Overture - June 2016 by Buxton International Festival

ISSUE ONE – May 2016

The newsletter for Friends & Supporters of Buxton Festival

OVERTURE ISSUE ONE

June 2016

SHEDDING LIGHT ON THIS YEAR’S OPERAS

plus Meet the new Friends Chairman Launching the 2016 Poetry Competition

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A new look You are holding the very first edition of our re-vamped Newsletter for the Friends and supporters of Buxton Festival. We hope you will find much of interest in these pages, especially the articles by the directors of Leonore, I Capuleti e i Montecchi and Tamerlano, which give some insight into their preparations. It is perhaps not always realised that the operas we create are unique to Buxton, so the period 8–24 July 2016 is the only chance to experience what we know will be three fine productions – and much, much else. Randall Shannon Executive Director

We welcome David Brindley to his new role as Chairman of the Friends of Buxton Festival and look forward to working closely with him in developing what is already one of the strongest Friends organisations in the country. Our Friends play a vital role in supporting the work of Buxton Festival which, with our rapidly developing Outreach programme is gradually extending its influence beyond the annual Festival period.

We look forward to seeing you in Buxton in July

This year’s operas

Early morning discussions

Intros to the three Festival Productions and Music Theatre Wales pages 03–08

New additions to the Book Festival page 16

Northern Chamber Orchestra

Our orchestra in residence page 17

CRAZY COMPOSERS And all that goes on in our Outreach programme page 18

ISSUE ONE – June 2016

Leonore v Fidelio Director Stephen Medcalf talks about the colourful history of Beethoven’s opera I would love to have been there: a scene worthy of a comic opera in itself – that night in December 1805, under the chandeliers in the music room of Prince Lichnowsky, one of Beethoven’s most generous patrons, a vast gathering of opera practitioners, cognoscenti and friends of the composer, the huge manuscript score of Leonore uneasily propped up on the piano, the Princess playing through all the numbers one by one and everyone having their opinion as to what should be cut in order to salvage the opera for posterity. Beethoven apoplectic with rage screaming ‘Not a single note must be missing’ grabs the score and runs off with it but is only prevented by the frail princess who throws herself at his feet begging ‘Beethoven! No, your greatest work, you yourself shall not eradicate in this way! Give in! Do it for the memory of your mother! Do it for me, who am only

your best friend.’ Then after a dramatic pause, Beethoven looking upwards to the heavens, bursting into sobs, replies: ‘I will – yes all! I will do all for you – for your – for my mother’s sake!’ Curtain. The premiere of Leonore did not go well. Only a week before the French had marched triumphantly into Vienna and the aristocracy had packed up and left. The first night was played to an almost empty theatre, populated only by supporters and admirers of Beethoven, a number of bored French soldiers and a few tourists brave enough to venture out. It was not well received, in spite of some inspiring music it was regarded as too slow, too long and lacking originality. Beethoven supervised immediate draconian cuts and continued tinkering with his only opera for the next 10 years until in 1814 he arrived with a final version: now

renamed Fidelio. By and large posterity has embraced these revisions and Fidelio has been trumpeted while Leonore has been unjustly neglected – there is no doubt that the opening two acts move at a steady pace as they establish the characters and situation, but I don’t believe the cuts proposed by others and then reluctantly adopted by Beethoven are an improvement. Indeed I would say they render the opera fundamentally less theatrical. Two themes lie at the heart of the opera, in whichever version: the right of humanity to individual liberty and freedom of thought and the moral force of pure, conjugal love. These are not complex ideas, but what gives them potency is the sincerity, depth and beauty of the music in which Beethoven gives them expression. The later versions of the opera bring these ideas even

more into focus but at the expense of richness of characterisation, of humour, of ambiguity – these values which Mozart understood so well are the true stuff of theatre. What Leonore gives us is more discursive but more dramatic. The supporting characters are better established. Pizarro gives greater expression to his cowardly bullying, Rocco’s good heartedness is tempered by his comic greed and snobbery, Jaquino has more music and more substance; Marzelline’s love for Fidelio is explored in a charming duet, both touching and humorous in the Shakespearean way that Leonore (in male disguise) is forced to play along with Marzelline’s fantasy. Subtle adjustments to the text and the score make Leonore herself and Florestan her imprisoned husband more heroic and less human in the final version. Leonore leads us towards the same spiritual climax as Fidelio, but the journey is more interesting and less predictable and we are a little more surprised when we arrive at our destination. What all versions of the opera contain to a greater or lesser degree is a huge empathy with the two central characters whose ideals and sufferings Beethoven so strongly identified with. Set in the Napoleonic period, this Buxton Festival production will explore Beethoven’s very personal relationship to the opera and the workings of his creative imagination. His favourite quote from Schiller was: ‘Precepts. To do good whenever one can, to love liberty above all else, never to deny the truth even though it be before the throne.’ He had written the ground-breaking Eroica symphony in praise of Bonaparte the great liberator, then torn up the

