Opera.Music.Books 7–23 July 2017 buxtonfestival.co.uk
Diary Friday 7 July
Tuesday 11 July
6pm
Opera Talk
9am
7.15pm
Macbeth
10.15am Paddy Ashdown
9.45pm
Opening Night Party
12 noon
Saturday 8 July 9am
Jonathan Keates
10.15am Margaret Hodge 12 noon
Paul Lewis
2.30pm
Michael Haag
4.30pm
Carol Dyhouse
6pm
Opera Talk
7.15pm
Albert Herring
9pm
Barb Jungr
Sunday 9 July 10am
Nicholas Crane
10.45am Festival Mass 12 noon
Alwyn Mellor & Michael Pollock
2pm
Martin Bell
3.30pm
Claire Wickes & Tomos Xerri
5pm
Peter Conradi
6pm
A Song at Six
6pm
Opera Talk
7.15pm
Lucio Silla
9pm
Chris Ingham Quartet – Celebrating Hoagy
Monday 10 July 10am
Lynn Knight
Peter Hennessy
9am
Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones
10.15am A N Wilson
Raphael Wallfisch & John York
12 noon
The Fitzwilliam Quartet
1.15pm
Opera Talk
2pm
Nick Clegg
1.30pm
Dodo Street Band
2.30pm
The Consone Quartet
2.30pm
Macbeth
4.30pm
The Fitzwilliam Quartet & The Consone Quartet
7.30pm
The English Concert
6pm
A Song at Six
7.30pm
Lucy Worsley
6pm
Opera Talk
7.15pm
Macbeth
7.30pm
Lizzie Ball & James Pearson Trio
Wednesday 12 July 9am
Peter Hennessy & Lord Lisvane
10.15am Philip Hook
Saturday 15 July
Andrey Lebedev & Lotte Betts-Dean
9am
12 noon
Festival Walk
2pm
Jeremy Paxman
12 noon
Nova Guitar Duo
4pm
Paul Nilon & Nancy Cooley
2pm
Rory Stewart
3.30pm
Melvyn Tan
6pm
A Song at Six
6pm
Opera Talk
7.15pm
Albert Herring
7.30pm
Los Nacimientos
9pm
Lizzie Ball – Classical Kicks Live
12 noon
5pm
Organ Recital
6pm
A Song at Six
6pm
Festival Friends’ Reception
6pm
Opera Talk
7.15pm
Albert Herring
Thursday 13 July 9am
Sarah Churchwell
10.15am Chris Patten 12 noon
11.45am The Fibonacci Sequence
Ashley Riches, Ilker Arcayürek & Simon Lepper
12 noon
Festival Walk
2pm
Richard Dannatt
2.15pm
Christopher de Hamel
3.15pm
3.30pm
The Brodsky Quartet
Northern Chamber Orchestra Brass
4.30pm
Judith Mackrell
4.30pm
John Julius Norwich
6pm
A Song at Six
6pm
A Song at Six
7.30pm
Oz & Armonico: Drink to Music
6pm
Opera Talk
7.15pm
Lucio Silla
9pm
Joanna Eden – Embraceable Ella
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Friday 14 July
Michael Pennington
10.15am Federico Varese
Sunday 16 July 10am
Julian Glover
11.15am
Festival Mass
12 noon
Leonore Piano Trio
1.15pm
Opera Talk
2.30pm
Lucio Silla
7.30pm
David Starkey
7.30pm
Northern Chamber Orchestra
01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
Monday 17 July
Thursday 20 July
Saturday 22 July
10am
David Rutland
10am
David Crystal
9am
12 noon
Christian Blackshaw
12 noon
Il Letto
10.15am Douglas Carswell
2.30pm
Jeremy Greenstock
12 noon
Festival Walk
12 noon
4pm
Quatuor Mosaïques
2pm
Rev Richard Coles
The Endellion String Quartet
6pm
A Song at Six
2pm
Alan Johnson
Opera Talk
Scenes from an Opera – Macbeth
2pm
6pm
3.30pm
7.15pm
Y Tŵr
3.30pm
Northern Chamber Orchestra
Sarah Connolly & Joseph Middleton
6pm
A Song at Six
4pm
Annie Gray
6pm
Opera Talk
6pm
A Song at Six
7.15pm
Albert Herring
6pm
Opera Talk
7.30pm
Los Nacimientos
7.15pm
Lucio Silla
9pm
9pm
Joanne Harris – #storytime
Digby Fairweather’s Half Dozen
Tuesday 18 July 10am
Martin Pearce
12 noon
Roderick Williams & Iain Burnside
2pm
Stephen Anderton
2pm
Scenes from an Opera – Lucio Silla
Friday 21 July
3.30pm
Joo Yeon Sir & Irina Andrievsky
4.45pm
Kathryn Hughes
10.15am David Cannadine
6pm
A Song at Six
12 noon
6pm
Opera Talk
Heather Shipp & Stephen Barlow
7.15pm
Macbeth
12 noon
Festival Walk
2pm
Peter Stanford
2pm
Scenes from an Opera – Albert Herring
3.30pm
Imogen Cooper
4pm
Joanne Harris
5pm
Daniel Mathieson
6pm
A Song at Six
6pm
Opera Talk
7.15pm
Macbeth
7.30pm
Jay Rayner Quartet
Wednesday 19 July 9am
Lois Kendall
10.15am Tim Shipman 12 noon
Erich Höbarth & Susan Tomes
12 noon
Festival Walk
1.15pm
Opera Talk
1.30pm
Dinara Klinton
2.30pm
Albert Herring
5.15pm
Festival Friends’ Dinner
7.30pm
Patricia Routledge
7.30pm
Sir John Tomlinson, Rozanna Madylus and Counterpoise
Opera
Music
Books
9am
Raffaello Pantucci
Friends events
Mark Cocker
Sunday 23 July 11.15am
Festival Mass
12 noon
The Oldie Literary Lunch
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Partners
The Festival Circle Since its foundation in 1979, Buxton Festival has flourished thanks to local businesses, supporters and volunteers. By joining the Buxton Festival Circle you will play an important role in supporting the continuing development and growth of this nationally recognised cultural event, while also having the opportunity to promote your business.
We would like to welcome the following businesses to The Festival Circle in 2017: Best Western Lee Wood Hotel Brooke-Taylor Solicitors The Columbine Restaurant Glorious Creative Grosvener House Hotel Image Design & Print J Sidebotham & Son Jewellers John Hattersley Wines John Whibley ‘Holidays with Music’ The Old Clubhouse The Regency Apartment Roseleigh Hotel Simply Thai To join The Festival Circle please contact Randall Shannon on 01298 70395
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01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
Artistic Director’s introduction
This summer I am delighted to invite you to dive into the Buxton International Festival’s annual treasure trove of Operas, Concerts and Talks, confident that the diversity of offerings will tease the taste buds of the curious as well as satisfy those who prefer simply to hear great artistry in the works of the well known masters. To tempt those who travel far and look to immerse themselves in several days at a time, I have programmed around cycles of the three opera productions. Each cycle includes a performance of the operas in sequence, and concerts across the spectrum from piano and vocal recitals, to larger ensembles, accompanied by a stirring range of talks on historical subjects, politics and fiction. The three operas this summer make a satisfying trio. For Lucio Silla, The English Concert returns to the pit with once more Laurence Cummings as Conductor, and Director Harry Silverstein from Chicago makes his debut for the Festival with a long international career behind him. Verdi’s Macbeth, in the original version that was considerably more successful in the composer’s lifetime than the subsequent revision, forms the second in a trilogy of early Verdi operas Elijah Moshinsky directs for us, which he will complete in 2018 with Alzira. The Firenze version of 1847 is in every respect a collector’s item, very rarely seen, although many directors nowadays often steal bits of it for their productions of the later inflated version. Having made his name with Verdi with a justifiable passion for the early operas, Elijah Moshinsky’s trilogy, which began with Giovanna d’Arco, is already making its mark. Our production of Albert Herring completes a refreshing trio of productions with the return of Francis Matthews, Director, Adrian
Linford, Designer and Justin Doyle, Conductor, all of whom enjoyed success last summer with Tamerlano and I Capuleti respectively. On offer this summer on the concert platform is a truly stunning line-up of artists including Imogen Cooper, Paul Lewis, Christian Blackshaw and Melvyn Tan, the best of string quartet playing including a rare Quartet Day concluding with Mendelssohn’s evergreen Octet in its first flamboyant version, and vocal recitals amongst which you will find Sarah Connolly giving Nuits d’Été and Frauen Liebe und Leben, and Roderick Williams beginning the first of three annual concerts of the greatest of all Song Cycles for the Festival with Die Schöne Müllerin. You won’t want to miss Sir John Tomlinson in these pages either, with a special opportunity to hear a newly commissioned work especially for him by John Casken, in a particularly interestingly thought out programme from Counterpoise. You will certainly find less well known chamber music
here too, from Lalo, Dvořák and Tchaikovsky, this last in the shape of his huge Piano Trio programmed by the Fibonacci Sequence. As usual, the classics go hand in hand with the more infrequently performed which sums up the essence of the Festival. Special mention must be made of the three concerts given by our resident orchestra, the Northern Chamber Orchestra. This year, their 20th for the Festival, they spread across the range of their eclectic repertoire, from the grandeur of Gabrieli’s inspiring music for brass to fine-boned and joyful Mozart both in the splendidly hospitable St John’s Church. Along with our always effervescent elite chorus, the NCO forms the backbone of the Festival, providing a welcome to the host of guest artists, from the UK and abroad, and a warm invitation to our audiences from far and wide to immerse themselves in the highest quality opera, music and books. Stephen Barlow Artistic Director
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Macbeth Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901) Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. First performed Teatro della Pergola, Florence on 14 March 1847 Performed in Italian, with English side-titles A Buxton Festival production with the Buxton Festival Chorus and Northern Chamber Orchestra Following his victory in a civil war, the general Macbeth is feted with magical predictions that set he and his wife on a murderous path to destiny as they descend into madness and tyranny. Stephen Gadd, last seen in Buxton in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Kate Ladner, our Giovanna d’Arco in 2015, lead a stellar cast of singers, conducted by Festival Artistic Director Stephen Barlow and directed by world-renowned Verdi specialist Elijah Moshinsky.
Stephen Gadd Macbeth
Stephen Barlow Conductor
Kate Ladner Lady Macbeth
Elijah Moshinsky Director
Oleg Tsibulko Banco
Russell Craig Designer
Jung Soo Yun Macduff
Simon Corder Lighting Designer
Helen Bailey Lady-in-waiting/Dama Luke Sinclair Malcolm Richard Moore Doctor/Medico
Buxton Opera House Sponsored by
Fri 7, Fri 14, Tue 18, Fri 21 July 7.15pm Tue 11 July 2.30pm Tickets: £20–£75
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01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
Albert Herring
Benjamin Britten (1913–76) Libretto by Eric Crozier Sung in English, with side-titles A Buxton Festival production with the Buxton Festival Chorus and Northern Chamber Orchestra There’s a crisis in the Suffolk town of Loxford. The day of the annual May Festival is getting closer, and all the possible candidates for the role of May Queen have been deemed unsuitable by the formidable Lady Billows and her committee of civic bigwigs. Then a new idea comes up – why not break with tradition and appoint a May King, as a suitably virginal young man presents himself: the greengrocer’s son, Albert Herring. Francis Matthews, whose 2016 production of Tamerlano has been nominated for a Manchester Theatre Award, returns to Buxton to direct Britten’s jocular parody of small-town life, conducted by Justin Doyle. The production is generously supported by Friends of Buxton Festival
Bradley Smith Albert Herring
Sophie Gallagher Emmie
Yvonne Howard Lady Billows
Bonnie Callaghan Cis
Heather Shipp Mrs Herring Lucy Schaufer Florence Pike Mary Hegarty Miss Wordsworth Nicholas Merryweather Mr Gedge Jeffrey Lloyd Roberts Mr Upfold, Mayor
Justin Doyle Conductor Francis Matthews Director Adrian Linford Designer Simon Corder Lighting Designer
Kathryn Rudge Nancy Morgan Pearse Sid John Molloy Superintendent Budd
Buxton Opera House Sat 8, Wed 12, Sat 15, Sat 22 July 7.15pm Wed 19 July 2.30pm Tickets: £20–£75
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Lucio Silla Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–91) Libretto by Giovanni de Gamerra Sung in Italian with English side-titles A co-production with Buxton Festival and The English Concert In ancient Rome, the dictator Lucio Silla is in love with Giunia, the daughter of his defeated enemy, and plots to separate her from her love, Cecilio, leading to attempted assassination and suicide, before Silla realises the purity of Giunia and Cecilio’s love and renounces his tyrannous ways.
