enjoy these informative introductions to the opera, given by Stephen Barlow, the Festival’s Artistic Director, either solo or in conversation with friends.
16 July
Devonshire Dome (except 7 July) 6.15pm (except 22 July) Admission free; duration 30 minutes
Harry Christophers, conductor of Jephtha
7 July (n.b. Opera House stalls)
Stephen Unwin, director of Intermezzo
8 July
Frederic Wake-Walker, director of Jephtha
9 July
Stephen Lawless, director of the Double Bill
10 July
Stephen Barlow, conductor of Intermezzo
11 July
Harry Christophers, conductor of Jephtha
12 July
Stuart Stratford, conductor of the Double Bill
Oliver Mears, director of The Turn of the Screw
18 July 19 July
Stephen Barlow, conductor of Intermezzo
20 July
Stuart Stratford, conductor of the Double Bill 21 July Alastair Ross, conductor of Jephtha
22 July (n.b. 3pm)
Stephen Barlow, conductor of Intermezzo
23 July
Jeremy Gray, director of The Marriage of Figaro
24 July
Stuart Stratford, conductor of the Double Bill
25 July
Michael Kennedy, an authority on Strauss
13 July
Stephen Barlow, conductor of Intermezzo
14 July
Harry Christophers, conductor of Jephtha
15 July
Jeremy Gray, director of The Marriage of Figaro
Supported by:
LITERARY SERIES
JUSTIN WEBB FROM THE MAYFLOWER TO OBAMA: THE BRITISH, THE AMERICANS AND THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP 7 July, 10.30am Pavilion Arts Centre, £10 Justin Webb presents a wry account of the transatlantic friendship as it actually exists today – how Americans see us, how we Brits see them – and as presenter on Radio 4’s Today programme and formerly the BBC’s North American editor for eight years, he is perfectly placed to comment. Amusing, myth-breaking, and unflinchingly honest, Webb identifies a fault line in the long-standing ‘special relationship’, a cultural divide that separates us. And he argues that recognising and celebrating this divide is the key to a rich future collaboration. Webb’s take on the two great nations is expert, familiar, profound, funny Jeremy Vine
Duration: 1 hour Series Sponsor:
Supported by: Bookstore Brierlow Bar Best Western Lee Wood Hotel
20 Literary series
ORLANDO FIGES
CLAIRE TOMALIN
JUST SEND ME WORD
CHARLES DICKENS: A LIFE
8 July, 10.30am
9 July, 10.30am
Pavilion Arts Centre, £10
Opera House, £10
In the first of two talks taking up the Russian theme of this year’s Festival, Orlando Figes tells the true story of the relationship between Lev and Sveta, two young Muscovites separated by the Second World War and then the Gulag, where the Soviet state sent Lev for ten years on absurd and arbitrary charges. Extraordinarily, during Lev’s long exile in an Arctic camp they were able to smuggle letters to each other and even meet. Historian Orlando Figes, best-selling author of Natasha’s Dance and The Whisperers, tells the moving story of their agonising lives in Stalin’s Soviet Union and their constancy and love.
Even to his contemporaries, Charles Dickens was a phenomenon: political radical, demonically hardworking journalist, the father of ten children, actor and playwright, newspaper editor, liberal campaigner, and arguably our greatest novelist. Yet the brilliance concealed a self-destructive character and a man often at war with himself. Claire Tomalin brilliantly captures the complex character of this great genius. She follows his rise from poor and feckless origins to the social and literary heights of Victorian England with the clear-eyed sympathy that makes her one of the greatest biographers of our day. See also Oliver Twist on page 33.
IAN ROBERTSON DOCTORS IN THE (OPERA) HOUSE
ROBERT MACFARLANE THE OLD WAYS
9 July, 1pm
9 July, 3pm
Lee Wood Hotel, £6
Lee Wood Hotel, £6
Please note start time
Doctors feature frequently in opera – think of the philandering Dr Bartolo in The Barber and Figaro or Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore. Some are bumbling pretentious figures of fun; others are outright quacks, or evil, as is the research physician in Wozzeck. Just occasionally operatic doctors prove to be good at their job, as is the surgeon in Verdi’s La forza del destino, or Maxwell Davies’ Doctor of Myddfai. Ian Robertson, a retired professor of medicine himself, takes us on a light-hearted tour of operatic medical men (and, occasionally, women).
Robert Macfarlane, author of The Wild Places and Mountains of the Mind, sets off from his Cambridge home to follow the ancient tracks and sea-ways that form part of a vast network of old routes criss-crossing the British landscape, and connecting them to the continents beyond. From the chalk-lands of England to the bird-islands off Scotland, from the disputed territories of Palestine to the sacred landscapes of Spain and the Himalayas, Macfarlane discovers that paths offer not just a means of traversing space, but also ways of feeling, knowing and thinking: ‘the subtle ways we are shaped by the landscapes through which we move’.
Literary series 21
CLEVE WEST
ANNE SEBBA
OUR PLOT
THAT WOMAN
10 July, 10.30am
10 July, 3pm
Pavilion Arts Centre, £10
Lee Wood Hotel, £6
Cleve West is one of Britain’s top garden designers, with six RHS medals to his name and the Best in Show prize at 2011’s Chelsea Flower Show. He is also King of the Allotment, a true allotmenteer who heads off to his plot to get his hands dirty, and contemplate life and nature. His passion for allotments is matched only by his talent, and his deep concern for the future and sustainability. He brings a cornucopia of tips and ideas – and whether vegetables and herbs or flowers and fruit are in your sightlines, he has all the answers.
DUNCAN CAMPBELL-SMITH MASTERS OF THE POST 11 July, 10.30am
25 years after her death, Wallis Simpson remains one of the most glamorous and vilified women of the last century. Anne Sebba explores the mind and motivations of this enigmatic American divorcée who nearly became our Queen, and provides a wholly new interpretation of what really happened during the abdication crisis. Following a trail from the Mexican desert, via Baltimore and the brothels of Shanghai, to a hidden cache of letters in an attic in Southern England, Sebba now questions: Was this really the romantic love story of the century?
FRANCES WILSON SURVIVING THE TITANIC 11 July, 3pm Lee Wood Hotel, £6
Pavilion Arts Centre, £10
Duncan Campbell-Smith charts the fascinating story of the Royal Mail. We learn how postal engineers built the first computer for the code- breakers of Bletchley Park and how the Royal Mail continued delivering post to the front lines in two World Wars, but also how it failed to prevent the Great Train Robbery of 1963. He conjures up many of the colourful personalities in the Royal Mail’s history, and shows that today’s debate over the future of the postal service is just the latest chapter in a centuries-old conflict between its roles raising revenue and serving the public. A majestic account of a great institution’s rise and fall The Guardian
We have raised the Titanic and watched her go down again countless times in books and films, but out of the wreckage Frances Wilson spins a new epic: when the ship hit the iceberg on 14 April 1912 and a thousand men prepared to die, the ship’s owner J. Bruce Ismay jumped into a lifeboat with the women and children and rowed away to safety. His reputation never recovered. With the help of Joseph Conrad, whose Lord Jim so uncannily predicted Ismay’s fate, Frances Wilson explores how Ismay made sense of the horror, and found a way of living with lost honour. She explores the very nature of disaster, and how we survive it.
22 Literary series
ANTONY BEEVOR
LISA HILTON
JOANNA LUMLEY
NANCY MITFORD AND GASTON PALEWSKY IN PARIS & LONDON
IN CONVERSATION WITH ‘ARMS AND THE MAN’ 12 July, 10.30am
12 July, 3pm
Opera House, £10
Lee Wood Hotel, £6
Our greatest historian of twentieth-century warfare, Antony Beevor, joins Joanna Lumley in a free-ranging conversation about the implications of the military in modern life. Touching on Lumley’s high-profile involvement with the Gurkhas and questions raised by Beevor’s magisterial new history of the Second World War, this promises to be a lively and stimulating debate on a subject that never loses its fascination, nor its edge of controversy. Beevor has single-handedly transformed the reputation of military history The Guardian
FIONA MACCARTHY
Lisa Hilton tells the compelling love story of the glamorous and witty writer Nancy Mitford and the dashing Free French commander Gaston Palewsky, whom she adored. Set against tumultuous times in post-war France, where they lived among some of the most powerful and controversial figures of the age, it was a less than ideal affair, provoking Nancy to exclaim to her sister Diana Mosley, ‘Oh, the horror of love!’. But Palewsky inspired Nancy to write one of the funniest and best-loved novels of its time, The Pursuit of Love, and Lisa Hilton invites us to explore a very different ideal of human love, one that challenges all cosy preconceptions.
JOHN GUY
EDWARD BURNEJONES AND THE ART OF LOVE
THOMAS BECKET: WARRIOR, PRIEST, REBEL, VICTIM
13 July, 10.30am
13 July, 3pm
Pavilion Arts Centre, £10
Lee Wood Hotel, £6
Edward Burne-Jones was the most admired British artist of his generation. His work is all around us; the angels on our Christmas cards, the stained glass in our churches, the great paintings in our galleries. Renowned biographer Fiona MacCarthy explores his art and life; his battle against vicious public hostility, the romantic susceptibility to female beauty that would inspire his art and ruin his marriage, his ill health and depressive sensibility and the devastating rift with his great friend and collaborator William Morris as their views on art and politics diverged. A true pleasure to read – a triumph of biographical art The Independent Book of the Week
The story of Thomas Becket is the tale of an enigma. From humble origins, Becket rose to a position of great power, second only to King Henry II. At his height, he led 700 knights into battle, brokered peace between nations, held the ear of the Pope and brought one of the strongest rulers in Christendom to his knees. Within a year of his bloody assassination, he was a saint whose cult had spread throughout Europe, and whose reputation remains controversial and compelling to this day. Acclaimed historian John Guy presents a nuanced and utterly convincing account of this remarkable man, and the pivotal role he played in his nation’s history.
Literary series 23
PETER CONRAD IN CONVERSATION WITH
STEPHEN BARLOW
SIR RONALD HARWOOD
IN CONVERSATION WITH
VERDI AND/OR WAGNER?
MICHAEL PENNINGTON
14 July, 10.30am
15 July, 10.30am
Pavilion Arts Centre, £10
Pavilion Arts Centre, £10
Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner, the two greatest operatic composers of their time, were born in 1813 in different countries and different traditions. Verdi’s affecting melodies give voice to the passion and sensuality of Italy; Wagner’s harmonies possess a nervous intensity, echoing the metaphysical dreamlife of Germany. Is it possible to love both composers equally, or do we still choose one over the other for reasons of taste, ideology or nationality? Peter Conrad explores their affinities and differences with Stephen Barlow, the Festival’s Artistic Director.
Prolific playwright and Oscar-winning screenwriter (The Pianist), Sir Ronald Harwood’s credits include what he likes to call ‘Harwood’s Ring’, two companion plays Taking Sides and Collaboration, in which Michael Pennington recently took the central roles of Furtwängler and Strauss in the West End. The two old friends and celebrated senior figures of the English stage discuss matters theatrical. We should expect a far-ranging conversation of particular and wide interest as playwright meets actor and director. See also My dearest Bauxerl, featuring Michael Pennington, on page 41.
ORWELL DEBATE
JON MCGREGOR
ORWELL V. KIPLING
THIS ISN’T THE SORT OF THING THAT HAPPENS TO SOMEONE LIKE YOU
16 July, 10.30am Pavilion Arts Centre, £10
16 July, 3pm Lee Wood Hotel, £6 Both Orwell and Kipling wrote about the British Empire, having both been born in India. Both are known to people who haven’t read a word of their work, whether through Nineteen Eighty-Four or The Jungle Book. Both were intensely political writers, who wrote poetry, prose and for the press. But was Orwell or Kipling the greater writer? Whose work resonates more today? And for whom will you vote after our panel have made their respective cases? Advocates include author Stuart Evers and Jan Montefiore, Professor of English at the University of Kent, chaired by Jean Seaton, Director of the Orwell Prize.