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dedication in fury when he realised that he was in fact a tyrant. His deafness had begun to affect him several years before he wrote Leonore and he found himself periodically in despair at the feelings of loneliness and isolation it engendered. ‘I must live almost

that your heart will long – beat for me- mine can only cease to beat for you – when – it no longer beats’. Josephine of course rejected him as she must – her aristocratic station made it inevitable whatever her personal feelings. Beethoven’s hope was crushed. Leonore,

Kristin Sharpin plays Leonore

David Danholt plays Florestan

alone like an exile’. He suffered such dark nights of the soul – one can only imagine the resonance of Florestan’s first lines in the dungeon: ‘O God how dark it is! How terrible this silence. Here in the void no living thing comes near. O cruel ordeal! But God’s will is just. I’ll not complain; for he has decreed the measure of my suffering.’

however sings in her aria: ‘Come Hope, let not your last star be eclipsed in despair’ and her hope is rewarded. Florestan endures torments but he is rescued by pure love: ‘Never can we over-praise a wife that saves her husband’ sing the chorus. I find Beethoven’s exultant ending deeply poignant in the knowledge that he was ultimately rejected by all women. He was doomed to suffer an endless series of hopeless affairs and never did find the ideal love of a spouse to save him.

Beethoven sought solace not only in his music, but in love. During the composition of Leonore he fell fervently in love with the Countess Josephine Deym. She was almost certainly the inspiration for his central character. It seems to have been requited but only in the platonic sense. Beethoven had dedicated a song called ‘An die Hoffnung’ (Ode to hope) to her and made delirious declarations of love: ‘Oh, you, you make me hope

STEPHEN MEDCALF Director, Leonore

ISSUE ONE – June 2016

I Capuleti – why now? Director Harry Fehr talks about his production of Bellini’s opera operatic repertoire (such as Falstaff, Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream), no opera company is a museum. This didn’t seem enough to answer why now?

Watercolor by John Massey Wright

When Stephen Barlow first approached me, asking if I would like to direct I Capuleti e i Montecchi for the 2016 festival, the first question I asked myself was: why now? The story of Romeo and Juliet (or Romeo e Giulietta, Roméo et Juliette, Romeo und Julia, etc, etc) must be one of the very best known in Western literature, so why did it

need telling yet again in 2016? The immediate answer, of course, is that this year is the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare, and opera companies around the world are celebrating his life with productions based on or inspired by his plays. But, while a wonderful excuse to produce some of the greatest works in the

I investigated the performance history of the piece. While the play may be one of Shakespeare’s most performed, Bellini’s I Capuleti remains a relative rarity on British stages. Opera North staged it in 2008, but the Royal Opera last created a new production of the work in 1984 (which had its last outing in 2009) and in recent times ENO have performed it only in concert. Bellini is the least performed of the three primary bel canto composers of the early 19th Century and while his output was far smaller than that of Rossini or Donizetti, none of his works has achieved the popularity of, say, a Barbiere di Siviglia or a L’elisir d’amore (Norma seems to be having another ‘moment’ right now, but is unlikely ever to gain the popularity of those immortal comedies). I am of the opinion that novelty and rarity can be fine reasons for producing certain operas, particularly those which shed light on a particular composer or era, but while an opera company is not a museum, nor is it an academic institution. The piece’s rarity value still doesn’t completely answer my question. I reflected further: surely, if a piece is good, it is always worth doing. This is indisputably true, and I Capuleti is indisputably, at the very least, ‘good’. The libretto may lack the richness and vigour of Shakespeare, and we may balk at

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Juliet/ Giulietta’s reduction from a strong, dynamic protagonist to the powerless weeping damsel of 19th Century convention, but it is taught, cogent and psychologically credible. Furthermore, Bellini’s score reveals a real master of his idiom. The composer is famous, of course, for his superb melodic invention but, not really knowing

gradually became more specific: what themes, what incidents in the narrative mean that it still has the power to enthral us, and how can they best be presented?