Joshua Ellicott Lucio Silla
Laurence Cummings Conductor
Fflur Wyn Celia
Harry Silverstein Director
Rebecca Bottone Giunia
Linda Buchanan Designer
Madeleine Pierard Cecilio
Simon Corder Lighting Designer
Karolina Plicková Lucio Cinna
Conductor Laurence Cummings and The English Concert return to Buxton following their triumphant Tamerlano in 2016 (nominated Best Opera, Manchester Theatre Awards) with the 16-year-old Mozart’s opera telling the story of a tyrant redeemed by love.
Ben Thapa Aufidio
Buxton Opera House Sun 9, Thu 13, Thu 20 July 7.15pm Sun 16 July 2.30pm Supported by The Directors Circle
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Tickets: £20–£75
01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
Y Tŵr
Guto Puw (b.1971) Libretto by Gwyneth Glyn (b.1979) A new opera, based on the play by Gwenlyn Parry A Music Theatre Wales & Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru production originally presented by Sherman Theatre and the Vale of Glamorgan Festival 2017 Sung in Welsh with English side-titles Following its recent triumphs at Buxton Festival with The Golden Dragon, The Killing Flower and Greek, Music Theatre Wales returns with another compelling new opera, directed by Michael McCarthy, in a co-production with Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru, the Welsh-language National Theatre of Wales. Y Tŵr explores the extremes of emotion experienced by two lovers over the course of a lifetime together. Based on the work of one of Wales’ most important playwrights, this touching and lyrical new opera is an intimate story of love and life set within The Tower of its title – a metaphor for any relationship with all its complexities and challenges. Gwenlyn Parry’s acclaimed play is brought to new life by composer Guto Puw and singer-songwriter-playwright Gwyneth Glyn.
Caryl Hughes Female
Richard Baker Conductor
Gwion Thomas Male
Michael McCarthy Director Samal Blak Designer Ace McCarron Lighting Designer Sara Lloyd Associate Director
Buxton Opera House Mon 17 July 7.15pm Tickets: £16–£55
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There are five levels of membership to choose from starting from just £30 Buy your membership today online www.buxtonfestival.co.uk The Festival Friends are proud sponsors of Albert Herring at the 2017 Festival
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01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
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Friday 7 July
Macbeth
Opera Talk 6pm–6.30pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £2.50 Fascinating insights into the creation of this year’s operas.
Opera
Music
Books
7.15pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £20–£75 (see p.6)
Friends events
Opening Night Party From 9.45pm Pavilion Café Tickets: £10 Following tonight’s performance of Macbeth, why not join us for a celebration in the Pavilion Café, where you can mix with your friends and members of the Festival company, grab a drink and enjoy live music.
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Saturday 8 July Jonathan Keates Why do we love Handel’s Messiah? 9am–10am St John’s Church Tickets: £10.50
Paul Lewis
Messiah – how it became an essential element of British culture. Jonathan Keates, author of a celebrated biography of Handel: ‘at the first performance in Dublin, 1742, the audience was begged to leave off their hoops (the ladies) and their swords (the gentlemen) because of the size of crowd expected’.
12 noon–1.30pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £35
Margaret Hodge
Recently appointed CBE, Paul Lewis brings a glittering and diverse programme from Bach to Weber, with which he will have travelled the world before landing in Buxton, including Amsterdam, Chicago, Bratislava, Vancouver, Boston, New York and Bilbao. His concentration on Beethoven and Schubert in recent years with much lauded recordings has attracted the highest praise for his insights and conviction; Gramophone magazine suggested ‘that he has developed arguably into the finest Schubert interpreter of his generation’, but it was with Beethoven Sonatas and Concertos that he established himself firmly in the worldwide pantheon of great pianists. Gramophone made no bones about his complete recordings of Beethoven sonatas, saying that it was ‘one of the most highly prized recording marathons of recent years… an unmissable benchmark’.
Called to Account – How corporate bad behaviour and government waste combine to cost us millions 10.15am–11.15am Buxton Opera House Tickets: £12.50
Chair of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, 2010–15, Margaret Hodge is the scourge of waste and inefficiency. She has helped to disclose the chicanery of companies out to avoid tax, takes us on a fascinating journey inside the NHS, the BBC, Defence, Amazon, Starbucks and G4S, and comes to radical conclusions about how things must be improved.
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piano
Bach Partita No. 1 in B flat major, BWV 825 Beethoven Piano Sonata No 4 in E flat major, Op 7 Chopin Waltz in A minor, Op 34 No 2 Chopin Waltz in F minor, Op 70 No 2 Chopin Waltz in D flat, Op 64 No 1 (The Minute Waltz) Weber Piano Sonata No 2 in A flat, J199, Op 39
Michael Haag
in conversation with Simon Seligman The Durrells of Corfu 2.30pm–3.30pm / Pavilion Arts Centre / Tickets: £10.50 From the author of Alexandria, The tragedy of the Templers and the quest for Mary Magdalene, this celebrated historian turns to the story of what really happened to Gerald Durrell’s ‘Family and other Animals’. We meet the real-life characters the Durrells encountered in Corfu, hear of Margo’s daring return during the war to join the Greek resistance and Larry’s perilous escape by sea to Alexandria.
01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
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Opera talk 6pm–6.30pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £2.50 Fascinating insights into the creation of this year’s operas.
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Albert Herring 7.15pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £20–£75 (see p.7)
Barb Jungr Carol Dyhouse
Heartthrobs: A History of Women and Desire 4.30pm–5.30pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10.50 From dreams of Prince Charming or dashing military heroes, to the lure of dark strangers and vampire lovers; from rock stars and rebels, soul-mates to dependable family types, female fantasies about men tell us as much about the history of women as about masculine icons, says Carol Dyhouse, distinguished Professor of Social History and expert on ‘glamour’. How the changing position of women has shaped their dreams about men!
Opera
Music
Books
Hard Rain – The songs of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen 9pm–10.30pm / Pavilion Café / Tickets: £20 Barb Jungr, ‘the alchemist among jazz singers’ (Telegraph), has been described by Billy Bragg as ‘possibly our greatest interpreter of Dylan’s songs’. She’s no slouch with Cohen’s either. In Hard Rain she brings together these two colossal talents, to perform some of their most political work. Accompanied by piano and double bass, Barb’s thrilling reinterpretations speak to us urgently about the world we’re living in right now. It’s potent stuff, but these brilliant writers’ sardonic wit coupled with Barb’s unquenchable life force and freewheeling humour make this a thrilling and cathartic evening. ‘Barb Jungr interprets [Dylan and Cohen’s] work with a ferocity and truthfulness that demolishes every cover version you’ve ever heard’ – New York Times ‘a genuine original, deploying warmth, high drama and sensitive musicality to reinvent everything she sings’ – Time Out New York
Friends events
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Sunday 9 July Nicholas Crane
BBC Coast presenter and geographer on ‘The Making of the English Landscape’ 10am–11am Buxton Opera House Tickets: £12.50 Around 9700 BC Britain became a little warmer, and that’s where Nicholas Crane’s story begins. A tale of stops and starts – devastating at times, uplifting at others. ‘When the Roman emperor Claudius invaded Britain in AD 43, he came with an army of psychopathic builders and the landscape was soon altered beyond recognition. And then the climate changed once more… to care about a place, you must know its story’. Nicholas Crane gives us that story.
Festival Mass
Mozart Missa Brevis in C, K259
Alwyn Mellor soprano
Michael Pollock piano
12 noon–1pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £20 Schubert An die Musik; Im Abendrot Mahler Rückert-Lieder – Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft; Liebst du um Schönheit; Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder; Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen Wagner Wesendonck-Lieder – Der Engel; Stehe Still!; Im Treibhaus; Schmerzen; Träume Barber The Daisies; Sure on this shining night John Duke Nobody knows this little Rose; Bee! I’m expecting you! Lancashire born, Alwyn Mellor took the world by storm combining both Italian and German repertoires, assailing the heights of acclaim as she became one of most sought after Wagnerian sopranos. Her combination of superb control and vocal stamina with acutely intelligent musicality and stage presence have justifiably taken her from Seattle’s Wagner Cycles, recorded with Asher Fisch, all over Europe and the USA in the roles of Brunnhilde, Isolde and many others. Wagner’s exquisite Wesendonck Lieder are a glance into his little acknowledged tender creativity, full of love for the woman who composed the very texts he set but he knew was unattainable, and make a subtle partner for Mahler’s Rückert Lieder, equally gentle but in a way much more deeply inward looking and resigned. Samuel Barber remains a much underrated composer, and his songs are miniatures of insight and melodic beauty.
10.45am–12 noon St John’s Church Free
Martin Bell
With Buxton Musical Society and Orchestra and soloists from the Buxton Festival Chorus
2pm–3pm / Pavilion Arts Centre / Tickets: £10.50
Conducted by Michael Williams To be recorded by BBC Radio 4 for future broadcast.
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War and the Death of News Martin Bell, soldier, war correspondent, Independent MP, the ‘man in the white suit’. From Vietnam to Bosnia he has witnessed wars for half a century. He writes of the pity of war and (usually) its futility; of the failures when armed force is chosen by politicians who have had no personal experience of it; of a TV news that censors the real world violence; of a journalism in retreat. The Death of News: ‘an essential read,’ says Terry Waite, ‘for all who value truth and integrity in journalism’.
01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
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Claire Wickes flute Tomos Xerri harp
Claire Wickes and Tomos Xerri are fast rising stars amongst wind and harp players. Claire, having made speedy progress with positions in the BBCSO and the Philharmonia before settling in as Principal Flute at the ENO, pursues a diverse career as soloist and chamber musician, and this eclectic and bold programme with the harpist Tomos Xerri demonstrates their refreshingly catholic enthusiasms. Tomos Xerri is a multiple award winner, and in addition to a full schedule of concerto and chamber music appearances devotes considerable energy to outreach work. Their enticing kaleidoscopic programme which will enchant and intrigue the ear, is tailor made for the lovely acoustics of St John’s.
6pm–6.30pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £2.50 See p.13
Peter Conradi
Foreign Editor of the Sunday Times on ‘Who Lost Russia’: The New Cold War 5pm–6pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10.50 Peter Conradi witnessed the collapse of the Soviet Union firsthand as a foreign correspondent in Moscow. In his new book he argues that the West has made a powerful new enemy in Russia because of consistent failure to understand the country and its motives. In a striking parallel with the humiliation of postWorld War I Weimar Germany, a new Russia has emerged with an upgraded arsenal of weapons and a determination to assert its interests. Can we get relations back on track before it’s too late?
A Song At Six
Supported by
6pm–6.10pm Pavilion Gardens Bandstand Free Al fresco song from members of the Festival Chorus and Young Artists.