Using photos, videos, maps, and a suitcase full of props, writer and travelling salesman Jon McGregor relates a selection of stories from his new book. These delicate, dangerous, and sometimes deeply funny stories tell of things buried and unearthed, of familiar places made strange, and of lives where much is at risk, much is hidden, and tender moments are hard-won. Jon McGregor’s highly praised novels include If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things and Even The Dogs. McGregor has the ability to give voice to unexplored aspects of our everyday lives The Times
24 Literary series
SHERARD COWPER-COLES CABLES FROM KABUL
HUGH CAVENDISH 40 YEARS OF GARDENING AT HOLKER
17 July, 10.30am
17 July, 3pm
Opera House, £10
Lee Wood Hotel, £6
The West’s mission in Afghanistan is never far from the headlines. For Sherard Cowper-Coles, our former Ambassador, Britain’s role in the conflict – the vast amount of money being spent and the huge number of lives lost – was an everyday reality. Cowper-Coles takes us on a journey through the Kabul backstreets to the corridors of power in London and Washington. Nobody is better placed to tell this story of embassy life in one of the most dangerous places on earth. Powerful and astonishingly frank, Cables from Kabul explains how we got into the quagmire of Afghanistan, and how we can get out of it. The clearest and most honest account yet of the Afghan war, by the man who knows more about it than just about anyone else John Simpson
In the tradition of The Garden at Chatsworth, Hugh Cavendish started out to write an account of the gardens of another great Cavendish estate, Holker Hall, overlooking Morecambe Bay. It has turned into much more: the story of a family, of a community, of continuity with the past and adaptation to the modern age. He talks about the history of Holker, dating back to the sixteenth century. He describes his own life, as a child at Holker and later as owner of the family estate, finding a way of managing huge resources and responsibilities, and also huge debt. And, of course, he talks about the garden which he and his wife Grania have lovingly tended and extended over the years.
BEN MACINTYRE
ANNE DE COURCY
DOUBLE CROSS, THE TRUE STORY OF THE D-DAY SPIES
THE FISHING FLEET
18 July, 10.30am
18 July, 3pm Lee Wood Hotel, £6
Pavilion Arts Centre, £10
D-Day, 6 June 1944, the turning point of the Second World War, was a victory of arms. But it was also a triumph for an operation of deceit, aimed at convincing the Nazis that Calais and Norway were the targets of the 150,000-strong invasion force. The deception involved every branch of Allied wartime intelligence – but at its heart was the ‘Double Cross System’, a team of brave, treacherous, fickle, greedy, and inspired double agents, who saved countless lives. Their codenames were Bronx, Brutus, Treasure, Tricycle and Garbo – a bisexual Peruvian playgirl, a Polish fighter pilot, a Serbian seducer, a Spaniard with a diploma in chicken farming and a hysterical Frenchwoman. This is their story.
At the height of the Raj many of Britain’s most eligible young men were out in India, and, with the advent of steam travel and the opening of the Suez Canal, countless young women followed in their wake, in search of romance and adventure. Known as the Fishing Fleet, Anne de Courcy tells their hitherto untold story. A hectic social life greeted them, with tiger-shooting, parties and balls, and romances and marriages were frequent – but after the honeymoon life often changed dramatically. Anne de Courcy explores the reality of life for these young adventuresses, and, with the help of diaries and letters rescued from attics, she brings this forgotten era vividly to life.
Literary series 25
SARAH BRADFORD
ANNA REID
QUEEN ELIZABETH II, HER LIFE IN OUR TIMES
LENINGRAD, TRAGEDY OF A CITY UNDER SIEGE
19 July, 10.30am
19 July, 3pm
Opera House, £10
Lee Wood Hotel, £6
The Queen is, quite simply, the most famous woman of our age and in her Diamond Jubilee year, who better to talk and write about her than royal biographer Sarah Bradford? She brings a wealth of remarkable experience, along with great warmth and sympathy, to her task. Whether describing the many triumphs of the Queen’s reign or the painful episodes of family crisis, she offers fascinating insights into Royal life, and brings vividly to life a woman who has seen more change during her reign than any of her predecessors would have believed possible, and one whose calm and graceful presence is respected by monarchists and republicans alike.
HELENA MATHEOPOULOS FASHION DESIGNERS AT THE OPERA 20 July, 10.30am
The Siege of Leningrad was the deadliest blockade in human history. The city was surrounded on 8 September 1941, 11 weeks after Hitler launched his brutal attack on the Soviet Union. The siege would not be lifted for 872 days, and almost two million Soviet lives were lost. Had Leningrad fallen, the history of the Second World War – and of the twentieth century – would have been very different. Anna Reid’s gripping story interweaves personal accounts from diaries and memoirs on both sides. She also raises important questions: how good a job did Leningrad’s leaders do? How close did Leningrad come to falling into German hands? And, above all, how did those who lived through the siege survive?
LISA CHANEY CHANEL: AN INTIMATE LIFE 20 July, 3pm Lee Wood Hotel, £6
Pavilion Arts Centre, £10
Opera afficionado and former fashion of editor of Tatler, Helena Matheopoulos is in an unrivalled position to trace the fertile collaboration between opera and high fashion. The most theatrical of arts naturally inspires the most visionary fashion designers to create extraordinary costumes for extraordinary productions – Miuccia Prada, Emmanuel Ungaro and Christian Lacroix among them in the last year alone. Matheopoulos has interviewed 10 leading figures from the world of fashion about the journey that led them to opera and the challenges of working in that most demanding of creative worlds.
As an art historian, Lisa Chaney was intrigued to discover that the mesmerising Coco Chanel was much more than muse, patron or mistress to some of the 20th century’s most celebrated artists. From 1910 to 1940 she was at the centre of the Paris avant-garde, and during the course of her extraordinary and unconventional journey – from abject poverty to a new kind of glamour – Chanel would help forge the very idea of modern woman. Chaney shows what an enormous effect Chanel had on the culture of the time, and explores her relationships with Picasso, Diaghilev, Cocteau, Stravinsky, et al.
26 Literary series
MARTIN GAYFORD
JOE CORNISH
A BIGGER MESSAGE: CONVERSATIONS WITH DAVID HOCKNEY
PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE WORLD OF BOOKS
21 July, 10.30am
22 July, 10.30am Pavilion Arts Centre, £10
Pavilion Arts Centre, £10 On the heels of last year’s illuminating talk on Lucian Freud, Martin Gayford returns to talk about another giant of the British art world, David Hockney. Described as the world’s most popular living painter, he is also an incisive and original thinker. Gayford here recalls a decade of conversations with Hockney about the practice and paradoxes of representing the world, about experiments with different media and technologies, about artists, friends, and landscapes. In doing so he paints a rich portrait of an extraordinary man and a profound exploration of the very nature of creativity.
Over the course of more than 25 years Joe Cornish, one of our most distinguished landscape photographers, has provided photographs for countless books, on travel, food, architecture, landscape, geology and even covers for novels. He is also now an established author himself, and his First Light: A Landscape Photographer’s Art is widely regarded as one of the most influential books on this theme. Joe will discuss his approach to landscape photography, recount his adventures in the world of publishing and speculate about the future of an industry being revolutionised by electronic devices.
Excellent... a treasure chest of insights into the artist at work and play The Evening Standard
MICHAEL MORPURGO IN CONVERSATION WITH
GABRIELLE WALKER
WAR CHILD TO WAR HORSE
ANTARCTICA: THE MOST MYSTERIOUS CONTINENT
JOANNA LUMLEY 23 July, 10.30am
23 July, 3pm
Opera House, £10
Lee Wood Hotel, £6
Michael Morpugo is a Pied Piper, enchanting a generation of children with his imaginative tales, but it is not only children that he holds in thrall. His novel War Horse has made Michael a household name, with the play and now film taking the world by storm. Michael’s own story is as strange and surprising as any he has written. How did this boy who dreamed of the army become an author instead? What personal price has he paid for success? And why, in the midst of triumph, is he haunted by regret? Morpurgo has brought insight, pleasure and excitement to millions The Daily Telegraph
Antarctica is the most alien place on Earth. Descriptions of it have focused on one single aspect – its science, its wildlife, or the heroic age of exploration. None has managed to capture the whole story, till now. Gabrielle Walker, author, consultant to New Scientist and regular BBC broadcaster, weaves all the significant threads into an intricate tapestry of science, natural history, poetry, epic history – and what it truly feels like to be there. It is only when all the parts come together that the underlying truths of the continent emerge. And in its silence, its agelessness and its mysteries lie the secrets of our past, and of our future.
Literary series 27
EDWINA CURRIE
PAUL TORDAY
LIFE ON THE INSIDE: TALES FROM THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
THE LEGACY OF HARTLEPOOL HALL
24 July, 10.30am Opera House, £10
Edwina Currie, former MP for South Derbyshire, has put pen to paper to tell the unvarnished truth about her turbulent time in Parliament. Rarely out of the headlines, she brewed up a salmonella storm as Minister for Health, and became closer to Prime Minister John Major than was perhaps strictly necessary. Since leaving office she has starred on Strictly Come Dancing, written a raft of bestselling novels, and still stirs controversy with her forthright and outspoken views. Supported by:
24 July, 3pm Lee Wood Hotel, £6
Paul Torday, one of our sharpest comic writers, discusses his finest novel since Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. The Hartlepools have been living in unimaginable wealth at their ancestral home for generations. But Ed, the new Marquess, returns to the Hall after tax exile to find the fortune in ruins, and an uninvited house guest, the mysterious Lady Alice, his father’s former mistress, who reveals some startling facts about him. With interest mounting on his debts and the taxman clamouring, what is the future for Hartlepool Hall? Can he find some way to rescue his family’s home and way of life? Does a family that has squandered such a fortune deserve to be saved?
LUCY FLEMING
TIM BIRKHEAD
JOANNA LUMLEY
BIRD SENSE: WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE A BIRD
IN CONVERSATION WITH
FROM UNCLE IAN WITH LOVE 25 July, 10.30am
25 July, 3pm Lee Wood Hotel, £6
Opera House, £10
Lucy Fleming, daughter of Celia Johnson and Peter Fleming, has, during a rich and varied career, starred in plays by Shakespeare, Wilde, Marlowe, Feydeau, Ayckbourne, Osborne and Harold Pinter, among others. She has countless screen credits too, and has recently been producing recordings of all her uncle Ian Fleming’s 12 novels. This doyenne of the theatre world discusses all things Bond with former Bond girl Joanna Lumley, who once played the wicked Mrs Chievely opposite Lucy Fleming’s Lady Chiltern in Wilde’s An Ideal Husband. Supported by:
What is it like to be a swift, flying at over 100km an hour? Or a flamingo sensing invisible rain falling hundreds of kilometres away? Or a kiwi, plodding through humid undergrowth in the pitch dark of a New Zealand night? And what does a gannet feel on being reunited with its partner after a winter apart? Tim Birkhead, a professor at the University of Sheffield, where he teaches animal behaviour and the history of science, discusses how birds interpret the world and how their behaviour is shaped by their senses. Thoroughly engaging…stuffed with mind-boggling facts and insights The Sunday Times
MAINLY MUSIC
SONG AT SIX Catch Festival artists each day on the bandstand in the Pavilion Gardens. Enjoy a song, a serenade, a surprise – ten minutes to relax in the busy Festival day.