Sarah-Jane Brandon plays Giulietta in I Capuleti

Stephanie Marshall plays Romeo in I Capuleti

the piece before I was asked to direct it, I was excited to discover how those melodies are put to the service of the drama. Scenes such as infiltration of the Capuleti headquarters by the Montecchi in the Act 1 finale generate real dramatic heat, and the final duet between Giulietta and the dying Romeo is desperate. But, again, the audience are not paying to see a concert. They are coming to see a staged narrative drama of a story the vast majority will, in essence, know. Why should they sit through that narrative yet again?

is not a mere family feud, but an all-out civil war. Romeo himself is no callow youth, but rather a hardened fighter, the leader, in fact, of the Montecchi faction. Consequently the conflict in which these two groups is engaged is ever present, pressing at the edge of events at all times. My designer, Yannis Thavoris, and I wanted to foreground this, and felt that drawing on the imagery of war from contemporary society would conjure useful connections in our audience’s imaginations. We also spent a long time thinking about what ‘Verona’ (the ostensible location of the opera) could be. It is a city which has great cultural and historical value to two tribes, and which has been fought over by them for many years. When

My job as a director is always to tell the story in the clearest way possible, while considering what in the piece speaks to a contemporary audience. My question of why?

A central difference between Shakespeare’s play and Felice Romani’s libretto is that the conflict between the two factions

looking for parallels which our audience would readily understand, the immediate example was Jerusalem, and Yannis and I spent time looking at imagery of that city, particularly today. Yet, at the same time, Bellini created a highly specific sound world which is very much of its day. I’ve found that works by composers such as Handel and Mozart, while (of course) absolutely of the time in which they were written, can work well transferred wholesale into other time periods – for example, in the production of the latter’s La finta giardiniera which I directed at Buxton Festival in 2013. But I felt that such a precise relocation of I Capuleti into, for example, modernday Jerusalem at the height of another intifada, would feel at odds with Bellini’s rhythms and textures. While the piece has much to tell us today, I wasn’t convinced that it would be best served in a specific modern context. I felt that some remnants of Bellini’s own world would be useful. Consequently, Yannis and I have created an imagined world: one which uses some of the tropes of the contemporary Middle East, while also consciously bringing to mind the 1830s. Within that world, with its various associations, we hope to make clear a story of futile internecine war, the arrogance of men, and the transformative power of love.

HARRY FEHR Director, I Capuleti e i Montecchi

ISSUE ONE – June 2016

A tyrant straining every sinew to be a graceful lover Director Francis Matthews talks about Handel’s Tamerlano Handel’s Tamerlano isn’t much like Marlowe’s Tamburlaine. Tamburlaine eats fire, administers scourge and terror, sees himself as a force of nature – and Marlowe imagines him in a language of extremes. ‘He now is seated on my horsemens’ spears’… ‘We use to march upon the slaughtered foe: trampling their bowels with our horses’ hooves’… ‘swelling clouds drawn from wide gasping wounds – resolved in bloody purple showers’… this is old-fashioned shock and awe. The playwright was determined to frighten his audience, to intoxicate by their proximity to the power of this elemental demi-God. The play has a massive cast and certainly requires an army of extras – soldiers, citizens, concubines. When I was invited to direct Tamerlano, I thought that Buxton must have won the lottery – but looking at the Handel opera – I found a very different world. Of course, Tamerlano himself is still the Scythian shepherd (a fact that appals his captive Bajazet, who might be more relaxed had his defeat been brought about by someone of higher social status) and a great warlord (it’s estimated that the campaigns of the historical Timur killed 17 million people in the 14th century). But we don’t meet him on the battlefield, or negotiating to take control of an empire, or accomplishing any of the remarkable feats which Marlowe celebrates. In Tamerlano the opera, we meet the oppressor

(tyrant, military genius, whatever) in his palace, in his private apartments, in the company only of his captive Bajazet; Bajazet’s daughter Asteria; his vassal and brave general Andronico; and later – the woman he is supposed to marry –Irene – with her attendant and confidant Leone. Timur is said to have been a great patron of art and architecture (when he wasn’t massacring 5% of the world’s population), and Tamerlano comes across as a man craving refinement. He does his best to behave like a courtly knight. He speaks of faith and courtesy and honour and duty and exults in the splendour of the court he has created; he speaks of having rivals in love (inevitably a pretence for so cruel and powerful a man); the music which tells us so much about him is sinuous and graceful. Without Marlowe’s army on stage, without the explicit expression of his brute strength – Tamerlano wants to be seen as a refined and noble prince. However low his birth, he aspires to beauty; however rough his upbringing, he craves a kind of sophistication. So we are reminded of powerful men who surround themselves with great art (often looted from the civilizations they have tried to destroy) and who try to create a Petit Trianon amidst the devastation they have wrought, a place where they can practice urbanity and grace. Herman Göring surrounded

himself with more than 600 works of art looted by the Nazis during World War 2, and Hitler had plans for a Fuhrermuseum where Nazi plunder would do – what? Confer some benediction on a monstrous life? We remember Diaghilev and many another impresario, wielding power behind the façade of art, controlling and manipulating the artists at their disposal. We think of the great collectors who – finally – are left cold and lonely in their cluttered galleries. Tamerlano plays mind games with those sequestered at the heart of his empire, jealous of the passions they truly feel, baffled by an instinctive honour which directs their lives. He tries to compromise their relationships, he exploits their vulnerability, and when he has achieved victory of a sort, he suddenly seems bored with his scheming and allows the lovers he has so abused to be together again. Tamerlano is an opera in which true feeling proves to be more powerful – even though it leads to death – than the machinations of a tyrant. Even a tyrant straining every sinew to be a graceful lover.