Opera
Music
Books
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Opera Talk
3.30pm–5pm St John’s Church Tickets: £18 Ibert Entr’acte Fauré Après un rêve; Hymne; Morceau de Concours (arr. Tomos Xerri & Claire Wickes) Debussy Chansons de Bilitis Takemitsu Toward the Sea Liam Mattison New Commission Piazzolla Histoire du Tango
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Friends events
Lucio Silla 7.15pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £20–£75 (see p.8)
Chris Ingham Quartet
Celebrating Hoagy 9pm–10.30pm Pavilion Café Tickets: £20 Sold out at Ronnie Scott’s in 2014 and 2015, a festival hit in Canterbury, Edinburgh, Rye, Devizes, Caterham, Norwich, Woolpit and Bury St Edmunds and a Sunday Times Top 10 Jazz album of 2014, Chris Ingham’s Celebrating Hoagy is packed with the songs and stories of one of America’s most enduring and endearing songwriters. Wry, wise, sentimental, down-home and sophisticated, Hoagy Carmichael’s songs (Stardust, How Little We Know, Georgia On My Mind, Skylark, Ole Buttermilk Sky, Lazy Bones) are beloved for their warmth, wit and melodic beauty.
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Monday 10 July Christopher de Hamel Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts
2.15pm–3.15pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10.50
Lynn Knight
The Button Box: The story of women in the 20th Century, told through the clothes they wore 10am–11am Gardens Marquee Tickets: £10.50 Who knew that most corsets and trousseau items used to be made by nuns, or that Amy Johnson was dressed by Schiaparelli on her record-breaking 1936 flight to Cape Town? Or that massproduced clothes were at first disapproved of on moral grounds: women who were liberated from the drudgery of domestic sewing had dangerously ‘increased opportunity for idleness’. Lynn Knight takes us on an ingenious tour of domestic and social history over the last century or so.
Festival Walk
Buxton: Its Beauty and Background 12 noon–1.30pm Pavilion Gardens Bandstand Tickets: £8 See p.34
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The Fibonacci Sequence 11.45am–1.15pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £20 Schulhoff Duo for Violin & Cello Tchaikovsky Piano Trio in A minor, Op 50
The man who has examined more medieval manuscripts than anyone in history, Christopher de Hamel, invites us into intimate conversations with 12 of the most famous manuscripts in existence to explore nearly a thousand years of medieval history. He introduces the Hours of Jeanne de Navarre, the private prayer book of a French queen, as small as the palm of her hand, which was passed from princess to princess down the royal line to three queens of different countries, each a direct descendant of the canonised French king, Saint Louis, until it was looted on the personal orders of Hermann Göring. Cultural best-seller of the season; an endlessly fascinating and enjoyable book, says Neil MacGregor.
Every performance by the ‘Fibs’ includes programming that offers new insights from the juxtapositions of specific chamber music repertoire. They are the fruits of Kathron Sturrock’s instinctive and inspired approach, often including less well known works of the great composers. This programme is typically bold and intriguing, centred around Tchaikovsky’s huge Piano Trio, a work that the composer showed little enthusiasm to work on at first but subsequently delivered a major work of great substance. It always seems for the wrong reasons to need reviving, such is its rarity in the concert hall. Along with the Leonore Trio’s later Festival performances of Lalo and Dvořák’s piano trios, this performance is unmissable. Kathron is the founder and artistic director of the ‘Fibs’ and is rightly praised as one of this country’s finest chamber musicians.
01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
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Judith Mackrell The Unfinished Palazzo
4.30pm–5.30pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10.50 Judith Mackrell , author and renowned dance critic, brings to life the history of Venice’s mysterious and idiosyncratic Palazzo Venier dei Leoni through the lives of three of its eccentric, passionate, and rule-breaking residents – Luisa Casati, Doris Castlerosse, and Peggy Guggenheim. All led scandalous lives, had a passionate interest in art, a fascination with sex, a deep love of Venice and glamorous parties. Their guests included d’Annunzio and Nijinsky, Noel Coward and Cecil Beaton and Yoko Ono.
The Brodsky Quartet 3.30pm–5pm St John’s Church Tickets: £25 Schubert Quartettsatz in C minor Barber Adagio from Quartet, Op 11 Beethoven String Quartet, Op 135 Shostakovich String Quartet No 5 in B flat major, Op 92
Sponsored by
The Brodskys have literally crossed all bridges and turned every corner since 1972 when the Quartet was formed. No repertoire has escaped their attention and mastery of it, and their renewal year on year has maintained their position as one of the most widely sought after of all Quartets. Their massive discography that includes working famously with Elvis Costello and music by John Joubert, Zemlinsky, Janáček, Beethoven, Elgar, Brahms, Schönberg to name only a few shows their appetite for universal appeal is undimmed. The Brodsky’s complete cycle of Shostakovich though competes at the highest level, rivalling those of the Emerson and Fitzwilliam quartets. His very personal 5th quartet in this attractive and substantial programme is an inspired partner to Beethoven’s cleansing Op 135, the composer’s 6pm–6.10pm last completed major work.
Oz & Armonico – Drink To Music 7.30pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £17, £21 Armonico Consort & Baroque Players with Oz Clarke Christopher Monks Director Eloise Irving countertenor William Towers solo countertenor The splendidly imaginative and thoughtful Armonico Consort makes a delicious return to the Festival with one of the most talented and invigorating wine writers of our time, Oz Clarke. Christopher Monks’ company combines top quality period practice performance with innovative concert planning crossing many borders as they go, fearlessly and without compromise. This programme’s inspired partnership with the infectiously communicative Oz Clarke promises beautiful and interesting music folded around Oz’s inimitable enthusiasm with encyclopaedic knowledge, and an attractive journey through the world of wine tasting.
A Song At Six
Pavilion Gardens Bandstand Free See p.15
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Tuesday 11 July Peter Hennessy 9am–10am St John’s Church Tickets: £10.50 Peter Hennessy is joined by a leading political figure (to be announced) to discuss the most pressing issues in Britain today. Full information available on Festival website.
Paddy Ashdown Game of Spies
10.15am–11.15am Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10.50 Paddy Ashdown returns to Buxton with a riveting three-way spy story set in occupied France, and the great betrayal by aristocratic and right-wing Resistance leader André Grandclément. The story centres on three men: one British, one French and one German, and the duel they fought in an atmosphere of collaboration, betrayal, assassination, bedhopping and executions in the city labelled ‘la plus collaboratrice’ in the whole of France. Sponsored by
Raphael Wallfisch cello John York piano
Opera Talk
12 noon–1pm / St John’s Church / Tickets: £18 Beethoven Variations on a theme from Mozart’s The Magic Flute Schubert Sonata in A minor ‘Arpeggione’, D821 Franck Cello Sonata in A major In this, their 35th anniversary year of partnership, it is a great joy to welcome Raphael and John back to Buxton with a programme of great works for cello and piano. Raphael Wallfisch has probably produced more recordings than any other cellist with a repertoire that is truly broad, and an especial passion for commissioning and playing British concertos from all the great composers of today and earlier in the 20th century. He breathes music, coming from an intensely musical background that surrounded him as a child. His interpretations always have sensitivity and power, musicality and intellect. But it is his partnership with the virtuosic John York over such a long period that will open one’s ears afresh to the charming Beethoven variations, the evergreen Arpeggione and utterly romantic Franck sonata.
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1.15pm–1.45pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £2.50 See p.13
Macbeth 2.30pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £20–£75 (see p.6)
01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
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Lucy Worsley At Home with Jane Austen
7.30pm–9.30pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £17, £21 Festival & Fringe Showcase
‘The undisputed Queen of TV history’ – Guardian
Dodo Street Band 1.30pm–2.30pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10 In the first of two events co-hosted by the Festival and our friends at Buxton Festival Fringe, we welcome the Dodo Street Band, combining diabolical fiddle virtuosity from international star Adam Summerhayes, outrageous brilliance from world number one recorder genius Piers Adams, horrifyingly high-ABV insanity from accordion master Murray Grainger, positively evil power from bass legend Malcolm Creese and dazzling bodhran playing from multi awardwinning king of folk percussion, Cormac Byrne. In association with
The English Concert 7.30pm–9.30pm St John’s Church Tickets: £25
Dr Lucy Worsley, Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces, hugely popular writer, broadcaster and speaker, is passionate about making history engaging to the widest possible audience. Her new biography of Jane Austen takes at new look at Jane Austen’s life from the perspective of her bi-centenary. It considers what home meant to Jane, and tells the story through the rooms, spaces, possessions and places which mattered to her. Dispelling the myth of the cynical, lonely spinster, Lucy instead offers us a witty and passionate woman of her time, who refused to settle for anything less than Mr Darcy.
Haydn Flute Quartet, Hob II Mozart (after Bach) Adagio and fugue Mozart Flute quartet No 3 in C, K285b JC Bach Flute quartet in C, WB 58 Mozart (after Bach) Adagio and fugue Mozart Flute quartet no 1 in D, K285
The illustrious soloists of The English Concert, not so often heard in more intimate chamber music, step out of the pit for Lucio Silla with a programme chosen from the wunderkind’s shower of graceful chamber works, at a time when Mozart was disillusioned with his situation in Salzburg but inspired by his acquaintance with the virtuosi of the famous Mannheim Orchestra. His music in this form is full of galanterie but effortlessly inventive melodically, and gratefully acknowledging Papa Haydn’s fertility of imagination and innovative gesture. It is music that flows with ease and enchantment when the composer’s life was uneasy and full of doubts about future employment.
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Wednesday 12 July Peter Hennessy & Lord Lisvane
Parliament and The Kingdom to Come 9am–10am St John’s Church Tickets: £10.50 Two experts, Peter Hennessy and Lord Lisvane (formerly, as Clerk of the House of Commons, Sir Robert Rogers), talk about the constitutional position of the United Kingdom.
Festival Walk Roman Buxton
12 noon–1.30pm Pavilion Gardens Bandstand Tickets: £8
Philip Hook
The Sotheby’s expert on the gullible rich and a multi-billion dollar international art market
Andrey Lebedev
10.15am–11.15am Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10.50
12 noon–1pm St John’s Church Tickets: £15
Philip Hook takes the lid off the world of art dealing through the ages to reveal the brilliance, cunning, greed and daring of its practitioners. From its beginnings in Antwerp, where paintings were sometimes sold by weight, to the rich hauteur of the contemporary gallery in London, Philip Hook’s history is one of human folly, greed and duplicity, interspersed with ingenuity, inspiration and acts of heroism.
‘Cast thy nighted colour off’ Dowland Selection of lute songs arranged for voice and guitar Britten Folksong Arrangements for voice and guitar Brett Dean Gertrude Fragments de Falla Canciones Populares Espanolas
guitar
Lotte Betts-Dean mezzo soprano
Brian Shepherd leads this walk around the Roman sites of Buxton (or Aquae Arnemetiae as it was known), from the Celtic spiral mound to the Roman British temple base dedicated to Epona goddess of horse racing, from the Gardens oval race track and the Roman grandstand to the Roman town centre.
Both these exciting artists are already much travelled, and not only because they hail from Australia but have now settled in London, although Andrey moved there shortly after his birth in Moscow. The pairing of Mezzo Soprano with Guitar has produced a programme full of exquisite delicacy, combining music from four composers all of whom had an exceptional, innate sympathy with both guitar and the voice. Both artists share a passion for breaking boundaries across repertoire, which is both refreshing and inspirational. They have found connections such as between Britten and Dowland, and Brett Dean is without doubt one of the most successful and accessible of today’s composers. Supported by
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01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
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Organ Recital
Peter Hennessy
5pm–6pm St John’s Church Tickets: £12
2pm–3pm Gardens Marquee Tickets: £10.50
A recital on the four manual Hill organ in the glorious acoustic of St John’s Church from a leading Cambridge Organ Scholar.
A Life in Questions
4pm–5.30pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £20
To be ‘Paxoed’, a new verb added to the English language inspired by Britain’s most controversial and combative interviewer. Peter Hennessy talks to Jeremy Paxman, the unforgiving star of BBC Newsnight, supreme inquisitor who delights in skewering public figures with his relentless grilling. From John Major to Theresa May, Tony Blair to Ed Miliband, few have escaped. Forthright and uncompromising, he talks about the principles that have governed his professional life, the inner workings of the BBC, the role of journalists in political debate and the scandals and rows of which he has been a part.