Mainly music 29
THE THREE SOPRANOS To present three of the very best sopranos of today in recital is a thrilling prospect. Their distinguished reputations go before them, demonstrated unequivocally in their exciting programmes. As well known for their opera performances as in recital, these formidable practitioners of the soprano’s art are not to be missed. Joan Rodgers is as well-known worldwide as she is here, her appearances with conductors such as Barenboim mark her as one of our most successful and popular artists, and in recital she has captivated audiences at the grandest concert halls. Her speciality of Russian song will feature in her programme, complementing our production of Rimsky’s Kashchei. She speaks fluent Russian and gives Masterclasses in Russia to the Russians!
Gillian Keith’s repertoire from Handel to Strauss and well beyond sets her distinctively apart from most. Where specialism tends to rule, her success and catholicity is dazzling. She has recently recorded songs of Richard Strauss, and her programme for us includes much that relates specifically to our opera productions. Highly cultured and virtuosic, Gillian’s recital promises an eclectic gourmet feast of lieder. Claire Rutter has convincingly taken the bastion of the most demanding Bellini and Donizetti roles by storm. Norma and Lucrezia Borgia cannot be staged without an artist who bestrides their extreme demands of musicality and virtuosity with ease, and Claire has few equals in this repertoire, as critics and audiences attest, for example at Grange Park and ENO. For us she presents a programme accompanied by harp, programming in her own imaginative style, including the incomparable Casta Diva.
GILLIAN KEITH
JOAN RODGERS
CLAIRE RUTTER
12 July (page 36)
17 July (page 45)
24 July (page 52)
30 Mainly music
THE VIRTUOSI Any Festival concert series featuring the best in chamber music must include undeniable solo virtuosi, bringing dazzling skills applied to great artistry, and insights from deep experience. We present five distinguished artists, demonstrating their pre-eminence in varied repertoire for all tastes. Leslie Howard has made a mission of uncovering every last detail of one of the most fabulous of virtuosos, Franz Liszt, recording every note he wrote for the piano, combining virtuosic difficulties made light, and fervent perception. Leslie is understandably acknowledged as the authority on Liszt’s life and work, in addition to his reputation as a fearless and almost inhumanly-gifted technician. His recital promises fireworks. I have known Andrew Marriner and Paul EdmundDavies for almost a lifetime, accompanying them frequently since we were in our teens. They have both inhabited principal chairs in the London orchestras for nearly 30 years, as well as developing a worldwide audience in recital, concerto performances and masterclasses. Andrew is unassailably one of the most musical and profound interpreters of Mozart and Brahms today, a true musician’s musician, but with great charisma and technical gifts that lay all music open to his dexterous talent. Paul is simply a flawless and masterly musician, combining pedagogic work all over the world with an ease of performance style which deftly cloaks the artistry therein. The young Tianwa Yang’s impact on all who hear her play has been astonishing. She is without doubt an imminent star, and her scintillating programme will show her complete command, artistic and virtuosic, of classic and brilliant violin repertoire. Simon Thacker’s championship cannot be contained in any one branch of music making. He is a renaissance man, as passionate about jazz and Segovia as he is about Indian music and classical contemporary. All three of his Festival appearances will be revelatory and breathtaking.
SIMON THACKER guitar 9 July (page 33)
PAUL EDMUND-DAVIS flute 11 July (page 36)
TIANWA YANG violin 13 July (page 37)
ANDREW MARRINER clarinet 16 & 17 July (pages 42 & 44)
Stephen Barlow
LESLIE HOWARD piano
Artistic Director
22 & 23 July (pages 50 & 51)
Mainly music 31
7 July, 3pm
7 July, 1pm Pavilion Arts Centre
Pavilion Arts Centre
£13, 1 hour
£13, 1 hour 40 minutes
PIANO 4 HANDS
FLANDERS & SWANN
MOZART Sonata in F major, KV497 SCHUBERT Allegro, D947 ‘Lebensstürme’ DEBUSSY La Mer Widely regarded as one of Britain’s leading piano duos, Joseph Tong and Waka Hasegawa are regular performers at major European venues. Recent international success has taken them to Japan, Germany, the USA and the Czech Republic. Their recordings of Debussy and Schubert have received glowing recommendations from the press including Album of the Week in The Independent and BBC Music Magazine. Schubert’s ‘storms of life’ provides a perfect introduction to the original version of La Mer, where Debussy brings every splash and wave of the sea to life in a vividly exciting score. This second CD from this excellent double-act fulfils the promise of their first. Tong and Hasegawa constantly swap roles, but their exhilarating pianism is wonderfully even. The Independent bbbbb
AT THE DROP OF A HIPPOPOTAMUS Tim FitzHigham and Duncan Walsh Atkins bring back the mud, madeira and mayhem of Michael Flanders and Donald Swann, the Masters of 1950s and 1960s madness, mirth and total silliness in an affectionate tribute. Mud, Glorious Mud (The Hippopotamus Song), The Gnu Song, Madeira M’dear, The Gasman Cometh and many of their other songs recall their anarchic sense of humour, wordplay and fun. Flanders and Swann’s own brand of inoffensive, gentle but witty and often satirical humour has stood the test of time, remaining popular with all ages. Classic...joyously frivolous The Sunday Times For admirers of cabaret with impeccable manners these Swann-songs certainly fit the bill London The Evening Standard
At the Drop of a Hippopotamus captures Flanders and Swann’s astute wit and delight in ingenuous wordplay – a great British tradition The Guardian
32 Mainly music
8 July, 3pm
8 July, 1pm Pavilion Arts Centre
Pavilion Arts Centre
£13, 1 hour
£13, 1 hour 35 minutes
GIVE ME YOUR HAND
THE FAIREY BAND
The love and joy of Celtic music unites these four London-based musicians. With deep roots in Irish tradition, and a background of performing throughout Ireland and the UK, the group’s sound has been heard in concert, including venues such as St Martin’s-in-the-Fields and Proms in the Park, and on many film sound tracks, notably the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Shipping News and, most recently, the Irish monster movie, Grabbers.
We welcome one of the UK’s finest bands, 16 times British Open Champions and National Champions of Great Britain on 9 occasions, and runners-up in the 2011 Nationals. In constant demand for concerts at home, the band has also toured widely in Europe and further afield as far as Canada and Hong Kong.
Give Me Your Hand leads a relaxed celebration of Irish music, both festive and melancholic, featuring a quartet led by renowned Irish fiddler, Dermot Crehan, with Robert White, playing uilleann pipes, flute and tin whistles, Maggie Boyle on vocals and flute and Clive Carroll on guitar and banjo. The dominant presence is the ‘speaking’ violin of Dermot Crehan with its gamut of affect and passion Music Web international
‘The Faireys’ celebrate their 75th anniversary this year by including the music of composers with their own significant anniversaries – Claude Debussy and William Rimmer, the brass band march king, were born 150 years ago. Also included is the Downland Suite of John Ireland, who died 50 years ago. Supported by:
Mainly music 33
9 July, 1pm
9 July, 2.30pm
Palace Hotel
Devonshire Dome
£13, 1 hour
£6, 1 hour 15 minutes
SIMON THACKER
OLIVER TWIST
GUITAR Simon Thacker’s exciting programme explores the many facets of this most intimate and poetic of instruments. Simon celebrates the passionate Spanish Romanticism of Segovia, Latin America’s greatest composer Villa-Lobos, uniting European classicism with Brazilian folkloric elements, the virtuoso merging of Chopin with Bach by Agustín Barrios, ‘the Paganini of the guitar from the jungles of Paraguay’, and a wonderfully evocative and atmospheric work by Minoru Miki, masterfully arranged from Japanese koto.
Following Claire Tomalin’s talk we offer a rare opportunity to see Frank Lloyd’s 1922 silent film, with a recorded score by Neil Brand, thought to be lost until a print surfaced in Yugoslavia in the 1970s.
Renowned as a solo performer and leader of groundbreaking intercultural ensembles, Simon has performed in the USA, Spain, France, Malta, Cuba and Belgium and recently released a CD of outstanding new guitar concerti.
See also Claire Tomalin’s talk on page 20.
Thacker demonstrates with startling virtuosity just how versatile and exciting the guitar can be in the right hands The Scotsman bbbbb Thacker boasts instrumental mastery and a disarmingly natural and entertaining presentational style The Herald
Lon Chaney’s mix of make-up mastery and his builtin tragic face make him the perfect Fagin, perhaps unequalled in the history of cinema. In the lead role, Jackie Coogan came fresh from his enormous success in Chaplin’s The Kid, bringing his awesome screen presence and supreme pathos to the role.