Scarlatti Gia il sole dal Gange Caldara Selve amiche Scarlatti Spesso vibra Mozart An Chloe, K524; Eisam ging ich juengst im Haine, K308; Lied zur Gesellenreise, K468; Das Veilchen, K476 Britten Canticle 1 – My beloved is mine; The Ash Grove; The Miller of Dee; The foggy, foggy dew Mayr Luci mie belle Donizetti Amore e morte Bellini Vaga luna Verdi Cupo e il sepolcro e mutolo Mercadante Lamento d’un moribondo Quilter Drink to me only with thine eyes; Over the mountains; June; To Dasies; Love’s Philosophy Tosti Ideale; L’alba separa dalla luce l’ombra
The Festival’s opera repertoire this summer is perceptively reflected in Paul Nilon’s broad-ranging recital programme of ‘bel canto’, Mozart and Britten, but it also echoes his illustrious career on stage and in concert which has established him as one of the UKs most sought after lyric tenors. His interpretation of the title role of Idomeneo is seen now to be definitive, along with his domination of Britten’s operatic major roles. Audiences will remember Paul’s astounding performance in 2016 as Bajazet in the Festival’s production of Tamerlano, and he exemplifies a truly all-round artistry that inspires all around him and unfailingly attracts the widest praise from opera directors, colleagues and audiences alike.
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Jeremy Paxman
in conversation with
Paul Nilon tenor Nancy Cooley piano
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A Song At Six 6pm–6.10pm Pavilion Gardens Bandstand Free See p.15
Opera talk 6pm–6.30pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £2.50 See p.13
Festival Friends’ Reception 6pm 6 The Square Piano Lounge Tickets: £20 Enjoy a pre-performance drink and nibbles with members of the Friends of Buxton Festival and VIP guests before the opening night of Albert Herring.
Albert Herring 7.15pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £20–£75 (see p.7)
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Thursday 13 July Chris Patten
First Confession 10.15am–11.15am Buxton Opera House Tickets: £12.50
Sarah Churchwell in conversation with
Rod Dubrow-Marshall
The Trump Era – Hopes and Fears for the US and the World 9am–10am / St John’s Church / Tickets: £10.50 Professorial Fellow in American Literature and Chair of Public Understanding of the Humanities at the School of Advanced Study, University of London Sarah Churchwell, author of Careless People: Murder, Mayhem and The Invention of The Great Gatsby and The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe, talks to Rod Dubrow-Marshall about the Trump era.
Chris Patten, a cradle Catholic, one of the most prominent Tory ‘Wets’ of the 1980s and 1990s, Chairman of the Conservative Party, last Governor of Hong Kong, European Commissioner for External Affairs, Chancellor of Oxford University, Chairman of the BBC, advisor to the Pope – as he self-deprecatingly puts it ‘a Grand Poo-bah, the Lord High Everything Else’ takes us behind the scenes, showing us unexpected sides of many of the great figures of the day… and himself.
Ashley Riches bass-baritone Ilker Arcayürek tenor Simon Lepper piano 12 noon–1pm / Pavilion Arts Centre / Tickets: £15 Schubert Ganymed; Lied eines Schiffers an die Dioskuren; Gruppe aus dem Tartarus; Der Atlas Schubert Songs of the Harper Ravel Don Quichotte à Dulcinée Poulenc Les gars qui vont à la Fête Schumann Der Soldat Schumann Auf der trinkglas ein verstorbenes Butterworth Is my team ploughing? Vaughan Williams It was a lover and his lass Schumann Die Lotosblume, Op 33 No 3; Bedeckt mich mit Blumen, Op 138 No 4; Blaue Augen hat das Mädchen, Op 138 No 9
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Two BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists bring an eclectic programme to be savoured for this Recital to be recorded by the BBC for future broadcast. Both artists have excelled since graduating, British-born Riches at the ROH and Turkish-born but Viennese-educated Arcayürek at Zurich Opera, and are now in demand in the UK and in Europe. The ubiquitous doyen of song recital accompanying Simon Lepper, so well known to Buxton audiences has designed a programme full of musical and poetic variety and connections, drawing together Schubert and Ravel, Schumann, Butterworth and Vaughan-Williams. In association with
01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
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Richard Dannatt Boots on the Ground 2pm–3pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10.50 A man not afraid of speaking ‘truth to power’, General Lord Dannatt assesses the Iraq operation of 2003 as the biggest blunder in post-war defence and foreign policy, and for the Army perhaps the biggest in its 350year history. Richard Dannatt brings 40 years of military service, including as Chief of the General Staff, to examine how the British Army has shaped – and been shaped by – world events from the Cold War to the Good Friday Agreement to the EU Referendum.
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John Julius Norwich
The Four Princes 4.30pm–5.30pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10.50 Four great princes – Henry VIII of England, Francis I of France, Charles V of Spain and Suleiman the Magnificent – were born within a single decade. John Julius Norwich shows how, against the rich background of the Renaissance and destruction of the Reformation, their wary obsession with one another laid the foundations for modern Europe. Individually, each man could hardly have been more different but, together, they dominated the world stage. Sponsored by
Northern Chamber Orchestra Brass
Gabrieli in Venice The acoustic and ambience of St John’s Church in Buxton whilst warm, sensitive and gratifying for string quartets and harp and guitar music, cries out for music in the Venetian style created by Giovanni Gabrieli, music that defines the period between the Renaissance and the Baroque in the latter half of the 16th century. Venetian born, Gabrieli became organist and composer of the wonderful St Mark’s Basilica, and his large output for Brass with his inspired spatial separation of differing groups laid the ground for the Baroque concertato style. This programme features the NCO Brass, and Matthew Morley at the organ with some of Gabrieli’s most well known works, along with music from his contemporary Jan Sweelinck for organ solo. It is unfailingly music to inspire, excite and in which to bask unashamedly. Matthew Morley is the Festival’s Chorus Master but also Assistant Director of Music and Organist at St Bride’s, Fleet Street in London.
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A Song At Six 6pm–6.10pm Pavilion Gardens Bandstand Free See p.15
Opera talk 6pm–6.30pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £2.50 See p.13
Lucio Silla 7.15pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £20–£75 (see p.8)
Embraceable Ella
3.15pm–4.15pm / St John’s Church / Tickets: £15
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Joanna Eden
Matthew Morley organ
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9pm–10.30pm Pavilion Café Tickets: £20 Joanna Eden presents a ‘labour of love’ show celebrating the music of her vocal hero Ella Fitzgerald. From the throwaway A Tisket A Tasket which brought Ella to fame in the forties with the Chick Webb Orchestra to later songbook album classics like Porter’s Every Time We Say Goodbye and Gershwin’s Someone to Watch Over Me, Eden, and with her with acclaimed pianist Chris Ingham, mines the rich seam of Ella Fitzgerald’s unrivalled canon with humility, style and obvious deep affection.
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Friday 14 July Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones
Opera Talk 6pm–6.30pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £2.50 See p.13
We Know All About You: The Story of Surveillance in Britain and America 9am–10am St John’s Church Tickets: £10.50 Author of celebrated works on the CIA, the FBI, and ‘In Spies We Trust’, Professor Rhodri JeffreysJones turns his attention to the activities of credit agencies, private detectives, and phone-hacking journalists in Britain and the USA. He reveals the use of political surveillance by several US presidents and looks at the role of British agencies who have been under a constant cloud of suspicion.
A N Wilson The Queen
10.15am–11.15am Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10.50 Biographer and novelist A N Wilson, whose life of Queen Victoria was an enormous critical and commercial success, turns his gaze onto to our present Queen, Elizabeth II. Wilson considers the history of the monarchy, painting a vivid portrait of ‘Lilibet’ the woman, and of her reign, throughout which she has remained stalwart, unmoving, which Wilson argues is the key to her survival. He outlines the case for a Republic, arguing that this will almost certainly happen at some point after her reign is at an end, and probably begin in the Commonwealth.
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Macbeth Nick Clegg
Politics: Between the Extremes 2pm–3pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £12.50 Former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg lifts the lid on the arcane world of Westminster and offers startling insights into the hidden workings of government. Taking us behind the scenes at Downing Street and Whitehall, he shows how the spirit of compromise with which the coalition began was gradually eroded. He writes candidly about his own mistakes – including the controversy around tuition fees – and the tense stand-offs within Government. Despite his own battering experience, he remakes the case for multi-party governments and pragmatic compromise.
A Song At Six 6pm–6.10pm Pavilion Gardens Bandstand Free See p.15
7.15pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £20–£75 (see p.6)
Lizzie Ball & The James Pearson Trio
The Reunion Project – A tribute to Stephane Grappelli and George Shearing 7.30pm–9.30pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £20 One of the Festival’s most popular visitors, violinist/vocalist Lizzie Ball, returns with longtime collaborator, Ronnie Scott’s Artistic Director and jazz pianist James Pearson and his acclaimed trio, with a concert paying tribute to the 1973 album The Reunion by Stephane Grappelli and George Shearing. Expect to hear some dazzling virtuosic swing, alongside smooth ballads that instantly transport you to that glorious bygone era of jazz at its finest.
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The Fitzwilliam Quartet
The Consone Quartet
12 noon–1pm St John’s Church Tickets: £20
2.30pm–3.30pm St John’s Church Tickets: £15
Beethoven String Quartet No 13 in B flat, Op 130 ‘Grosse Fuge’
Schubert Overture for String Quartet, D8a Haydn String Quartet no 40 in F (Dream), Op 50 No 5 Mendelssohn String Quartet No 1 in E flat, Op 12
These two distinguished Quartets, Fitzwilliam with nearly 50 years of pedigree and Consone emerging and already making waves here and abroad, come together to present a day of fascinating period instrument interpretation and performance, including two of the greatest and most popular masterpieces in the repertoire. Beethoven’s Op 130 with the composer’s original finale, the massive Große Fuge, remains enigmatic and repays constant delving and a great deal of experience and love. Its enigma and paradoxes have provoked much attention, and Stravinsky himself encapsulated its fascination and magnetism in 1963, saying it is ‘an absolutely contemporary piece of music that will be contemporary forever’. There is no quartet better placed than Fitzwilliam to give an interpretation on period gut strings that is searching and rewarding of this work, recreating the original impact.
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The Fitzwilliam Quartet & The Consone Quartet 4.30pm–5.30pm St John’s Church Tickets: £20 Mendelssohn Octet (first version), introduced by Richard Wigmore
Consone specialise on period instruments with gut strings, and have studied with The Fitzwilliam’s leader Lucy Russell. In great demand at not only early music festivals, Consone’s travels recently have included Belgium, Bulgaria, France and Italy, concentrating on the classical period. Their programme intriguingly offers Mendelssohn’s Op 12 String Quartet which was composed just a very few years after Beethoven’s Op 130 was first performed, during a period when the composer was immersing himself in Beethoven’s late quartets. Both quartets join together to close the day with a performance of the rare and fascinating first version of the 16-year-old Mendelssohn’s Octet, an opportunity to experience the full surge of such a precocious talent. Richard Wigmore will introduce and contextualize this performance with illustrations from the music. Generously supported by Stephen Barlow
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Saturday 15 July Michael Pennington
King Lear in Brooklyn 9am–10am St John’s Church Tickets: £10.50 One of the world’s leading Shakespearean actors, Michael Pennington appeared triumphantly as King Lear in New York, his performance on a par with his great predecessors, Paul Scofield and Sir John Gielgud. Now, Pennington meditates on grappling with Shakespeare’s greatest role, and gives a fascinating insight into the punishing mental and physical impact the role can have on those who are brave enough to take on the challenge.
Federico Varese Mafia Life
10.15am–11.15am Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10.50 Criminologist Federico Varese draws on a lifetime’s research to give us access to some of the world’s most secretive societies. Today, mafias operate across the globe, with hundreds of thousands of members and billions of pounds in revenue. From Hong Kong to New York, these vast organisations spread their tentacles into politics, finance and everyday life. Mixing reportage with case studies and historical insights, this is the story of mafia as it really is: filled with boredom and drama, death and disaster, ambition and betrayal.
Nova Guitar Duo
Nelly von Alven & Luiz Mantovani guitar 12 noon–1pm St John’s Church Tickets: £15 Scarlatti Sonatas,K87, K466, K380 Mompou Cancións y Danzas, No 5 & 6 Ferdinand Rebay Variationen über Schubert’s Morgengruss Villa-Lobos 12 Cirandinhas (selection) de Falla Danza ritual del fuego
Rory Stewart The Marches
2pm–3pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £12.50 MP and author Rory Stewart believes in getting to know his constituents. He does so on a 600-mile, 30-day journey with his 90-year-old father, Brian, former diplomat and once the second most senior figure in the British Secret Service. Exploring the frontier that divides Scotland and England, Rory on foot and with his father ‘ambushing’ him by car, he sleeps on a sofa in a housing estate in Wigtown, reflects on Scottish dances, Burmese honey-bears, and on the loss of human presence in the British landscape, discovering a forgotten country crushed between England and Scotland.
This enterprising duo comprising two award-winning guitarists brings a programme of their own arrangements of a wide repertoire including the little known Austrian composer Ferdinand Rebay alongside Villa Lobos and Scarlatti. The blend of guitar with the rare ‘Brahms’ 8-string guitar promises richness and subtlety of colour to tease the ear. Supported by
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Melvyn Tan piano
3.30pm–5pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £30 Weber Invitation to the Waltz Liszt Les jeux d’eau à la Villa d’Esté; Les cloches de Genève; Feux Fiollets Jonathan Dove Catching Fire Chopin 24 Preludes Renowned for his formidable championship of the Fortepiano with countless recordings demonstrating a keen mind and breathtaking musicianship, Melvyn Tan has always remained a consummate performer on the modern piano. His groundbreaking recordings of Beethoven concertos with Sir Roger Norrington remain an inspiration for all interpreters of these works, and firmly established the fortepiano as such an important part of understanding classical keyboard music per se, but he brings a scintillating early romantic programme for the modern instrument to Buxton, delicately drawing links between Weber and Liszt, alongside Jonathan Dove’s virtuosic intensity in a piece which was written for him and received its world premiere only last year. The Chopin Preludes were all composed at pretty much exactly the same time as Liszt’s Annee de Pelerinage, and if these were the only works left by Chopin, they would alone surely secure his place in the pantheon of great composers for the piano.
A Song At Six
Los Nacimientos
6pm–6.10pm Pavilion Gardens Bandstand Free See p.15
Gillian Keith soprano John Reid piano dotdotdot dance
Opera Talk
7.30pm–8.30pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £15
6pm–6.30pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £2.50 See p.13
Albert Herring 7.15pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £20–£75 (see p.7)
Lizzie Ball
Classical Kicks Live 9pm–10.30pm Pavilion Café Tickets: £20 If you love classical music but also enjoy other styles, then this is for you. Classical Kicks Live is primarily a classical music programme, flavoured with jazz, world, folk, bluegrass and rock; and performed by worldclass musicians who are highly versatile as both classical and improvising musicians – inspiring, uplifting and entertaining.
Los Nacimientos is an exciting new collaboration between composer Tom Randle and the electrifying dotdotdot dance company in a celebration of the work of the Nobel prize winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. This new song cycle, a setting of some of Neruda’s most sensual and evocative poetry, features the award winning soprano Gillian Keith, pianist John Reid, and the spectacular flamenco-infused choreography of dotdotdot dance. Interspersed with solo piano movements, spoken texts and stunning visual imagery, this groundbreaking concept will allow audiences to experience Neruda’s work as never before.
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Sunday 16 July Festival Mass
Mozart Coronation Mass in C, K317 11.15am–12.30pm St John’s Church Free With Buxton Musical Society and Orchestra and soloists from the Buxton Festival Chorus
Julian Glover
Conducted by Michael Williams
Man of Iron: Thomas Telford and the Building of Britain 10am–11am Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10.50 Thomas Telford, the shepherd boy who changed the world. His life was a model of what can be achieved by persistence, skill and ambition. Nicknamed ‘the Colossus of Roads’ by the poet laureate Robert Southey, he was responsible for building everything from churches to bridges, many of which still stand today. In Radio 4’s Book of the Week Julian Glover, journalist and Government adviser on transport, tells the enthralling story of this revolutionary engineer, perhaps the greatest engineer Britain has ever produced.
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Leonore Piano Trio 12 noon–1.30pm / Pavilion Arts Centre / Tickets: £20 Haydn Piano Trio in E flat major, Hob XV:29 Lalo Piano Trio No.3 in A minor, Op 26 Dvořák Piano Trio No 3 in F minor, Op 65 The second concert in this year’s Festival to feature less well known Piano Trios, includes the last of Edouard Lalo’s glittering works in this medium which these artists recorded in 2014 in a gratefully received complete set. They are all works of Lalo’s maturity, at the height of late 19th century romanticism, and the music is at once passionate, tender, virtuosic and exhilarating, from the hands of a great melodist and a master of long-breathed architecture. Performances are rare, undeservedly. The same could be said for Dvořák’s 3rd Piano trio, and probably because the composer was hugely prolific and the popularity of his 4th Trio, ‘Dumky’ has pushed the 3rd aside too often. This work is full of characteristic inspiration and colour, and Leonore Trio’s championing of these pieces will surely go a long way to establishing them firmly at the centre of chamber music repertoire.
01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
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Opera talk 1.15pm–1.45pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £2.50 See p.13
Lucio Silla
Northern Chamber Orchestra 7.30pm–9.30pm / St John’s Church / Tickets: £25
2.30pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £20–£75 (see p.8)
David Starkey Henry VIII
7.30pm–9.30pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £17, £21 Henry VIII is the only king whose shape you remember. He bestrides our history like a colossus and the decisions he took reverberate today. The Reformation was the first Brexit; his ministers devised the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty and his tumultuous personal life pitted religion against politics as brutally as in our own age of so-called Islamic State. David Starkey draws on his unique knowledge of Henry’s reign on the one hand, and his insights as a leading commentator on modern politics on the other, to illuminate both the Tudor age and our own.
Opera
Music
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Verdi Prelude from Aida James Manson Piece on Shaker themes Copland Appalachian Spring Schumann Traumerie for Violin and Orchestra Ravel Tombeau de Couperin Mendelssohn Konzertstücke No 2 Op 114 Our resident Orchestra celebrating its 20th anniversary of being associated with the Festival presents a meaningful and varied programme, raising awareness of mental illness and music’s powerful influence on health and creativity. Ravel’s Tombeau and Copland’s Appalachian Spring, both amongst the most popular and well known of 20th century works, will give full rein to the expressive musicality and virtuosity of this orchestra of soloists, and the opportunity to hear Mendelssohn’s delicious Konzertstück No 2 for clarinet and basset horn is rare. As witness to the orchestras commitment to new works, principal bass James Manson’s Piece on Shaker Themes shares much with Copland’s own Shaker inspired ballet, and Schumann’s Traümerei features the NCO’s Leader and Artistic Director as solo violinist.
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Monday 17 July
David Rutland In conversation with co-author,
Emma Ellis Resolution
10am–11am Gardens Marquee Tickets: £10.50 David, 11th Duke of Rutland, and Emma Ellis, naval historian, have teamed up to tell the enthralling story of two generations of David’s ancestors, the Manners family. John Manners, Marquess of Granby, famously led a cavalry charge during the Seven Years War, losing both hat and wig. Loved by his men and idolised by the public, he left two sons whose contrasting fortunes and tragically short lives are documented in the detailed archives held at David’s home, Belvoir Castle.
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Christian Blackshaw piano
12 noon–1.30pm / Pavilion Arts Centre / Tickets: £30 Mozart Sonata in B flat major, K333 Mozart Sonata in A minor, K310 Schubert Sonata in C minor, D958 Rarely does a substantial marathon undertaking such as recording all Mozart’s Sonatas and giving them in recitals all over the world attract such a plethora of superlatives as Christian Blackshaw’s. The acclaim has been universal, from Europe to the Far East and USA, and the effects of such glowing insight into what the pianist says ‘resemble mini-operas’ will last for a very long while. His recordings have become legendary in a very short time since release, and his performances leave critics struggling for even more ways to describe their respect. Compared often to Curzon and Serkin, his reputation is as solid and visionary in Schubert and Beethoven. This concert promises unforgettable artistry and perception.
01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
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Jeremy Greenstock
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Iraq: The Cost of War
Quatuor Mosaïques
2.30pm–3.30pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10.50
4pm–5.30pm / St John’s Church / Tickets: £25
Ambassador to the UN, Sir Jeremy Greenstock was centre stage in the dramatic months leading up to the Iraq war. After the war he was Special Envoy for Iraq; he kept a diary of what he witnessed as the security situation deteriorated and speaks remarkably candidly about the US-led administration. Held back from publication when originally written in 2005, and now revised with a new foreword and epilogue following the publication of the Chilcot Report, Iraq: The Cost of War is a dramatic and groundbreaking blow-byblow account of one of the most pivotal and controversial conflicts in recent world history.
Haydn String Quartet in F minor, Op 20 No 5 Mozart String Quartet in G, K387 Borodin String Quartet No 2 in D Sans pareil at the summit of achievement as a period instrument ensemble, these players have the finest pedigree, having first met in the crucible that was Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s Concentus Musicus, at an explosive time when new minted creativity sprang from deep commitment to original instruments and style. But their reputation is far removed from anything so mundane as relying on textbooks. Their growing discography along with worldwide performances finds only acclaim for their talent to beguile the ear, astonish with their detailed phrasing, rich sound and lyricism, supporting what appears to be a universal opinion that Quatuor Mosaïques is the finest period instrument Quartet in the world today.
A Song At Six
Opera Talk
6pm–6.10pm Pavilion Gardens Bandstand Free See p.15
6pm–6.30pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £2.50 See p.13
Y Tŵr 7.15pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £16–£55 (see p.9) Opera
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Tuesday 18 July Martin Pearce Spymaster
10am–11am Gardens Marquee Tickets: £10.50 Martin Pearce tells the story of his uncle, Sir Maurice Oldfield, the Derbyshire farmer’s son who rose to head of MI6, despite harbouring a secret that could have ended his career before it started. The man who may have served as a model for Le Carré’s George Smiley and Ian Fleming’s M, Oldfield was an accomplished historian, organist and liar; a deeply religious family man, yet a rampant homosexual. Unmasked spy, Kim Philby, described Oldfield as ‘formidable’. He cleaned up MI6 despite the entrenched Oxbridge elite who regarded him as an outsider.
Roderick Williams baritone
Iain Burnside piano
12 noon–1pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £25 Schubert Die Schöne Müllerin Roderick Williams has mastered a wider repertoire from the Baroque to fresh- minted contemporary music than almost any other singer, and his recognition in the RPS 2016 Awards as Singer of the Year speaks of his excellence broadly across the spectrum. A much loved frequent visitor to the Festival his recital of the earliest extended song cycle of all, will be the first of three annual recitals devoted to the trio of what are to many Schubert’s most insightful masterpieces, Die Schöne Müllerin, Winterreise and Schwanengesang. His experienced accompanist Iain Burnside is arguably incomparable in this repertoire.