34 Mainly music
9 July, 3pm
9 July, 10pm
St John’s Church
St John’s Church
£19, 1 hour 40 minutes
£10, 1 hour
THE RUSSIAN CHAMBER PHILHARMONIC ST PETERSBURG
CAMERATA RITMATA
with MICHEL GERSHWIN violin conducted by JURI GILBO BRITTEN Simple Symphony ELGAR Serenade for Strings SCHNITTKE Suite in Old Style for violin and orchestra TSINTSADZE Five Miniatures for string orchestra ˇ ÁK Serenade for Strings DVOR Two stunning (and sold-out!) Buxton concerts have made this Russian band firm Festival favourites. Their trademarks of expression, virtuosity and the famous Russian string sound have led to the orchestra’s exceptional standards as one of the most sought-after chamber orchestras in Europe. They feature two works reflecting the Russian folk tradition, framed by classics from Britain and a Dvorˇák masterpiece. It could barely get more authentic than hearing the Russian Chamber Philharmonic St Petersburg… each musician playing with a fine precision, a lively pulse, flexible tempos and a sophisticated tone quality Westfälische Rundschau
One of the St Petersburger’s strengths lies in its delicate pianissimo, barely audible yet crystal clear. An unforgettable experience. Westfalenpost
Camerata Ritmata brings together classical guitar virtuoso Simon Thacker and three of the UK’s leading jazz and world musicians, Buxton-born Paul Harrison (piano), Brazilian Mario Caribe (bass) and Stuart Brown (percussion), to fuse some of the most powerful and distinctive music from across the world. Their unique programmes include impassioned Sephardic melodies, with their roots in Spain and influences from North Africa to the Balkans; the power and spirituality of Native American music; the exotic modality of Thessaloniki and Turkey; pulsating rhythms from Africa; thrilling dance music from Dagestan and Azerbaijan; and distinctive melodies of Afghanistan. Camerata Ritmata’s sound draws upon the incredible musical experiences of four virtuosi to create their own immediate and moving music. Four musicians who, in the service of musical expression, wear their virtuosity lightly... an evening as unique as it is diverse Bachtrack.com Startling virtuosity The Herald
Mainly music 35
10 July, 12.30pm
10 July, 10pm
Pavilion Arts Centre
St John’s Church
£13, 1 hour
£10, 1 hour
SVARA-KANTI
A CAPPELLA CHOR VILLACH
Svara-Kanti is the latest supergroup from the visionary guitar virtuoso Simon Thacker, featuring the beautiful voice of singer and actress Japjit Kaur, internationally renowned tabla player Sarvar Sabri and incredible Carnatic South Indian violinist Jyotsna Srikanth, with over 200 Bollywood soundtracks to her name. Svara-Kanti’s powerful and inspiring music combines the classical, folk, spiritual and film music traditions of India with the harmonies and structures of the West in a rich confluence of the greatest and most diverse musical cultures. An exuberant virtuoso display The Guardian The mix of classical and Indian music is brilliant, moving and creative Inside World Music The virtuosity guitar is matched by sizzling sounds from the Indian violin and tabla Classical Music Magazine
conducted by HELMUT WULZ Enjoy the time God lends to you! Choral songs of the Romantic period The A cappella Chor Villach, from southern Austria, has, for nearly 60 years, performed the major sacred and secular choral works from Palestrina to Orff and Stravinsky, with innumerable concerts, radio and TV programmes and recordings. They also specialise in folksong of the region. The choir has toured from Vienna to Paris and London, and further afield to Japan, South Africa and Singapore. Their Buxton programme includes Romantic music by Schubert, Mendelssohn and Schumann, alongside Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes, the Emperor Waltz of Johann Strauss and some Austrian folksong. Supported by:
36 Mainly music
11 July, 12pm
12 July, 1pm
St John’s Church
Pavilion Arts Centre
£13, 1 hour
£13, 1 hour
A FRENCH AFFAIR
GILLIAN KEITH SIMON LEPPER
PAUL EDMUND-DAVIES flute STEPHEN BARLOW piano FAURÉ Fantaisie DUTILLEUX Sonatine GANNE Andante and Scherzo HÜE Fantaisie WIDOR Suite Paul Edmund-Davies established his international reputation as flautist and soloist during 20 years spent as Principal Flute of the London Symphony Orchestra, performing concertos with Bernstein, Rostropovich, Boulez and Nagano. After five years as Principal Flute of the Philharmonia, he now holds the same position at ENO, and tours extensively giving recitals and masterclasses from America to Australasia. Paul brings a delightful, and varied, French programme culminating in a Suite by Widor, best-known for his virtuosic organ music, a description equally applicable to the exhilarating Finale here. Paul Edmund-Davies has just about everything… charm, wit and, above all, virtual perfection in his playing The New Zealand Herald
SOPRANO
PIANO
Gillian Keith is one of Canada’s leading singers, her superb voice and musicianship equally at home both on the opera stage and concert platform‚ making her one of the most stylish and versatile artists of her generation. Well-known to Festival audiences, she enjoyed great success in last year’s Mignon. In a carefully crafted programme reflecting our opera choices, Gillian includes songs by Strauss, Sibelius and Rimsky-Korsakov along with others by Mozart, Haydn and Debussy reflecting her themes of Nature Speaks and Love is in the Air. Keith’s high‚ bright voice and perfect enunciation are ideal for Strauss. Her voice recalls that of Elisabeth Schumann‚ whom Strauss often referred to as ideal for his music Opera Canada Glistening‚ ethereal soprano...Keith has the light as a feather delicacy needed for Strauss BBC Radio 3 CD Review
Gillian Keith sparkles with a vocally high-flying Philine The Sunday Times (Mignon, 2011)
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12 July at 3pm & 17 July at 2pm
13 July, 12.30pm
Pavilion Arts Centre
Pavilion Arts Centre
£19, 1 hour 30 minutes
£13, 1 hour
AN ACQUIRED TASTE
TIANWA YANG SIMON LEPPER
with JANIS KELLY, RICHARD SUART and WYN DAVIES Richard IS Gilbert, Wyn IS Sullivan – and Janis IS... a newspaper reporter; but that’s only the first scene... This is a G&S entertainment devised by the Duke and Duchess of Plaza-Toro, and their daughter Casilda, brought to the burghers of Buxton for the first time. Lady Jane is faithful to Bunthorne; Sir Joseph Porter falls for the much younger Josephine and the Lord Chancellor gets into a similar mess with his ward Phyllis; but Ko-Ko loves Katisha with a white-hot passion – so is she really an acquired taste? In this fast-moving adoration, expect songs, duets and, yes, trios from over half the canon...a veritable explosion of G&S – flexible fun for all, delivered by three intrepid Festival favourites! Janis Kelly gave a world-class performance
VIOLIN
PIANO
YSAŸE Solo Sonata opus 27, no.2 BRAHMS Sonata in D minor, opus 108 SARASATE Romanza Andaluza Playera Caprice Basque Hailed as ‘an unquestioned master’ by the American Record Guide, Tianwa Yang has quickly established herself as a leading international artist. The young Chinese violinist already works with leading orchestras from the US to Hong Kong. A former student of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, Ms Yang became the youngest artist ever to record Paganini’s ferociously difficult Caprices, aged just 13. Brahms’s final violin sonata is a work of full maturity – by turn playful, reflective, brooding and violent. Tianwa follows it with her own brand of Chinese fireworks.
Los Angeles Times
A sensationally talented violinist Classics Today
A fabulous performance by Richard Suart‚ a British master of the G&S craft. As the Lord Chancellor‚ a lecher and pompous birdbrain of legalisms‚ Suart inhabits the full ridiculousness of the material.
An encore of a brilliantly dispensed Allemande by Ysaÿe, showed that this 23-year-old can hold her own against the legendary players of her instrument
San Francisco Mercury
New Zealand Herald
38 Mainly music
13 July, 2pm Opera House £10 stalls – £16 circle (children half price), 2 hours
THE TEMPEST
This island is full of voices…an adventure in dance beyond your imagination Award-winning company, Ballet Cymru, present an extraordinary adaptation of Shakespeare’s masterpiece. The Tempest, Shakespeare’s last and most fulfilling play, is given a new and utterly fresh awakening as a full-length ballet, with hauntingly beautiful music by Jean Sibelius. Ariel, the fleet-footed spirit of the air; Caliban, the deformed and twisted slave; Prospero, the talismanic magician; Miranda and Ferdinand, the star-crossed lovers – all collide in a story rich in subtlety and humour, set on an enchanted isle, peopled by magical beings. Ballet Cymru brings to life this ageless story using the company’s unique blend of classical technique and storytelling, featuring choreography by Creative Wales Award-winner Darius James, with sets and costumes by Welsh designer Yvonne Greenleaf. These young ballet pioneers deserve your support. Catch them if you can. The Dancing Times Please note: this performance uses recorded music
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13 July, 10pm
14 July, 12.30pm
St John’s Church
Pavilion Arts Centre
£10, 1 hour
£6, 1 hour
SEVEN SAINTS CHOIR
OPERA WORKSHOP
conducted by SNEJANA GRIGOROVA The choir of the church Sveti Sedmochislenitchi (The Seven Saints) has a long tradition of unaccompanied performance. The current choir of 16 from Sofia specialises in some of the finest old orthodox chants, almost unknown to UK audiences. These atmospheric works by anonymous Russian and Bulgarian composers of the fifteenth century are supplemented with masterworks of the great Renaissance tradition. Although seasoned European performers, the choir rarely visits the UK – many will remember the tremendous impact they made here in 2003. An unforgettable and unique experience Ciclo de Música Clásica de Toledo
No matter what’s to come, I am sure that the Seven Saints will remain one of the festival highlights. Incredibly moving, it will be one of those magical moments that will stay with me for the rest of my life. A Festival audience member in 2003
PERFORMANCE MATTERS International soprano Janis Kelly, one of the country’s most charismatic sopranos and star of Intermezzo, explores with members of the Festival Company the vocal, physical and psychological elements that combine to create a performance. A working insight into the discipline and passion of being a creative opera singer.
40 Mainly music
14 July, 2.30pm
14 July, 3.30pm
Tideswell Church
Pavilion Arts Centre
£16, 1 hour 40 minutes
£13, 1 hour
CALLIOPE WITH THE FROLICK
KITTY WHATELY MEZZO-SOPRANO NJABULO MADLALA BARITONE
England, in the 1740s – a time when society prized illusion and intrigue, and subverting the accepted norm was fair game. Men with high voices ruled the stage, and cross-dressing abounded for comic affect or for survival. 300 years on, songs are still about the same things: girls that are after money; others searching for love; a man who wants to get a date, and the best friend encouraging him to drown his sorrows. Poetry and fantasy combine with the luminous colours of original baroque instruments to create an opulent adventure in 18th-century expression. The Frolick lifts the veil on a hitherto hidden corner of 18th-century English music, in songs designed for domestic performance. The accompaniments on period instruments have great charm, and Emma Curtis’s voice finds much scope for its innate versatility. Album of the Week, The Independent
Please allow plenty of time if travelling from Buxton. We suggest leaving Buxton at 1pm as the Carnival closes some roads and the town centre becomes virtually impassable for some hours.
GAMAL KHAMIS piano Britain’s most prestigious award for young singers is the Kathleen Ferrier competition. We are delighted to welcome the two most recent winners, both with strong Buxton connections – Kitty is a recent member of our chorus and South African born Njabulo sings in Intermezzo this year and gave us a memorable recital last year. Already in demand throughout the country, these are two of our rising stars. Their programme includes works by Duparc, Debussy, Howells, Beddoes, Gurney and a group of South African folksongs. The elaborate fioritura of the aria was fantastic, Ms. Whately’s tone fully secure and radiant Opera Britannia
Madlala has impeccable musicianship Musical Opinion Supported by:
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15 July, 1pm
15 July, 3pm
Pavilion Arts Centre
Pavilion Arts Centre
£13, 1 hour
£19, 1 hour 40 minutes
MY DEAREST BAUXERL
THE SACCONI QUARTET
A GLIMPSE INTO THE LIVES OF RICHARD AND PAULINE STRAUSS with JANIS KELLY soprano STEPHEN BARLOW piano MICHAEL PENNINGTON narrator devised by HENRIETTA BREDIN The marriage between composer Richard Strauss and his wife Pauline was a source of bafflement to many. He was easy-going, tolerant, veering towards the phlegmatic; she had an uncertain temper, was often highly critical of his work and prone to fits of intense jealousy. The latter tendency provoked the incident on which Intermezzo is based. But their deep love is abundantly clear, and Strauss wrote some of his most exquisite music for Pauline. Janis Kelly sings some of those songs today, with a narration by Michael Pennington, who, recently played Richard Strauss on stage, in Ronald Harwood’s play Collaboration. This programme offers an intriguing insight into Strauss’s world and the source of his musical inspiration. Janis Kelly (in Strauss’ Turandot) was spellbindingly sung and heartrending The Sunday Times Both events supported by:
HAYDN Quartet, opus 20, no.2 PAUL PATTERSON Quartet No.2: Dances for Thaxted (second performance) MENDELSSOHN Quartet no. 2 in A minor, opus 13 Since its formation in 2001, the Sacconi Quartet has enjoyed a highly successful international career, performing throughout Europe and in recordings and radio broadcasts. Its four founder members infectiously reach out to audiences with their energy and enthusiasm. The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance has inspired the use of folk and dance melodies in Patterson’s Quartet, featuring traditional dances from exotic locations, from Cornwall to Australia. Though Mendelssohn was still a teenager when he wrote this Quartet, he was already an experienced composer of chamber music, with a quintet, the famous Octet and two piano quartets under his belt. By way of contrast, Haydn was already 40 when he wrote his opus 20 quartets, works which would earn him the sobriquet ‘the father of the string quartet’. The Sacconi, a fast-rising British quartet, brings something fresh and distinctive The Times A quartet of genuine substance The Daily Telegraph
42 Mainly music
16 July, 3pm
16 July, 1pm Pavilion Arts Centre
Pavilion Arts Centre
£13, 1 hour
£19, 1 hour 40 minutes
MARK STONE BARITONE STEPHEN BARLOW PIANO
THE SACCONI QUARTET
DELIUS Seven songs from the Norwegian IRELAND Three songs by John Masefield C.W. ORR Seven songs from A Shropshire Lad QUILTER Three Shakespeare songs Mark Stone is one of the country’s most exciting baritones, appearing on Europe’s leading opera and recital stages, and regularly singing here at Buxton Festival, most recently as the suave Florestan in Véronique. To commemorate the 150th anniversary of Delius’ birth and the 50th anniversary of John Ireland’s death, Mark presents a wonderful programme of English song, including two of Delius’ composer friends – the ever-popular Roger Quilter and the brilliant Housman settings of C.W. Orr. Hats off to Mark Stone for compiling a two-CD Delius songbook. With fresh-minted accompaniments from Stephen Barlow, Stone proves an expert guide, investing Delius’s songs with verve and variety of mood, in part through his intelligent diction.
with ANDREW MARRINER clarinet IRELAND Quartet no.1 SIBELIUS Moderato – Allegro in C# minor BRAHMS Clarinet Quintet The Sacconi’s are joined by Andrew Marriner, principal clarinet of the London Symphony Orchestra. Of the several one-movement quartets by Sibelius, the Moderato – Allegro Appassionato comes as a great surprise, a mature, stormy, intense movement in the vein of his Kullervo. John Ireland drew inspiration from England’s heritage, poetry and landscapes. He destroyed almost all his early works, but not his two Quartets, modelled on those of Beethoven and Brahms. The latter’s serene Clarinet Quintet is simply one of the masterworks of the whole chamber music repertoire. A beautiful blend of sound…highly engaging The Times
The Financial Times
The Sacconi stands out from the crowd, the critics unstinting in their praise for the British newcomers
Supported by The Delius Trust
The Yorkshire Post
Both events supported by:
Mainly music 43
17, 20, 23 July, 10.30am
16 July, 9.45pm Pavilion Arts Centre
£8
£10, 1 hour
1 hour
JUST WYN
OPERA SCENES
Although Wyn Davies’s day job is to conduct opera, he also has a career in cabaret which began in 1985 in New York and has taken him to the Royal Albert Hall, festivals from Buxton to Edinburgh, the Theatre Museum in Covent Garden and television and radio appearances. He has entertained company directors, country landowners, theatre clubs and birthday guests aged eight to eighty. Wyn has been rummaging around again in the dustbins of Tin Pan Alley to come up with material that everyone else has discarded. If you wish you’d been at the Savoy Grill before the war you’ll enjoy this show. The songs are old. And so is he.