Stephen Anderton in conversation with
Simon Seligman Lives of the Great Gardeners 2pm–3pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10.50
Throughout history great gardeners have risen from all walks of life. What they have in common, no matter where they were born, is the ability to take an idea and develop it in a new manner relevant to their times, and thus create some of the world’s most exciting gardens. Stephen Anderton, The Times’s longstanding writer on gardens and gardening, looks the lives and careers of great gardeners, spanning 500 years and from around the world. Sponsored by
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01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
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Kathryn Hughes Victorians Undone – Tales of the Flesh in the Age of Decorum
Lucio Silla 2pm–3pm Palace Hotel Tickets: £12
4.45pm–5.45pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10.50
Members of the Buxton Festival Chorus, who are covering parts in the Festival operas, present an entertainment of scenes from the opera, in an exciting new interpretation from the production’s assistant director.
An eye-opening, groundbreaking account of what it was like to live in a Victorian body from one of our best historians and biographers, author of The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs Beeton and George Eliot: The Last Victorian. Why did the great philosophical novelist George Eliot feel so self-conscious that her right hand was larger than her left? Exactly what made Darwin grow that iconic beard in 1862? Who knew Queen Victoria had a personal hygiene problem as a young woman and the crisis that followed led to a hurried commitment to marry Albert?
Joo Yeon Sir violin
Irina Andrievsky piano
3.30pm–4.30pm St John’s Church Tickets: £15 Bach-Mendelssohn Chaconne from Partita No 2 in D minor BWV 1004 arranged for violin and piano Grieg Sonata No 2 for Violin and Piano, Op 13 Tchaikovsky Melodie from ‘Souvenir d’un lieu cher’, Op 42 Tchaikovsky Valse-Scherzo, Op 34 Waxman Carmen Fantasy Making their debut at the Festival in 2016, this scintillating duo brought the house down. Virtuosity on tap allied with subtle sensitivity is their trademark, and this year’s programme presents them with the opportunity to dazzle and enchant once again. Franz Waxman’s Carmen Fantasy was written with Jascha Heifitz in mind although it was Isaac Stern who first played it and only the brave and confident even think to take it on. With Irina Andrievsky as Joo Yeon Sir’s regular accompanist, this duo, as one, promises tenderness, brilliance and committed music making of the highest order.
A Song At Six 6pm–6.10pm Pavilion Gardens Bandstand Free See p.15
Opera Talk 6pm–6.30pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £2.50 See p.13
Supported by
Macbeth
Opera
Music
Books
Friends events
7.15pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £20–£75 (see p.6)
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Wednesday 19 July Lois Kendall
Festival Walk
in conversation with
Rod DubrowMarshall
Buxton: Its Beauty and Background
Life in a Cult
12 noon–1.30pm Pavilion Gardens Bandstand Tickets: £8
9am–10am St John’s Church Tickets: £10.50 Dr Lois Kendall is a leading author and researcher on people born and raised in sects. Professor Rod Dubrow-Marshall, is also an expert in cults and their effects. They discuss what is it like to grow up in a strict religion or sect, the potential impact on child and adolescent development, the risks and vulnerabilities associated with maltreatment and abuse, how children and young people come to leave sects and what happens to them afterwards.
Tim Shipman
All Out War: The Full Story of How Brexit Sank Britain’s Political Class 10.15am–11.15am Gardens Marquee Tickets: £10.50
Erich Höbarth & Susan Tomes 12 noon–1pm St John’s Church Tickets: £15
Mozart Sonata in B flat, KB454 Schubert Violin Sonata in A major, D574 (Grand Duo) Austrian violinist Erich Höbarth and Scottish pianist Susan Tomes have worked together often, particularly in performances of Schubert and Mozart, their ensemble described as ‘intuitive and affectionate’. As Leader of the Musicus Concentus Wien, and Quatuor Mosaïques he combines deep commitment to championing period style as well as truly Viennese care for ’Wiener Klassik’, the period from which both works in today’s programme emanate. Both were written in Vienna and first performed there, Mozart’s Sonata an invigorating display of a maturing composer full of melodic life and energy, and Schubert’s Grand Duo from his early period showing promise of larger structures with such charm and gentle virtuosity. These artists’ performances of this repertoire have become collectors’ items.
Based on unrivalled access to all the key politicians and their advisors including Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, George Osborne, Nigel Farage and Dominic Cummings, the mastermind of ‘Vote Leave’ – Sunday Times Political Editor, Tim Shipman offers a gripping, day-by-day account of what really happened behind-the-scenes in Downing Street, both Leave campaigns, the Labour Party, Ukip and Britain Stronger in Europe. Shipman provides a ringside seat on how decisions were made, mistakes justified and betrayals perpetrated.
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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.
01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
Opera Talk 1.15pm–1.45pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £2.50 See p.13
Albert Herring 2.30pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £20–£75 (see p.7)
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Facing The Music – A Life In Musical Theatre Patricia Routledge in conversation with
Edward Seckerson Festival & Fringe Showcase
Dinara Klinton piano
bass-baritone/speaker
Rozanna Madylus mezzo-soprano
1.30pm–2.30pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10
Counterpoise
Beethoven Sonata No 28 in A, Op 101 Liszt Transcendental Études (selection) For our second showcase copresented with Buxton Fringe, we welcome pianist Dinara Klinton, who has appeared at many international music festivals including the Rheingau Music Festival, International Festival of Piano ‘La Roque d’Antheron’, Aldeburgh Proms and Cheltenham festival. In association with
Festival Friends’ Dinner 5.15pm Old Hall Hotel Tickets: £35 Join the Friends of Buxton Festival for a three-course dinner with a glass of wine & convivial company.
Opera
Sir John Tomlinson
Music
Books
7.30pm–9.30pm St John’s Church Tickets: £25 The Art of Love Alma Mahler’s Life and Music: a sequence incorporating music by Alma and Gustav Mahler, Zemlinsky, Webern and Wagner John Casken Kokoschka’s Doll (text by John Casken and Barry Millington)
7.30pm–9.30pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £17, £21 It is still one of the best-kept secrets in show business that Patricia Routledge trained not only as an actress but also as a singer and had considerable experience and success in musical theatre, both in this country and in the United States of America. Her many awards include a Tony for her Broadway performance in the Styne-Harburg musical Darling of the Day and a Laurence Olivier Award for her performance in Leonard Bernstein’s Candide. Her one-woman show Come for the Ride toured the UK in 1988 and in 1992 she played Nettie Fowler in the highly acclaimed production of Carousel at the National Theatre. In this fascinating encounter with writer and broadcaster Edward Seckerson she recalls this very special part of her career with access to some rare and treasured recordings.
From the middle of the 20th century onwards a fascination with Gustav Mahler’s music has gone hand in hand with exploration of his unique tortured sensibilities, and been coloured by his emotionally turbulent marriage to the extraordinary Alma Schindler. This imaginative programme, characteristic of Counterpoise’s keen focus on the blend of words with music in heightened dramatic settings, looks at Alma’s intense relationship with her husband, his music and that of his contemporaries, and brings a newly commissioned work for Sir John Tomlinson by the eminent composer John Casken. Counterpoise’s innovative projects always make for thought provoking and affecting music drama. This new work explores the passionate and overwrought relationship between Alma and expressionist painter Oskar Kokoschka, promising a moving and striking concert event to remember, with unequivocally one of our generation’s most prominent and well-loved artists.
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Thursday 20 July Rev Richard Coles in conversation with
Mike Neary
Bringing in the Sheaves 2pm–3pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10.50
David Crystal
Il Letto
10am–11am Gardens Marquee Tickets: £10.50
12 noon–1pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £15
David Crystal returns to Buxton to present a verb’s-eye view of the English language. It’s the most simple, unassuming, innocent-looking verb – to be. Yet it is jam-packed with more different meanings, forms, and uses than any other English word. In The Story Of Be, David Crystal takes us through the verb’s incarnations, and in doing so, shows us how our flexible and changing language works. Bringing the story to life are a host of examples from sources as varied as Beowulf, Jane Austen, pantomime, Hamlet (of course), and Star Wars.
Following their happy success at the 2016 Buxton Festival and the Copenhagen Opera Festival with Hathaway, the ever-inventive Helios Collective return with a performance of their new touring programme, Il Letto. This is the second in their development of an intriguing series, marrying specially created narrative text with some of the best known Puccini arias. Giacomo Puccini was rarely out of love with many of the women coming in and out of his life, giving rise to the premise that much in his heroines’ music was inspired by his emotional involvements. Helios Collective’s brand is infectiously inviting, providing food for thought with accessibility and lively commitment to the dramatic arts in all forms.
The Story of Be
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Helios Collective
What is life like for the parson in Britain today? For centuries the Church calendar – and the Church parson – gave character and personality to British life. Today, however, as the shape of the year has become less distinct and faith no longer as privileged or persuasive, that figure has become far more marginal. Broadcaster and vicar Rev Richard Coles gives a unique insight into his daily experience in the ministry, with all the joy, drama, difficulty and humour which life – and indeed death – serves up in varying measures.
Festival Walk Roman Buxton
12 noon–1.30pm Pavilion Gardens Bandstand Tickets: £6 See p.20
01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
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Scenes from an Opera
Annie Gray
2pm–3pm Palace Hotel Tickets: £12 See p.33
4pm–5pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10.50
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The Greedy Queen: Eating with Victoria
Macbeth
Northern Chamber Orchestra 3.30pm–5pm St John’s Church Tickets: £20
From her greed to her selfishness at the table, her indigestion and her absolute reliance on food as a lifelong companion, Queen Victoria had a huge impact on the way we all eat today. Annie Gray gives us a new perspective on Victoria, viewing her through the one thing more dear to her than almost anything else: her stomach.
Grieg Holberg Suite Mozart Piano Concerto in E flat Major, K449 Massenet The Last Sleep of the Virgin Mozart Symphony No 29 in A Major, K201
Written when the composer was 20 in 1774, two years after Lucio Silla, Mozart’s evergreen 29th Symphony sounds as fresh today as it must have done then, and no less inventive. The young composer had already mastered mature musical forms as easily as he mastered the Italian language. The sunlit Piano Concerto K414 written 10 years later shares the same key and imaginary world in which joie de vivre is balanced with a classical purity of melody and shape. Massenet’s heartfelt and exquisite prelude from ‘La Vierge’ written 100 years later offers a similar deceptive simplicity but exudes a quintessentially French romanticism. Grieg’s Holberg Suite of the same period brings vitality and virtuosity to a typically evocative and enlivening programme from the Festival’s resident Orchestra.
A Song At Six
Opera talk
6pm–6.10pm Pavilion Gardens Bandstand Free See p.15
6pm–6.30pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £2.50 See p.13
Opera
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Lucio Silla 7.15pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £20–£75 (see p.8)
Music in the Café
Joanne Harris – #Storytime 9pm–10.30pm Pavilion Café Tickets: £20 Paul Marshall keyboards; vocals; guitar Kevin Harris drums; vocals; percussion Matt Cundy bass; effects Joanne Harris flute; vocals Joanne Harris, bestselling author of Chocolat, joins forces with the Storytime Band, for a unique live show featuring tales from her book Honeycomb, along with original music and songs, written and performed by Joanne and the band of which she has been a member since she was at college. This show (which premiered last year in London’s King’s Place as part of the Tête-à-Tête festival) is intimate, engaging, quirky and darkly magical, appealing to audiences of all ages, but especially lovers of folklore, fantasy and fairytale.
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Friday 21 July Raffaello Pantucci in conversation with
Rod DubrowMarshall
We Love Death as You Love Life: Britain’s Suburban Terrorists 9am–10am St John’s Church Tickets: £10.50 Raffaello Pantucci discusses Mohammed Siddique Khan and the 7/7 terrorists. What drove them and the hundreds of young British Muslims to espouse ‘jihad’, waging war on military and civilian targets in Britain and abroad? This is a comprehensive history of jihadist ideas and violence in the United Kingdom.