DOUBLE BILL
17 July, Pavilion Arts Centre
JEPHTHA
20 July, Palace Hotel
INTERMEZZO
23 July, Pavilion Arts Centre An excellent introduction to the Festival operas, as members of the Festival Company understudying main roles enjoy their own performance of scenes with piano accompaniment, introduced by Stephen Barlow.
44 Mainly music
17 July, 12.30pm
17 July, 4.15pm
Pavilion Arts Centre
Pavilion Arts Centre
ÂŁ13, 1 hour
Free (no ticket required), 30 minutes
ANDREW MARRINER CLARINET STEPHEN BARLOW PIANO
BUXTON SOUNDTRACK
WEBER Concertino in EH, opus 26 BERG Four pieces, opus 5 HOROVITZ Sonatina VERDI Entracte from The Force of Destiny SCHUBERT An die musik, Ständchen GIAMPIERI Carnival in Venice Andrew Marriner has toured the world as a soloist, chamber musician and, as principal clarinet of both the London Symphony Orchestra and Academy of St Martin in the Fields, performed concertos with leading conductors from Bernstein to Pappano. He is also a member of both the LSO and Academy Chamber Ensembles and regularly works with leading pianists and quartets. Few clarinettists of whatever generation pour forth such an even flow of warm, consistent sound . . . in the slow movement the peaches and cream sound of Marriner caresses the ear The Guardian
with DUNCAN CHAPMAN A unique concert showcasing Year 8 students from Buxton Community School as both performers and composers. Under the inspirational guidance of composer Duncan Chapman, young people spent four days creating new soundtracks for three British Film Institute films of Buxton and the Peak District, silent films dating back to the early 1900s. How will modern youngsters respond to the people and scenery of Buxton from times past? Generously supported by donors to the Buxton Festival Education Fund and the British Film Institute.
Mainly music 45
17 July, 8pm
18 July, 12.30pm
Opera House
Pavilion Arts Centre
£19, 1 hour 40 minutes
£13, 1 hour
JOAN RODGERS SOPRANO CHRISTOPHER GLYNN PIANO
A GOOD REED?
PURCELL Mad Bess of Bedlam SCHUMANN Frauenliebe und -leben, opus 42 STRAUSS Three songs WOLF Songs from the Italienisches Liederbuch TCHAIKOVSKY A group of songs CANTELOUBE Four songs from the Auvergne
For possibly the last time (thank goodness?), audiences can experience the highs and lows (mostly very low) of the woodwind world as A Good Reed? explores the darker recesses of the bassoon repertoire. Expect a new programme of artistry and musicianship, humour and pathos. Live in hope.
Internationally renowned, Joan Rodgers is equally established on the opera, concert and recital stage. Her recitals from New York to Moscow attract the highest critical acclaim. She regularly works with all our leading opera companies and major conductors, from Ashkenazy to Zubin Mehta.
We hear rumours that some ‘proper’ Festival artists, some of long standing, will help them celebrate over a decade of bassoonery. Can that really be true?
Joan’s wide-ranging programme includes the archromantic Tchaikovsky (Joan is a fluent Russian speaker), an exploration of womanhood from adolescence to bereaved widow in a Schumann masterpiece, and the gorgeous folk-inspired warmth and humour of Canteloube’s songs. Possessing a beautiful voice and the right attitude to Russian songs, Joan Rodgers was without doubt the star of the season of the Moscow Philharmonic Society Novye Izvestia
Satellites run around our planet, but we still play bassoons. It’s ridiculous! Witold Lutoslawski
46 Mainly music
19 July, 3pm
19 July, 1pm Pavilion Arts Centre
St John’s Church
£10, 45 minutes
£19, 1 hour 40 minutes
RHYTHM IS THE SOUL OF MUSIC
NORTHERN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Following tremendous success at the Festival in 2011, Sandeep Raval brings another of his creative expressions Rhythm is the Soul of Music, a convergence of sound and place. Elements of East and West weave their way into the soul of the listener: intoxicating rhythms begin, layer Indian drumming and melody, add funky piano and top with a killer jazz-saxophone to an ecstatic climax. The highest quality and musical calibre of Raval and his colleagues from around the world bring sonic enjoyment to any fan of world music. Rhythm and percussive sounds from beyond Britain’s shores mixed in a wonderfully creative way...we were captivated and entranced for the duration 2011 audience member
directed by NICHOLAS WARD with ELIZABETH JORDAN clarinet, BEN HUDSON bassoon and JAMES LANCELOT organ GRIEG Holberg Suite STRAUSS Duet Concertino SIBELIUS Rakastava POULENC Organ Concerto The Festival’s resident orchestra reflects our opera programme with the atmospheric and neglected Rakastava (The Lover), a work of uncommon tenderness and intimacy, and one of Strauss’s last works, an ebullient showpiece for clarinet and bassoon soloists. They are joined by James Lancelot, Organist at Durham Cathedral, for Poulenc’s uninhibited Organ Concerto, showing the influence of his newly rediscovered Christian faith. Playing from the Northern Chamber Orchestra that was quite simply world class Opera Magazine Nicholas Ward and his players combine polish, verve and a crucial sense of enjoyment The Daily Telegraph
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20 July, 12.30pm
20 July, 10pm
Pavilion Arts Centre
Palace Hotel
£13, 1 hour
£10, 1 hour
WITH MUCH LOVE...
ALEX YELLOWLEES HOT CLUB JAZZ QUARTET
THE MUSIC & LETTERS OF KATHLEEN FERRIER VICTORIA SIMMONDS mezzo-soprano ANNA TILBROOK piano Kathleen Ferrier was the voice of her generation. More than that, she captured the nation’s hearts and minds with her down-to-earth manner, and her open and heartfelt singing. 2012, the centenary of her birth, is a fitting time to celebrate her life through her letters, diaries and music. Victoria Simmonds takes us on a journey from her humble beginnings as a telephone exchange worker on the ‘switch’ to an internationally acclaimed ‘diva’, loved for her easy manner and Lancashire accent. Fun, lively, astute and ambitious, Kathleen Ferrier could light up any room, and despite her success, it seems she managed to keep her feet glued firmly to the ground. Victoria’s homage includes music from Handel to Fauré and the folk tunes for which she was famous. Every note of the dizzyingly beautiful mezzo Victoria Simmonds suffused the evening air with a scrumptious warm glow The Independent
Outstanding! Reminiscent of Django Reinhardt and the legendary Hot Club de France, this modern Grappelli on violin, with virtuoso guitarists Ged Brockie and Mike Nisbet and bassist Kenny Ellis, perform exciting, intoxicating swing jazz, laced with Latin rhythms and spiced with Celtic gypsy flair! Not to be missed! Expect world-class – for that is what you will get! Italy International Jazz Festival
48 Mainly music
21 July, 2.30pm
21 July, 12pm St John’s Church
Pavilion Arts Centre
£13, 1 hour
£13, 1 hour 15 minutes
ADRIAN BUTTERFIELD VIOLIN JULIAN PERKINS HARPSICHORD
SALOMÉ
HANDEL Violin Sonata in D major, HWV371 J S BACH Sonata no.1 in G minor for solo violin, BWV1001 VIVALDI Violin Sonata, opus 2 no.12 in A minor LECLAIR Violin Sonata no.5 in A major As a perfect prelude to the day’s major offerings of Vivaldi and Handel, Adrian Butterfield offers a delightful survey of baroque violin repertoire, from the sublime mastery of a Bach solo sonata to the virtuosic demands of Vivaldi and Leclair. Adrian is one of our leading violinists, regularly leading the major London baroque orchestras and touring world-wide. He is joined here by the Festival’s own Julian Perkins. When Adrian Butterfield puts his bow to string, you know you are in for a treat Culture Plus, Canada
The sheer beauty of Butterfield’s tone, enhanced by minimal, tasteful vibrato and expressive phrasing, can not fail to please Fanfare Magazine
Music by CHARLIE BARBER Production by SOUND AFFAIRS An all-too-rare screening of the classic 1923 silent movie Salomé, based on Oscar Wilde’s play, complete with a live score by Charlie Barber. Opulent, extravagant, decadent – Salomé is a visual feast bringing together lavish art nouveau designs inspired by the artist Aubrey Beardsley with an unforgettable performance by the tempestuous actress Alla Nazimova in the title role. Charlie Barber’s accompanying music is equally dramatic, drawing on the evocative sounds and intricate rhythms of traditional Arabic ensembles, sounds that would have been familiar to King Herod’s court. Performed by musicians in towers flanked either side of the giant silver screen, this is a riveting blend of music and spectacle. An evocative soundscape that mirrors the exotic costumes and Salomé’s erotic allure The Guardian bbbb
Mainly music 49
22 July, 12pm
22 July, 1.30pm
Devonshire Dome
Pavilion Arts Centre
Free (no ticket required), 1 hour
£13, 1 hour 15 minutes
A LOOK BACK AND FORWARDS
HUNGARIAN DANCES
After 14 Festivals Glyn Foley steps down as the Festival’s Chief Executive. He reflects with Stephen Barlow on the successes and failures, trials and tribulations over this period, and the two of them contemplate the Festival’s future. Audience ideas welcome! We hope also to introduce Glyn’s successor.
with JESSICA DUCHEN BRADLEY CRESWICK violin MARGARET FINGERHUT piano The Hungarian Dances concert is a unique experience, uniting author and passionate soloists in an enthralling mix of words and music. Jessica Duchen reads extracts from her acclaimed novel, an international bestseller that follows the turbulent story of a Gypsy girl who becomes a famous classical violinist, but at a terrible personal price. The tale is matched to dynamic effect with the music that inspired it, performed by the distinguished violinist Bradley Creswick, leader of the Northern Sinfonia, and the award-winning pianist Margaret Fingerhut – including works by Dohnányi, Debussy, Brahms, Bartók and Ravel’s Tzigane, as well as some dazzling pieces in Gypsy style.