David Cannadine Margaret Thatcher 10.15am–11.15am Gardens Marquee Tickets: £10.50 Few modern politicians have had more written about them than Margaret Hilda Roberts, Mrs Thatcher, who became Britain’s first woman prime minister. Sir David Cannadine, described by The Telegraph as ‘one of the pre-eminent historians of his generation’, presents an accessible assessment of ‘the dominant British public figure of her generation’. This concise book avoids the usual controversies and offers a new analysis of Thatcher’s sweeping economic change. It is the story of the person and her politics, of Britain and its re-shaping in the 1980s.
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Heather Shipp soprano Stephen Barlow piano 12 noon–1pm / St John’s Church / Tickets: £15 Brahms Wie Melodien zieht es mir; Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer; Der Tod das ist die Kühle nacht; Auf dem Kirchhofe Mahler Rückert-Lieder Wolf Du denkst mit einem Fädchen mich zu fangen?; Bedeckt mich mit Blumen; Lebe wohl; Aug ein altes Bild; Er ist’s Vienna is the connection for all three composers featured in this rich programme. With Vienna in their blood as the 19th century turned into the explosive early 20th, it is a snapshot of intimate portraits of each composer, not only in the texts of the songs they chose, but in the different worlds of expression they inhabit. Brahms’ songs are imbued with backward looking respect for classicism, Wolf’s are typically concise and testing, and Mahler’s are deeply infused with simplicity and a wistful sweetness. Heather Shipp is one of the UK’s most versatile mezzo sopranos, acclaimed across a wide repertoire on the concert platform, operatic stage, in the recording studio and on television. She is joined by Festival Artistic Director Stephen Barlow at the piano, who is no stranger to accompanying.
Festival Walk
A Guided Walk in Grinlow Woods – The Duke’s Legacy 12 noon–1pm Café at Poole’s Cavern Tickets: £8 A 1-hour gentle walk through Grinlow Woods, Buxton, guided by Alyson Phillips, Director of the Buxton Civic Association (BCA). Walkers will be introduced to the variety of plants and trees in the woodland, including those planted over 200 years ago for the 5th Duke of Devonshire, and the history of the industrial landscape they mask.
Peter Stanford Martin Luther 2pm–3pm Gardens Marquee Tickets: £10.50 On the 500th anniversary of the Protestant reformation, Peter Stanford presents a new appraisal of theological firebrand Martin Luther who triggered it. When Martin Luther pinned his 95 ‘Theses’ to the door of his local university church in Wittenberg, on 31 October 1517, he precipitated a religious and political upheaval across Europe which divided mainstream Christianity ever after. ‘Peter Stanford makes the life of Luther into a thrilling narrative’ – Antonia Fraser
01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
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Different Class 4pm–5pm Gardens Marquee Tickets: £10.50
2pm–3pm Palace Hotel Tickets: £12 See p.33
Imogen Cooper piano
3.30pm–5pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £25 Beethoven Bagatelles, Op 33 Haydn Sonata in C minor Beethoven Variations on ‘La Stessa, La Stessissima’ Thomas Adès Darknesse Visible Beethoven Piano Sonata in A flat major, Op 110 In constant demand all over the world, this season will take Imogen Cooper to Australia, Japan, USA and Europe for highly sought after performances in recital and in concertos. Regarded as one of the most refined and sublime interpreters of the classical giants, Imogen Cooper has most recently turned the depth and breadth of her vision to Chopin. On this occasion though, her passionate interest in contemporary piano repertoire will also shine light on Thomas Adès’ hauntingly beautiful John Dowland inspired work. Beethoven’s Op 110 is a relatively late work, and for many has spoken programmatically of ‘renewal of life, victory over exhaustion’, but others prefer to see it as one which fits neatly into that late period when his exceptional musical imagination was transcending borders of form and expression.
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Joanne Harris
Albert Herring
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Books
Bestselling novelist Joanne Harris talks about her career and discusses Different Class, the third of a series of novels set in the fictional town of Malbry. It follows on directly from Gentlemen and Players, revisiting St Oswald’s Grammar School (and most of the characters therein) a year after a series of distressing events, which culminated in murder. In narrative terms, it also precedes Blueeyedboy, which is set in the area around the school.
Daniel Mathieson organ
5pm–6pm St John’s Church Tickets: £12 A recital on the four manual Hill organ in the glorious acoustic of St John’s Church from the Senior Organ Scholar, Worcester College, Oxford.
A Song At Six 6pm–6.10pm Pavilion Gardens Bandstand Free See p.15
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Macbeth 7.15pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £20–£75 (see p.6)
The Jay Rayner Quartet Songs of Food and Agony
7.30pm–9pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £20 The renowned restaurant critic, MasterChef judge and presenter of BBC Radio 4’s The Kitchen Cabinet has one other skill. He’s also a jazz pianist. Now Jay brings an ensemble of top-flight musicians to Buxton, performing tunes from the Great American food and drink songbook including Cantaloupe Island, Black Coffee, One For My Baby, and Save The Bones. Alongside anecdotes from his life being paid to eat out on somebody else’s dime he also talks about growing up with a mother, Claire Rayner, who was an agony aunt and plays tunes that draw on the narratives of the problem page letter. With the singer Pat Gordon Smith, bassist Robert Rickenberg and saxophonist Dave Lewis.
Opera Talk 6pm–6.30pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £2.50 See p.13 Friends events
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Saturday 22 July Mark Cocker
in conversation with
Mike Monaghan Lightwood – The making of a nature writer 9am–10am St John’s Church Tickets: £10.50
Mark Cocker is an author, naturalist and environmental activist who writes and broadcasts on nature and wildlife in a variety of national media. Lightwood reservoir is an area of outstanding environmental variety and importance on the edge of Buxton. It is where Mark roamed while growing up in a town. It inspired his love of nature. Mark talks about his personal journey in search of the origins of British environmentalism.
Douglas Carswell Rebel
10.15am–11.15am Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10.50 Douglas Carswell famously crossed the floor, leaving the Conservative benches to join Ukip, for whom he has been elected twice to Parliament. Rebel is as controversial as its author. In it he claims democracy has been hijacked by a cartel of big banks, big government and big corporate interests and proposes a radical reform of politics and capitalism. Drawing on his first-hand experience in taking on and beating the established political parties, he says he can show how to ‘free democracy from the cartels’.
In association with Buxton Civic Association
The Endellion String Quartet 12 noon–1.30pm St John’s Church Tickets: £25 Haydn String Quartet in C major, Op 54 No 2 Tippett Quartet No 2 Brahms Quartet No 2
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Now in their 37th season, understandably the Endellion’s vast discography ranges far and wide, taking in Martinu, Adès, Dvořák, Tchaikovsky and Britten in addition to their fabled complete Beethoven series. Often referred to as offering the ‘Urtext’ version of quartet playing, they leave audiences unfailingly with a feeling of being enlivened by the characterful playing as much as by the music they have heard. In a much anticipated return to the Festival, their programme is typically fresh and invigorating. Tippett’s
Alan Johnson The Long and Winding Road
2pm–3pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £12.50 Winner of the Parliamentary Book award, in the third volume of his autobiography Alan Johnson tells of his early political skirmishes as a trades union leader, where negotiating skills and charismatic style led to him being chosen to stand in the constituency of Hull West and Hessle, entering Parliament as an MP after the landslide election victory for Labour in May 1997. This is the story, not just of Westminster politicking and skulduggery, but of a man for whom, supporting the struggle of his constituents, the Hull trawlermen and their families, comes more naturally than the byzantine complexities of Parliamentary procedure.
joyful 2nd Quartet has claim to being one of the finest of 20th chamber works, and is full of melody and charm. Endellion have also chosen the 2nd Quartet of Johannes Brahms. However this composer famously destroyed many early attempts in the form, restraining an urge to publish any quartets until his middle age granted him the self-confidence to do so. His 2nd Quartet is both dramatic and profound, with a slow movement that breathes a sweetness so familiar to lovers of Brahms.
01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
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Sarah Connolly mezzo Joseph Middleton piano
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Los Nacimientos 7.30pm–9pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £15 See p.27
3.30pm–5pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £35 Schumann Frauenliebe und leben Berlioz Nuits d’Été Poulenc Banalités Copland Selection from the Emily Dickinson Songs: Nature, the gentlest mother There came a wind like a bugle The world feels dusty I’ve heard an organ Going to Heaven The Chariot Richard Rodney Bennett The History of the Thé Dansant Featuring two major song cycles by Schumann and Berlioz which are so striking in their contrast but written within in a year of each other (1840 and 1841 respectively) in addition to Poulenc’s ‘collection of songs’ rather than a cycle written 100 years later, Sarah Connolly’s recital will be an ‘embrasse de richesse’. Her work is characterised by all round attention to detail and such critical descriptions as ‘remarkable taste, precision and intelligence’ along with ‘sensual musicality’ and focus upon the texts. Her solo recital performances are relatively rare and special occasions, such is the demand for her appearances on the stages of the world’s top opera houses and concert halls, but she brings the same aristocratic depth and perception to the great song cycles as audiences have grown to love in her defining stage personifications. This concert is generously supported by Marianne Falk
A Song At Six 6pm–6.10pm Pavilion Gardens Bandstand Free See p.15
Opera Talk
Albert Herring 7.15pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £20–£75 (see p.7)
Music
Digby Fairweather’s Half Dozen The 2017 Farewell Tour 9pm–10.30pm Pavilion Café Tickets: £20 ‘Quitting while they’re ahead’, Digby Fairweather’s Half Dozen – 10 times winners of ‘Top Small Group’ in the British Jazz Awards – have decided to step aside and give someone else a chance. Now, after 22 years their journey comes to an end, and we’re delighted Dig and the Boys are returning to Buxton as part of their Farewell Tour. ‘There cannot be another band with quite this range… relaxed, witty and amazingly accomplished’ – Observer
6pm–6.30pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £2.50 See p.13
Opera
Music in the Café
Books
Friends events
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7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
13th
14th
15th
16th
17th
18th
19th
20th
21st
22nd 23rd
Sunday 23 July Festival Mass
Britten Missa Brevis in D, Op 63 11.15am–12.30pm St John’s Church Free With Buxton Musical Society and Orchestra and soloists from the Buxton Festival Chorus Conducted by Michael Williams
The Oldie Literary Lunch
Featuring Erwin James on Redeemable D J Taylor on Book of Snobs Chris Mullin on Hinterland The lunch will be hosted by Valerie Grove 12 noon–3pm Old Hall Hotel Tickets: £50 Erwin James committed his first crime of breaking and entering when he was ten. His petty crime turned increasingly violent, culminating in murder for which he was jailed for life in 1984. In prison aged 27, James met Joan, a psychologist, who helped him transform his life. Erwin James would go on to receive a BA in History, and become a regular columnist for the Guardian. In Redeemable, James offers no excuses – only the need to understand how we become who we become, and shows that no matter how far a person may fall, redemption is possible with the right kind of help.
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DJ Taylor gives a definitive guide to modern snobbery. As an insult, ‘snob’ is only a little less wounding than ‘racist’ or ‘sexist pig.’ But what does snobbery consist of in the twenty-first century? Who are the snobs and where do we find them? Taylor examines the bewildering varieties of contemporary social prejudice: a pursuit that takes us from property snobs to country snobs, from language snobs to City snobs, from George Orwell to Katie Price and on to ‘prolier-than-thou’ inverted snobs whose snobbishness far exceeds that of the privileged classes they affect to despise. All serious politicians are supposed to possess a hinterland, but not all do. Chris Mullin was one who did. By the time he entered parliament he had reported from the wars in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and tracked down the survivors of the CIA operation in Tibet. He was the author of three novels, including the classic A Very British Coup. His successful campaign to free the innocent people convicted of the Birmingham bombings was described as ‘one of the greatest feats ever achieved by an investigative reporter’. Elected to parliament, aged 39, he established himself as a fearless inquisitor before going on to become a minister in three departments. These are his memoirs.