50 Mainly music
22 July, 8pm
22 July, 4pm Pavilion Arts Centre
Pavilion Arts Centre
£10, 1 hour 5 minutes
£19, 1 hour 40 minutes
THE RAPE OF LUCRECE
A LISZT RECITAL LESLIE HOWARD PIANO
Performed by GERARD LOGAN Directed by GARETH ARMSTRONG Following his triumphant, award-winning run at the 2011 Edinburgh Festival and sell-out international runs, Olivier Award nominee and RSC actor Gerard Logan brings the first ever solo adaptation of Shakespeare’s brilliant narrative poem, about the dreadful crime of rape and its aftershock, to Buxton Festival. Shakespeare shines a light on a brand of humanbehaviour encompassing the bestial and the beautiful, and on a bare stage, a single actor brings both victim and rapist to searing life. Sensational! Sir Trevor Nunn One of the most engrossing hours you will spend Theatre Guide, London
Winner of The Stage ‘best solo performer’ award Edinburgh 2011
Grosses Konzertsolo, S176 Variations on a theme by JS Bach ‘Weinen, Klagen’, S180 Scherzo und Marsch, S177 Danza sacra e duetto finale, based on Verdi’s Aïda, S436 Les adieux – R êverie on a theme from Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, S409 Fantasie on themes from Mozart’s Figaro and Don Giovanni, S697 Leslie Howard is recognised as a world authority on the music of the great Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt – so he was the natural choice for the largest recording project ever undertaken by a solo musician: the complete piano music of Liszt, with 95 CDs! He is a familiar figure at numerous international festivals and with the world’s great orchestras. Leslie’s ingenious programme shows the variety of Liszt’s music, and, especially fitting for Buxton, takes in some of his rarely-performed opera-inspired works. A virtuoso in the true Romantic style, with its emphasis on musicality as much as bravura The Guardian
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23 July, 1pm
23 July, 3pm
Pavilion Arts Centre
Pavilion Arts Centre
£13, 1 hour
£19, 1 hour 40 minutes
THE RACHMANINOV SONATAS AN ILLUSTRATED LECTURE
CALEFAX
Leslie Howard’s enormous skill and experience as pianist and musicologist is matched by his passion to share his enthusiasm and understanding with audiences. Expect a fascinating insight into the minds of composer and performer alike.
FRANCK Prélude, aria et finale RAMEAU Nouvelle Suite RAVEL Menuet antique MANNEKE Archipel DEBUSSY Children’s Corner
Leslie explores the genesis and construction of Rachmaninov’s two Sonatas for solo piano – the one inspired by Goethe’s Faust, the other on a hidden programme, and both full of the sound of Russian church bells.
Our Dutch friends, the superb wind players of Calefax, return with one of their typically varied and resourceful programmes. Calefax celebrates their 25th anniversary with performances throughout Europe and further afield in Russia, China, India, Turkey, Japan and the USA. Arranging, recomposing and interpreting music from eight centuries to suit their unique reed instrumentation of oboe, clarinets, sax and bassoon, in the hands of Calefax all sounds fresh and new.
Leslie Howard’s concert provided some of the most exciting pianism of the season The New York Times
Calefax: five extremely gifted Dutch gents who almost made the reed quintet seem the best musical format on the planet The Times
52 Mainly music
24 July, 3pm
24 July, 1pm Palace Hotel
Palace Hotel
£13, 1 hour
£19, 1 hour 40 minutes
CLAIRE RUTTER SOPRANO CLAIRE JONES HARP
NAVARRA STRING QUARTET
with MATTHEW DUNN clarinet PROGRAMME TO INCLUDE: SCHUBERT The Shepherd on the Rock TCHAIKOVSKY Themes from Eugene Onegin ˇ ÁK Song to the Moon from Rusalka DVOR BELLINI Casta diva from Norma MATHIAS Santa Fe Suite A rare opportunity to hear one of the country’s leading sopranos, Claire Rutter, in an enchanting recital with harp accompaniment. Claire is in great demand with the world’s major opera companies and orchestras, praised for her gorgeous sound and superb musicianship. As the official harpist to the Prince of Wales, Claire Jones has taken part in more than 150 royal performances, including, last year, that wedding. Claire Rutter embraces the meditative hymn of Casta diva with an ease, command and tonal splendour which I haven’t heard equalled for a generation The Daily Telegraph
Jones plays with a beguiling lyricism…a sensitivity and panache that enchants the senses
Tiddy Maitland-Titterton
BBC Music Magazine
GLAZUNOV Prelude and Fugue; Polka in D major RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Allegro for string quartet BORODIN Scherzo SIBELIUS Voces Intimae, opus 56 Already one of the country’s finest young quartets, the Navarras have increasingly developed their international profile, appearing at major festivals and venues throughout Europe and in Russia, the USA and Bahrain. Now Quartet in Association at the RNCM, their future engagements include return visits to the Wigmore Hall and Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Their ingenious programme reflects the evening’s operatic Double Bill, coupling Sibelius’s only mature chamber work, the wonderfully dark and restless masterpiece Voces Intimae, with miniatures by Rimsky-Korsakov and his friends written for Les vendredis – a series of Friday evening gatherings by Russian musicians in St Petersburg. The Navarras realise the music’s essential intensity… with their vivid sense of dramatic expression in an intensely detailed performance BBC Music Magazine
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25 July, 1pm
25 July, 3pm
St John’s Church
Palace Hotel
£13, 1 hour
£19, 1 hour 40 minutes
LOVE IN TIME OF UNICORNS WITH JOGLARESA
NORTHERN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Imagine the fantasy world of the Middle Ages: knights, ladies, lovers, nightingales, minstrels and unicorns. Some of the most beautiful medieval melodies are to be found in the courtly love-drenched world which so affected the culture and imagination of Europe throughout the last thousand years that C.S. Lewis described it as a ‘revolution’, compared to which ‘the Renaissance is a mere ripple on the surface of literature’. Early music’s ‘bit of rough’, Joglaresa sound more like a street band than a solemn early music group. There is nothing airy-fairy in this medieval music – Joglaresa embodies the boldness and improvisatory chutzpah that gets straight to the heart of medieval music. Joglaresa’s imaginative use of improvisation creates an exciting air of authenticity ... compulsive rhythmic energy ... luxuriantly ornamental solos The Daily Telegraph
*conducted by STEPHEN BARLOW MOZART Serenade in EH GERSHWIN Scenes from Porgy and Bess STRAUSS Sonatine no.1, From an Invalid’s Workshop* Writing for wind instruments was in Strauss’s blood – his father was an excellent horn player. Among his last works are the two lovely, discursive sonatinas for wind instruments. The first, From an Invalid’s Workshop, refers to the composer’s bouts of illness and depression, though don’t expect signs of feebleness or melancholy in this sunny score. The pleasingly buoyant interplay of melodies, scored for 16 wind instruments at full throttle, has charm and finesse aplenty, culminating in a cock-a-hoop finale – a fitting end to the 2012 concert series. The Northern Chamber Orchestra, joined by Stephen Barlow for the Strauss, brings their customary skill and enthusiasm to an engaging programme. Consistently stylish playing from the Northern Chamber Orchestra The Financial Times Stephen Barlow conducts the NCO with a smile and a lilt The Daily Telegraph, The Barber of Baghdad
54 Enjoy Buxton
9, 20 July: 12pm £7, including coffee 1 hour 30 minutes Old Hall Hotel
10, 19 July: 12pm £7, including coffee 1 hour 30 minutes Old Hall Hotel
12, 24 July: 12pm £7, including coffee 1 hour 30 minutes Old Hall Hotel
BUXTON: ITS BACKGROUND AND BEAUTY
ENTERTAINING BUXTON
THE FUTURE OF BUXTON’S HERITAGE
Ellen Outram’s walk takes in the architecture and beauty of Buxton’s buildings and shows how the town evolved through the Georgian and Victorian periods to become one of the most fashionable spa towns in the country. Relive the glorious past through the stories of its famous visitors and travel writers and hear the snippets that make Buxton such a hidden gem today. From the Devonshire’s connection to royal dissent, the town’s rich heritage comes to life.
This short walk takes in two concert halls, three bandstands and four theatres, with performers ranging from Paganini to Grappelli, from brass bands to the Beatles. Having worked on design or refurbishment of some of the venues, Trevor Gilman explains how they mirrored Buxton’s fortunes in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The story continues to the present day with the opening of the Pavilion Arts Centre.
From the Opera House, Slopes and Pavilion Gardens to the Devonshire Royal Campus and the ambitious plans for the Crescent and Thermal Spa, Buxton’s rich architectural heritage is enjoying a new lease of life through a programme of heritage-led regeneration. Conservation expert Richard Tuffrey leads a walk taking in all of these projects and more, looking at their recent and past history and some of the issues surrounding their restoration.
Enjoy Buxton 55
10, 20, 24 July: 3pm, Devonshire Dome 14 July: 12pm, Tideswell School of Food £6 1 hour
8, 15 July: 3pm £6 1 hour Devonshire Dome
A TASTE OF THE PEAKS Interactive cookery demonstrations led by four talented local chefs. AA rosette holders Simon Bradley from East Lodge Country House Hotel (20 July) and Todd Carroll from Buxton’s Nat’s Kitchen (10 July) show off their culinary skills, while chefs from the Tideswell School of Food (14 and 24 July) show us how to create a delicious meal with excellent local produce. Three demonstrations take place in the high-tech cookery suite at the University of Derby’s Devonshire Dome, while on 14 July we are welcomed to the cookery school in Tideswell to see the School of Food (as featured on BBC’s Village SOS) in action. This is a unique cookery school in the heart of the Peak District, offering a vast range of courses to suit all budgets and tastes. Specialist chefs ensure that the learning experience is varied and stimulating.
ART DEMONSTRATIONS New to the Festival, these fascinating art demonstrations will shed light on the unusual mixed-media techniques employed by the artists commissioned to create our Festival brochure front cover images in 2011 and 2012 – the very talented Rob Wilson (8 July) and Ingrid KarlssonKemp (15 July).
10 July 5pm £35 Old Hall Hotel
FRIENDS’ DINNER Supported by:
The long-established Festival tradition to share experiences with Friends now in its early evening slot so that you don’t have to miss any Festival events! All members and guests welcome. Please book through the Festival Box Office and note that seating is allocated.
56 Masses, Organ recitals and Fringe
FESTIVAL MASSES As these are church services, no tickets are required
St John’s Church 8 July 10.45am Mozart Spatzenmesse, K220
15 July 11.15am Haydn Mass no.10, Nelson Mass
Buxton Madrigal Singers and Orchestra, with soloists from the Festival Company, recorded by the BBC for broadcast on 15 July.
Buxton Musical Society Chorus and Orchestra, with soloists from the Festival Company.
22 July 11.15am Howells Collegium Regale
In partnership with:
Buxton Madrigal Singers
ORGAN RECITALS Promoted by St John’s Church Two recitals by Nicholas Haigh (Clare College, Cambridge) and Ben Bloor (New College, Oxford) on the four manual Hill organ in the glorious acoustic of St John’s Church.
10, 18 July 4.30pm St John’s Church £10, concessions £8
BUXTON FESTIVAL FRINGE 4–22 July The 2012 Fringe offers a spectacular programme of theatre, comedy, music, film, exhibitions, poetry, children’s events and more. One of the largest Fringes in England, it features some 500 events including a free afternoon sampler at the Pavilion Gardens on July 8. The Fringe is open to all with no selection or
censorship. The programme is published in early June and on www.buxtonfringe.org.uk, where you can order a printed programme and find out how to become a Fringe Friend. For queries email info@buxtonfringe.org.uk or call 01298 79351.
Booking information 57
BOOK EARLY!
BENEFACTORS, PATRONS AND FRIENDS Priority booking: 5–11 March
FRIENDS’ Priority booking: 12 March–1 April
PRIORITY BOOKING
GENERAL BOOKING
N.B. Priority booking is by post only
from 2 April
Priority booking (postal) is available to Benefactors, Patrons and Friends of Buxton Festival – a great benefit as many events sell quickly.
Telephone
FRIENDS’ MEMBERSHIP
Pre-Festival:
You can support the Festival and enjoy Friends’ benefits throughout the year. Contact us on 01298 70395 or friends@buxtonfestival.co.uk or join via the website.
Single membership £25 per annum
Joint membership £35 per annum
0845 12 72190
Box Office opening hours:
Please Note There is no postal booking after 2 April
Monday to Saturday, 10am–8pm Sunday, 4pm–8pm
During the Festival:
Every day 10am–8pm Sunday, 12pm–8pm, or 10am if Opera House performance Please do not call the Box Office before 2 April unless enquiring about tickets purchased during the priority period.
Online
www.buxtonfestival.co.uk (from 2 April)
In person
Buxton Opera House Water Street, Buxton, SK17 6XN
Box Office 0845 12 72190 from 2 April On-line booking via www.buxtonfestival.co.uk from 2 April
Tickets can also be bought on the door half an hour before each event, unless sold out.
Refunds
Tickets can neither be refunded nor exchanged. Box Office staff will try to re-sell tickets – a 10% administration fee will be charged.
General information 01298 70395
58 Prices and seating plans
Opera House
Pavillion Arts Centre Stage
Stage
Stalls A–J
Stalls
Stalls K–N
Bleacher
Stalls O–Q
Balcony
Dress Circle
Boxes
Upper Circle Boxes
Boxes Gallery
Performances at the Opera House Intermezzo
L’Olimpiade
Jephtha
The Marriage of Figaro
Too Hot to Handel
Double Bill The Turn of the Screw Stalls £ £ £ A–J 48 40 30 K–M 41 36 26 N–Q 31 28 19 Dress Circle 58 48 37 Boxes* 26 26 19 Upper Circle, A–D 41 36 26 Boxes* 20 20 15 Side seats* 10 10 10 Gallery 20 20 * Some seats have restricted view
Other performances (Tickets from the Opera House box office) Opera talks & Masses free Concerts £6 –£19 (see individual entries) The Tempest £10 stalls, £16 circle Literary events £6 , £10 Walks £7 Friends’ Dinner £35
Booking information 59
SPECIAL OFFERS
ACCESS INFORMATION
Only one offer per ticket. All offers are subject to availability.
Wheelchair users
Groups of ten or more
Receive a 10% discount for all performances except Saturday evenings.
See four or more operas and save!
SEE M
See page
59
SAV
E
A
ND
AS ER
ORE OP
Book tickets for four operas and deduct £3 from the cost of each ticket (excludes Gallery, Upper Circle Side seats and boxes).
Opera House Standby
Students, under 18s, the unwaged and senior citizens may purchase any available seat for a performance at half price from 6.45pm on the day of performance (excludes Saturdays). Personal callers at the box office only, proof of status required.
Under 16s
Go half price to all performances.
Under 30s – Festival for a Fiver
From 1 June all available seats are £5 for under 30s. Book at the Opera House box office or by phone. Tickets must be collected from the box office and proof of age provided. Festival for a Fiver tickets cannot be purchased over the internet. The offer excludes Festival Lunch.
Help with hearing
There are passive infra-red (PIR) systems in both the Opera House and Arts Centre for people with hearing impairments. This works through a special headset (rather than your hearing aid), which is available from the theatre – please reserve one when you book your tickets (a £10 cash deposit is required). There is also an induction loop system at the counter in both Box Offices.
Facilities for people with disabilities
Please call the Festival office on 01298 70395 for information about facilities for disabled people at all Festival venues. We will do our best to facilitate your visit to the Festival. The Festival reserves the right to make alterations to the programme, although it is correct at the time of going to press. In accordance with standard theatre policy, latecomers will not be admitted until a suitable break in the performance.
From London and back in a day
M DON ATI
T
.5
BY
9
NEE
Enjoy our matinee operas (Double Bill 17 July, Intermezzo 22 July) with special Festival transport from Macclesfield. P RA I e N se Board the 10am train from Euston to Macclesfield, then our coach to Buxton for a leisurely afternoon in Buxton and our 4pm opera. Then return to Macclesfield by coach and catch the 7.36pm train, back by 9.30pm. A perfect summer excursion! See our website for more details. Simply book your opera and coach tickets from us, and your train ticket separately. Coach ticket £10 LON
We are pleased to welcome people with disabilities to the Festival. At the Opera House there are four spaces for wheelchair users in the stalls and two seats designed for easy transfer from a wheelchair. There are also four spaces for wheelchair users at the Pavilion Arts Centre. Toilet facilities for the disabled are available in both venues.
Box Office 0845 12 72190 from 2 April
2012 Programme Book
The indispensable guide to the Festival, with more than 180 pages of details of all performances and artists, and also articles and background information on the operas and their composers. Order in advance and collect at the Festival. Price £12
On-line booking via www.buxtonfestival.co.uk from 2 April
THE BEST OF BUXTON AND BEYOND
This section is a guide to services in and around Buxton – where to stay, eat and what to do, to make your Festival visit even more enjoyable.
THE HISTORIC
Where to stay 61
For more information contact the Tourist Information Centre on 01298 25106 or www.visitpeakdistrict.com www.visitbuxton.co.uk
Non-Smoking Accommodation Private Car Park · En-suite Rooms
Guest Accommodation
19 Broad Walk · Buxton · SK17 6JR T: 01298 24904 E: enquiries@roseleighhotel.co.uk W: www.roseleighhotel.co.uk
a hotel for all seasons Intimate private dining, cosy atmospheric bar serving food, a fine restaurant overlooking the garden and 16 very well appointed bedrooms. Do come and visit, we would love to welcome you to The Peacock at Rowsley. Ian and Jenni MacKenzie General Managers.
w w w. t h e p e a c o c k a t r o w s l e y. c o m
62 Where to stay
9 GREEN LANE B&B 9 Green Lane Buxton SK17 9DP 01298 73731 book@9greenlane.co.uk www.9greenlane.co.uk ETCffffSilver Award Edwardian house, quietly located but within a ten minute walk of the Opera House. All rooms are fully en suite, each equipped with TV and hospitality tray to provide very comfortable accommodation. Ground floor rooms available. Private parking. B&B from £35 per person.
GRENDON GUEST-HOUSE Bishops Lane Buxton SK17 6UN 01298 78831 www.grendonguesthouse.co.uk VB bbbbb Gold Award Situated a 15 minute stroll from the Pavilion Gardens and Opera House, Grendon offers the warmest of welcomes and top notch hospitality. Spacious and luxurious en suite rooms with the most comfortable beds will ensure an excellent night’s rest. Award winning breakfasts and on site parking. B&B £40–£50 per person for double occupancy. £65–£80 single occupancy.
HIGH CROFT GUEST-HOUSE
B&BS, GUEST-HOUSES & SMALL HOTELS BUXTON VICTORIAN GUEST-HOUSE 3a Broad Walk Buxton SK17 6JE 01298 78759 buxtonvictorian@btconnect.com www.buxtonvictorian.co.uk AA & ETCfffffSilver Award Somewhere special! A warm welcome is assured at our 5-star rated non-smoking guest-house. Relax in one of 7 beautifully decorated en suite bedrooms, many overlooking the Pavilion Gardens and magnificent Opera House. Private car park. B&B from £38 per person based on 2 people sharing.
DEVONSHIRE LODGE GUEST-HOUSE Manchester Road Buxton SK17 6SB 01298 71487 enquiries@devonshirelodgeguesthouse.co.uk www.devonshirelodgeguesthouse.co.uk ETCffffSilver Award A friendly family-run guest-house. This fine Victorian house, located in the best area of Buxton, is just a 3 minute walk from the Opera House, Pavilion Gardens and main shopping precinct. B&B from £30 per person, based on 2 people sharing a double or twin room.
High Croft Manchester Road Chapel-en-le-Frith SK23 9UH 01298 814843 www.highcroft-guesthouse.co.uk bbbbb Gold Award, Breakfast Award, Michelin Recommended Just 10 minutes from Buxton, High Croft is an award-winning guest-house in two acres of peaceful, mature gardens adjoining golf course and Combs Reservoir with magnificent views – four beautiful en suite rooms, Sitting Room, elegant Dining Room, extensive breakfast menu. Prices from £40 per person.
OLDFIELD GUEST-HOUSE 8 Macclesfield Road Buxton SK17 9AH 01298 78264 avril@oldfieldhousebuxton.co.uk www.oldfieldhousebuxton.co.uk AA bbbb Highly Commended, AA Breakfast Award Spacious en suite rooms, comfortable beds, delicious breakfasts, friendly atmosphere, non-smoking, off-street car parking and within easy walking distance of the Opera House, restaurants and pubs. B&B £40 per person per night.
Where to stay 63
WESTMINSTER HOTEL
Joseph Apartment
21 Broad Walk Buxton SK17 6JR 01298 23929 enquiries@westminsterhotel.co.uk www.westminsterhotel.co.uk
3 The Square, Buxton, Derbyshire SK17 6AD T: 07855 134362 www.josephapartment-thesquare.co.uk
Small family-run hotel overlooking the Pavilion Gardens. Short stroll to Opera House. All rooms en suite and non-smoking. TV, tea and coffee making facilities. Large car park. Great food and warm welcome. B&B from ÂŁ35 per person.
Part of a historic former Georgian lodging house, this desirable, extremely spacious, first floor apartment is set within a Grade II listed landmark of Buxton. The square, in keeping with the design of the Crescent - has a colonnade around the perimeter and stands impressively opposite the Opera House and the Pavilion Gardens.
STADEN GRANGE Staden Lane Buxton SK17 9DZ 01298 70404 info@stadengrange.co.uk www.stadengrange.co.uk
Enjoy a stay in this elegant, south facing apartment, available from January 2012. Can accommodate up to 8 guests. Parking permits included.
Marvelous 4-star country house, six acres of farmland, woods and gardens on outskirts of Buxton, just 1.5 miles from centre. B&B, evening meals, bar, lounge, peaceful location, parking, family-owned. Self-catering apartment, campsite in the woods.
SELF CATERING ACCOMMODATION BLACKCLOUGH HOUSE AND BARN Quarnford, 4 miles from Buxton 07855 135106 sueryder@yahoo.co.uk www.blackclough.co.uk Facebook: blackclough farm house VB bbb Well furnished, spacious five bedroomed accommodation high on Axe Edge Moor, remote and peaceful with spectacular views of Dane Valley.
The perfect place to relax, unwind and explore the Peak District, just 10 minutes from Buxton Opera House
1 MARLBOROUGH MANSIONS Central Buxton 07792 281908 or 01296 681489 jeanedawson@hotmail.com www.22buxton.co.uk VB bbb Ideally located for Buxton Festival, just 5 minutes’ walk to the Opera House, shopping centre and restaurants in a quiet residential Edwardian property. A spacious 2 bedroom ground floor apartment with off-road parking and easy access (no steps). For more information, visit the website.
& MARTIN ON 01298 83219 www.WheeldonTreesFarm.co.uk
CALL DEBORAH WEB
64 Where to eat
SELF CATERING ACCOMMODATION cont. WHITEHOUSE BARN HOLIDAY COTTAGE Whitehouse Farm Thorncliffe Leek ST13 8UW 01538 300028 elen@whitehousebarncottages.co.uk www.whitehousebarncottages.co.uk Peak District Environmental Quality Award
Open for dinner Monday — Saturday
(also open Sunday 8 and 15 July for pre-theatre supper only)
Pre- and post-theatre suppers by reservation
Two green award-winning holiday cottages each for two people, 10 miles from Buxton, and overlooking one of the best views of the Peak District. Our welcome includes homemade bread, fresh eggs, local cake and ale.