Menu Pea and mint velouté Smoked salmon crème cheese and crayfish roulade with caper salad and lemon dressing Chicken liver paté with toasted sourdough & plum compote
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Roast sirloin of Derbyshire beef, Yorkshire pudding, beef dripping roast potatoes and pan gravy Pan-fried sea bass fillet with shellfish chowder and samphire Wild mushroom and truffle gnocchi with parmesan crisp
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Raspberry and almond Bakewell tart with raspberry sorbet Lemongrass crème brulée with cardamom biscuits Selection of British cheese and biscuits with homemade chutney
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Coffee served with Petit Fours
01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
Welcome to the Peak District & Derbyshire Strike the right chord in the Peak District and Derbyshire – the perfect accompaniment for your musical and literary adventure during one of the UK’s most prestigious cultural festivals. Hit the high notes thanks to a harmonious blend of breathtaking, specially-protected landscapes, peerless country houses, distinctive market towns and villages and pioneering industrial heritage.
From rugged gritstone moors to rolling limestone dales and lush meadows to leafy forests – and boasting Britain’s first National Park at its heart – the quality and variety of its countryside is second to none. Yet there’s much more to the area than the dramatic uplands of the Dark Peak and the gentler contours of the White Peak. Venture further afield to tune into well-kept ‘secrets’, such as Chesterfield , with its famous Crooked Spire, or the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site stretching from Cromford to Derby.
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Classic country houses range from majestic Chatsworth and medieval Haddon Hall to hidden gems such as Renishaw Hall & Gardens, Bolsover Castle, Tissington Hall & Gardens and National Trust properties – including Eyam Hall, Hardwick Hall and Lyme Park. Handsome market towns – ideal for shopping, lunch and afternoon tea – include Ashbourne, Bakewell, Leek and Matlock/Matlock Bath. Quintessentially English villages range from photogenic favourites such as Ashford in the Water,
01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
Edensor and Hartington to former hives of industry such as Cromford, or the ‘Plague Village’ of Eyam. Dining out is also a delicious treat at everything from Michelinstarred Fischer’s Baslow Hall to cosy country pubs.
options with beautiful views, village guest houses and rooms in quintessential English pubs. We recommend you book your accommodation promptly to avoid disappointment during this busy time.
There is a good range of accommodation in Buxton including historic hotels, friendly guest houses and B & Bs and award-winning self-catering accommodation. The Peak District also offers stunning country house hotels, dozens of self-catering
01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
For advice on accommodation and the many things you can enjoy and experience in the town and Peak District call the helpful team at: Buxton Tourist Information Centre Tel: 01298 25106 or visit www.visitpeakdistrict.co.uk www.visitbuxton.co.uk
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Prices & Seating Plans Opera House
Pavilion Arts Centre Stage
Stage
Stalls A–N
Stalls
Stalls D–H (seats 10–23)
Bleacher
Stalls O–Q
Dress Circle Boxes*
Balcony
Dress Circle Dress Circle (centre)
Upper Circle Side Seats*
Upper Circle
St John’s Church Stage
Gallery*
Ground Floor Unreserved
Performances at the Opera House
Balcony
Macbeth Albert Herring Lucio Silla
Y Tŵr
Stalls
£
£
A–N (except as below)
50
41
D–H (seats 10–23)
56
46
O–Q
36
28
Dress Circle (except as below)
70
51
Dress Circle (centre)
75
55
Dress Circle Boxes*
70
51
Upper Circle
49
41
Upper Circle Side Seats*
20
16
Gallery
25
21
Ticket prices for other events vary from show to show – please see individual show listings for details All seats in St John’s Church are bookable in advance. Please note there is no disabled access to the Balcony. All seats in the Gardens Marquee, Pavilion Café and Palace Hotel are unreserved.
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01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
Booking Festival Box Office 01298 72190 or in person at Buxton Opera House, Water Street, Buxton SK17 6XN from 27 March. Box Office opening Monday–Saturday 10am–8pm Sunday 4pm–8pm. Online booking from 27 March via buxtonfestival.co.uk. Availability at venues Tickets for venues other than the Opera House can be bought on the door half an hour before each event, unless sold out. Refunds Tickets can neither be refunded nor exchanged. Box Office will try to re-sell tickets for sold-out events – a 10% administration fee will be charged. Ticket prices and fees The advertised price of a ticket is the price that you pay: all ticket prices include any taxes, levies and booking fees. The cost of a ticket is made up of: – Deal Value: The face value of the ticket set by the Festival –B ooking Fee: All tickets include a 7.5% Booking Fee. The fee goes towards the running cost of the BOH ticketing system, ticket printing, staffing and all credit, debit, cheque and cash handling costs. These fees help BOH to stay an effective business, which in turn helps them reinvest in their theatres and continually improve the services they provide –R estoration Levy: Buxton Opera House is an exquisitely beautiful Edwardian theatre and one of the country’s finest examples of Frank Matcham theatre design. To help maintain and operate both the Opera House and Pavilion Arts Centre, the cost of tickets includes a restoration levy of £1 for tickets over £10 and 50p for tickets under £10. Tickets for other venues are exempt from the restoration levy.
Access information The Opera House The Opera House is an Edwardian building and only partially accessible to wheelchair users. The wheelchair entrance is 72cm at its narrowest point. There are three wheelchair spaces in the Stalls at ground floor level, and a specially adapted toilet. Unfortunately the Stalls bar is not accessible by wheelchair, but a member of staff will gladly bring refreshments to your seat.
St John’s Church The main church is accessible to all, but the balcony is not accessible for those with mobility issues.
The Opera House Foyer and Box Office counter are not wheelchair accessible, but there is now wheelchair access to the side Box Office door (in Water Street), with an intercom system to alert staff. The Dress Circle and Upper Circle levels are not wheelchair accessible and can only be reached by climbing the stairs. The building is not accessible by motorised scooter.
Help with hearing There is a passive infra-red (PIR) systems in both the Opera House and Pavilion Arts Centre for people with hearing impairments. This works through a special headset rather than your hearing aid, and is available from the theatre. Please reserve one when you book your tickets (a £10 cash deposit on the night is required). There is also an induction loop system at both Box Offices.
Pavilion Arts Centre All parts of the Pavilion Arts Centre (and both St John’s Road entrances) are accessible by wheelchair, apart from the Main Room balcony. Although there is a lift, the balcony is not recommended for those with mobility issues.
Companion tickets In all venues your safety is paramount. In an emergency, if you would have difficulty making your way out of the building on your own, we strongly advise that you bring a companion.
Extra information Opera finish times As our Festival Opera productions are created specifically for each Festival, we are unable to provide finish times of the operas at the time of going to press.
01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
Refreshments and dining Refreshments are available for all events in St John’s Church where there is an interval. Afternoon tea and pre-opera dining are available with our partners at the Old Hall Hotel and Pavilion Gardens.
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Special offers Only one offer per ticket. All offers are subject to availability.
Opera House Standby. Full-time students and those on JSA/Income Support 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.
Groups of ten receive a 10% discount for all performances except Saturday evenings. See four operas and save! Book tickets for four opera performances in stalls A–N or Dress Circle (Buxton Opera House only) and deduct £3 from the cost of each ticket. See five book talks and save! Book tickets for five or more book talks (at the same time) and receive 10% off the price. Offer excludes evening talks and The Oldie Literary Lunch.
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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 online. Offer excludes Festival Friends’ Party and Festival Friends’ Lunch. Late-night jazz. If you’ve been to the opera and would like to catch the remainder of the jazz concert in the Pavilion Café once the opera has finished, bring your opera ticket along and pay £5 for the jazz concert on the door (places subject to availability).
01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
Buxton Festival Fringe 5–23 July The 2017 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 at over 40 venues in and around Buxton, including a free afternoon sampler in the Pavilion Gardens on Sunday 9 July. 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 free printed programme and find out how to become a Fringe Friend. For queries email info@buxtonfringe.org.uk, call 01298 70705 or text 07952 193 521.
01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
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Why not enhance your visit to the opera? at the Pavilion Gardens
FR
cup o EE or co f tea ffee in th e Pav i Before or after the performance, enjoy a drink or dinner at the Pavilion Café, overlooking 23-acres of award winning landscaped gardens.
lion ith yo ur meal *
Café w
Or why not join us for breakfast, lunch or afternoon tea? Choose from a mouth-watering variety of home cooked dishes with locally sourced ingredients from our specially selected Festival Menu. Open 9.30am-7pm, Monday-Sunday during the Festival. *In conjunction with a 'main' meal purchased in the Pavilion café only, offer ends 31st December 2017. Subject to terms and conditions.
m and 7pm p 5 n e e P r e - s h o w d i n i n g b ea ltl 0w1 2 9 8 2 3 1 1 4 t o m a k e a r e s e r v a t i o n ase c To a v o i d d i s a p p o i n t m e n t
ple
Tel: 01298 23114 Find us: /Pavilion Gardens Follow us: @gardensbuxton St John’s Road, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 6BE
www.paviliongardens.co.uk
How to get to Buxton
I HAR DW HARDW IC
EAGLE PARADE
ST RIA N) RO AD
Ashwood Park
OAD
K( PE DE
BAKEWELL R
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Police Station
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HAR TIN
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Market Place
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Coach Park
Town Hall
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A6 to MANCHESTER, GLOSSOP, HAYFIELD, CHINLEY & NEW MILLS
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Pavilion Gardens
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W AT ER
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G RIN SP TERRACE ROAD
The Slopes
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N GTO BURLIN LD R OAD
Opera House
Pavilion Arts Centre
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The Crescent
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SR N’ JO H
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Old Hall Hotel
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A55 to LEEK & MACCLESFIELD
St John’s Church
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N RA AD U
Old Clubhouse AD RO
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Devonshire Dome
Cricket Ground
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Palace Hotel
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Buxton Station
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DE VO NS HI
R CE LA PA
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PARK R
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ST RE ET
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MAN
The Lee Wood Hotel
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A5004 to STOCKPORT & WHALEY BRIDGE
A6 to BAKEWELL, TIDESWELL & MATLOCK
BATH ROAD WEST ROAD
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 Pay and display parking for 50 cars, including 2 spaces for the disabled. Charges: 1 hour 70p, 2 hours £1.20, 4 hours £2.50, free after 6pm. Pavilion Gardens Parking for 262 cars including 15 spaces for the disabled. Charges: 1 hour £1.20, 2 hours £1.80, 4 hours £3.20, over 4 hours £5, free after 6pm. Please allow extra time if travelling by car on Carnival Day (8 July)
AD RO LE DA LO ND ON RO AD
A515 to ASHBOURNE
By Rail Regular inter-city trains from Euston to Macclesfield, Stockport and Manchester (www.virgintrains.co.uk) with connecting sevices to Buxton (journey time approx. three hours). The last train from Buxton to Manchester leaves at 10.57pm. For more information www.nationalrail.co.uk / 08457 48 49 50 www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk By Bus Direct buses to Buxton operate from Chesterfield, Derby, Glossop, Huddersfield, Macclesfield, Sheffield, Stockport and Stoke. For more information www.derbysbus.info www.traveline.org.uk / 0871 200 22 33 www.nationalexpress.com / 08717 81 81 81 By Air Regular national and international flights to Manchester and Nottingham East Midlands airports For more information www.manchesterairport.co.uk www.eastmidlandsairport.com
01298 72190 / Book tickets online: buxtonfestival.co.uk
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THIS IS OUR
CLASSROOM
University in the East Midlands for graduate employment* An inspirational setting for inspirational learning. The University of Derby Buxton Campus provides unparalleled opportunities for real world learning in Events, Hospitality, Tourism, Spa & Wellness. With a work-ready focus and world-class facilities, our courses ensure students go on to take roles with leading national and international employers.
(*HESA 2016, graduating class over 2000)
derby.ac.uk/opendays