Fresh food, locally sourced prepared and cooked to order Classically based cuisine with a modern edge
WHERE TO EAT THE CAFÉ @ THE GREEN PAVILION 4 Terrace Road Buxton 01298 77480 claire@greenpav.fsnet.co.uk www.greenpavilion.co.uk A stylish, fully licensed café, adjacent to the highly acclaimed Green Pavilion florists. Friendly relaxed atmosphere. Fresh food cooked daily. Enjoy lunch, brunch or a light snack made from wonderful local produce. Pre-theatre suppers available – see our daily specials boards for details.
NAT’S KITCHEN 9–11 Market Street Buxton SK17 6JY 01298 214 642 www.natskitchen.co.uk Set in the heart of Buxton, serving a full à la carte menu which utilises the wealth of good quality produce available locally. We also serve an extensive breakfast & lunch menu, and Sunday lunch is definitely not to be missed.
NO.6 THE SQUARE TEAROOMS 01298 213541 louise@no6tearooms.co.uk www.no6tearooms.co.uk Traditional English tearooms situated opposite the Opera House. Special Festival fare pre-opera with Champagne. Booking advisable. Open 10am–7pm. Festival fare available 5.30–7pm.
7 Hall Bank, Buxton SK17 6EW 01298 78752 columbine1@btinternet.com www.columbinerestaurant.co.uk
OLD HALL HOTEL The Square Buxton 01298 22841 info@oldhallhotelbuxton.co.uk www.oldhallhotelbuxton.co.uk Old Hall Hotel, Restaurant and Wine Bar across the square from the Opera House – the perfect and very popular venue for pre- and postOpera meals. Restaurant open from 12–2pm and then 5.15–11pm. Wine Bar open all day from 10am. Advanced bookings are advisable.
Where to eat 65
2-3 Cavendish Circus, Buxton. SK17 6AT
Tel 01298 24471
Experience authentic Thai Cuisine with genuine Thai hospitality Open all day from 12.00pm to 11.00pm. Special Lunch Menu from 12-2.30pm and Afternoon Tea from 2.30-5.00pm
www.simplythaibuxton.co.uk
66 What to do
WHAT TO DO
‘The first wonder of the Peak’ Charles Cotton 1680
BUXTON MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY Terrace Road Buxton SK17 6DA 01298 24658 buxton.museum@derbyshire.gov.uk www.derbyshire.gov.uk/leisure/buxton_museum Explore the geology, archaeology and creative spirit of the Peak District. The annual Derbyshire Open Art Exhibition showcases works by professional and amateur artists. Also showing: ’Sixty Glorious Years’ from the museum’s own collections, and artworks by Lynne Wilkinson.
Above and
Belo w G ro u n d
SIMPLY WALK Elen Rees 01538 300028 elen@whitehousebarncottages.co.uk www.simplywalk.co.uk
AD
F M RE IS E SI O N
Why not combine your stay with a two day walk along the beautiful River Dove, sampling the views and discovering some Peak District villages? Stay in Buxton or on route, we will either transport you or your luggage.
THE GREAT DOME
ART FAIR 21 st & 22 nd July 10am-4.30pm The Great Dome at The Royal Devonshire Campus, 1 Devonshire Road, Buxton SK17 6RY.
OPEN all year round
What to do 67
2 miles south of Buxton on the A515 road to Ashbourne
Brierlow Bar
The Biggest, Brightest & Best Independent Bookshop in Britain 90% of books at less than half price. The best in-depth selection of serious books on the widest range of subjects, a truly eclectic collection of titles for the discerning book buyer. ● Buxton Literary Festival Bookseller ● Derbyshire Literature Festival Bookseller ● Over 20,000 titles in 5,000 square feet ● Very large fiction and children’s sections ● Book ordering service available
● Extensive range of quality greeting cards ● Music CD’s from £2.99 ● Large free car park with picnic tables ● Tea, coffee and cold drinks the Arts Fiction
National Book Tokens are available and accepted here
Telephone: (01298) 71017 www.bookstore-uk.co.uk more books
more choice
OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK more value
DAVID MELLOR Design Museum, Café & Country Shop Come to the David Mellor Country Shop for the best of modern tableware and kitchenware, including the world famous David Mellor cutlery. Visit the Design Museum showing the full historic collection of Mellor designs from tea spoons to traffic lights, and try our café serving lovely local food. On the B6001 outside Hathersage. The Round Building, Hathersage, Sheffield S32 1BA Tel: 01433 650220 Open Mon to Sat 10am – 5pm Sun 11am – 5pm
davidmellordesign.co.uk
more books
more choice
Biography History Transport Books for children and many more...
more value
68 What to do
MU S IC HOL ID AYS
f o r
d i s c e r n i n g
t r a v e l l e r s
Venice - Opera at La Fenice We have a range escorted Opera holidays to Venice throughout the season, which include a first category seat at the beautiful La Fenice opera house: Staying at the 4* Hotel Monaco & Grand Canal for four nights we also include three guided walking tours and visits to the Guggenheim Collection and the Accademia art gallery. Operas include Verdi’s Rigoletto and La traviata, both of which received their first performance at La Fenice. Other operas are Bellini’s La sonnambula, Bizet’s Carmen and two more Verdi operas: Otello and the rarely performed I masnadieri. Price from £1,369 per person for four nights including flights, accommodation with breakfast, transfers, a first category opera ticket, two dinners, visits as described and the services of a Kirker tour escort. Dates available: 27 April, 24 June, 24 September, 22 November 2012 & 24 January 2013
If you prefer, we can arrange a tailor-made independent holiday for you on a date of your choice. Please ask for details.
New York Metropolitan Opera - Ask for details of our escorted holidays to New York and enjoy three star-studded performances at The Met as well as visits to the city’s finest galleries. To make a booking or request a brochure please call
020 7593 2284
quote code GBOF
kirkerholidays.com
We’re serving up inspirational cookery courses for all abilities, tastes and budgets. from baking bread to thai cooking, sausage making and private parties, our courses are certain to Whet your appetite! and When you buy a course at tidesWell school of food, you support the future of food in our community! to find out more, check availability or make a booking call us on 01298 871262 or visit WWW.tidesWellschooloffood.co.uk
bringing great food to life
What to do 69
Pavilion Gardens...
...experience much more than Opera Overlooking 23-acres of award winning landscaped gardens, during Festival season why not join us for breakfast, lunch or dinner or simply a quick drink before or after the performance at the Pavilion Café and choose from a mouth-watering variety of home cooked dishes with locally sourced ingredients from our specially selected Festival Menu. Open 9.30am-7.00pm during both Festivals.
Pre-s
a n d 7 p mn m p 5 n e e w t e rv at io 4 to m ak e a re se how dining b
in tm en To a vo id d is ap po
t p le as e ca ll 01
For further information tel: 01298 23114. St John’s Road, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 6BE www.paviliongardens.co.uk
29 8 23 11
70 Travel
IC HARD WI HARDW C
Ashwood Park
M A ET RE ST
EAGLE PARADE
AD BAKEWELL RO
S
RO AD
NT
Police Station
T
K( PE DE HAR ST TING RIA TON N) RO AD
M
E RK
AD RO
BRO AD WA L
K
Market Place
H
FIE FAIR
Coach Park
Town Hall
G HI
A6 to MANCHESTER, GLOSSOP, HAYFIELD, CHINLEY & NEW MILLS
LD
R ST. GE O RG ES TREE T
ST. GE
W AT E
ID BR
TERRACE ROAD
The Slopes
(PEDESTRIAN) DENS G AR
K BAN
Pavilion Gardens
Q
Old Hall Hotel
Opera House
Pavilion Arts Centre
ROAD
ING SPR
L HAL
GTON BURLIN
L CC MA
FIE LD R OAD
U
ON ATI ST
The Crescent
E AR
OAD SR N’ OH ST. J
ES
THE SQ
D OA
Buxton Station
T AN DR UA
St John’s Church
A55 to LEEK & MACCLESFIELD
TH E
Devonshire Dome
Cricket Ground
KR PAR
Palace Hotel
AD
OA D
RO
STREET
HI RE
K
AD RO
PARK R
DE VO NS
TR EE T
MAN CHE STE R
The Lee Wood Hotel
D ROA CE LA PA
A5004 to STOCKPORT & WHALEY BRIDGE
A6 to BAKEWELL, TIDESWELL & MATLOCK
BATH ROAD
WEST ROAD
AD RO LE DA LON DO NR OA D
A515 to ASHBOURNE
HOW TO GET TO BUXTON By car
Buxton is only an hour’s drive from the M1, M6, Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham and Derby. See www.theaa.com for a route planner.
Car parking
There are 1001 car park spaces in Buxton including:
Opera House
By rail
Regular inter-city trains from Euston to Macclesfield, Stockport and Manchester with connecting sevices to Buxton (journey time approx. three hours) See page 59 for our special matinee train offer from London. The last train from Buxton to Manchester leaves at 10.56pm.
National Rail Pay and display parking for 50 cars, including www.nationalrail.co.uk / 08457 48 49 50 2 spaces for the disabled. Charges: 1 hour 70p, 2 hours £1.20, 4 hours £2.50, By bus free after 6pm. Direct buses to Buxton operate from Chesterfield, Derby, Glossop, Huddersfield, Macclesfield, Pavilion Gardens Sheffield, Stockport and Stoke. Parking for 262 cars including 15 spaces for the disabled. Charges: 1 hour £1, 2 hours £1.60, For more information 4 hours £3, over 4 hours £5, free after 6pm. www.derbysbus.info www.traveline.org.uk / 0871 200 22 33 Palace Hotel www.nationalexpress.com / 08717 81 81 81 For non-residents: £4.50 for 3 hours and then £1 per hour. £7.50 spent on refreshments gives By air 3 hours free parking. Regular national and international flights to Please allow extra time if travelling by car on Manchester (44 [0] 161 489 3000) and Nottingham Carnival Day (14 July) East Midlands airports (44 [0] 871 919 9000)
Buxton’s only four star hotel, combining Victorian heritage with modern facilities The Barceló Buxton Palace is only a five minute walk from the Opera House and is set in five acres of landscaped gardens With 122 en-suite bedrooms and full leisure facilities including a 14-metre indoor pool, the hotel is an ideal choice for your visit to Buxton Festival Pre-theatre dinners available from 5.30pm
Palace Road Buxton SK17 6AG 01298 22001
Quote BF2012 to take advantage of these very special offers: Bed & Breakfast £67.50 per person sharing a double/twin room
palace@barcelo-hotels.co.uk
Dinner, Bed & Breakfast ONLY £82.50 per person sharing a double/twin room (Pre-theatre dining is available throughout the Festival)
www.barcelo-hotels.co.uk
(£20 per person per night single supplement)
SONG AT SIX Catch Festival artists each day on the bandstand in the Pavilion Gardens. Enjoy a song, a serenade, a surprise – ten minutes to relax in the busy Festival day.
FESTIVAL SPONSORS & SUPPORTERS Buxton Festival appreciates important financial assistance from:
The Festival gratefully acknowledges further support of many sponsors and donors including: Barceló Palace Hotel Best Western Lee Wood Hotel Brooke-Taylors Solicitors Columbine Restaurant East Lodge County House Hotel Going Digital The Green Pavilion Hewson & Howson Chartered Accountants Nat’s Kitchen Peak Imaging Tideswell School of Food Waitrose Local media partners: Buxton Advertiser High Peak Radio Pure Buxton
The Apollo Trust The Bingham Trust The Buxton Festival Education Fund The Buxton Hall Bank Trust The Delius Trust The Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Scholarship Fund The Joyce Fletcher Charitable Trust The John Ireland Trust The Rotary Club of Buxton
Registered Charity No.276957 Design: Glorious Creative