FRANCIS MATTHEWS Director, Tamerlano

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Real music drama by a leading opera composer Michael McCarthy introduces his directorial approach to The Golden Dragon Performed by a stunning cast of character actors and delivered with Music Theatre Wales’ exemplary musical standards, I am thrilled to be creating the UK premiere of this exciting new work – real music drama by one of Europe’s leading opera composers with a powerful message about one of the most troubling issues facing us right here and now. Set mainly in the kitchen of a panAsian restaurant, this production will follow a similar approach to our awardwinning staging of Greek: With the orchestra taking pride

of place on the stage and participating in every moment as players and observers, alongside a cast of flamboyant theatrical performers, playing multiple roles with relish and passion, switching from comedy to pathos and from passionate engagement to cool narration. And all the while the opera reveals the potential horrors facing those who seek refuge in foreign lands, notably our own Western and supposedly civilised society. Our approach is to revel in

the vital and virtuosic score which animates the drama, and to present the singers as theatrical players who are first and foremost everyday people who then take on a variety of characters. In this way, the audience will be drawn into a world that starts as slapstick and fun but which turns distinctly nasty, not least with the fable of the Cricket and the Ant which becomes inextricably embroiled in the events in and around The Golden Dragon, until The Little One’s soaring aria at the end takes him on a spiritual journey back home to the East, finally relieved of all earthly concerns.

Peter Eotvos, composer Music Theatre Wales’ production of Greek

ISSUE ONE – June 2016

FRIENDS AT THE CENTRE

FROM THE CHAIRMAN... If you are reading this, you have found the Friends ‘centre spread’ in the new format Newsletter – and you now know where to look for us in future editions! It’s my great pleasure to be writing to you on this first occasion in my capacity as Chairman of the Friends of Buxton Festival. I’ve attended the Festival every year since 1993 when I moved to Buxton with my family. But this year will be different for me and I’ll be trying to meet and talk with as many Friends as possible. Do please look out for me and come and share your thoughts with me about how we can strengthen and improve the network and impact of the Friends even further.

The Friends Committee has been refreshed this year. We’ve lost three stalwarts in Louise Potter, Geoffrey Watson and Beryl Woods but gained three very energetic new members in Harriett Grubb, Philip Cartledge and Jane Barrett. You can learn about all three in this newsletter. We are a strong and very friendly team and, together with our tremendously supportive Patron, Donald Maxwell, we are committed to growing the membership of the Friends and to providing the best possible experience for each of you. We all know that the Friends are the life blood of the Festival – both directly through our attendance at the Festival but also indirectly

through our membership subscriptions, which are effectively donations to boost the Festival’s funds. The Committee are also aware that most Friends events and gatherings over the course of the year, and also the AGM, take place in the Buxton area and so reach only a small minority of the total membership; the Festival itself is our only real chance to talk with you in large numbers and hear your answers to our most pressing questions. And, finally, of course, we look forward to the Festival itself, with a programme as full and enticing as many a year. See you there!

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HANDING OVER New Friends David Brindley Chair ta predecessor Lo lks to his uise Potter DB: Louise, I think I should begin by thanking you on behalf of all the Friends for your singular commitment and generosity over your 12 years as our Chairman. Your contribution to the Friends and to the Festival has been massive and you’ve presided over the Buxton Friends becoming arguably the most successful organisation of its kind in the country. I wonder what special memories you’re taking away? LP: The Festival has been, and still is, a major interest in my life. It’s been wonderful to get to know so many of the Friends and to meet so many delightful artists – not to mention being able to promote the Festival in Parliament, not once but twice, firstly with Roy Hattersley and then with our local MP, Andrew Bingham. Of course, my business at the Old Hall Hotel benefitted from the Festival and I’m just pleased that I’ve been able to give so much back. DB: I wonder what you’ve most enjoyed about the Festival itself? LP: Well, it’s been more work, but organising the Literary Series in recent years has been fascinating and tremendously enjoyable. But I just love being able to attend such a variety of musical events and Buxton in the sun at Festival time is unbeatable.

DB: I realise that I am now Chairman of both the Friends as a whole and of the Friends Committee. This can involve quite hard work, can’t it? LP: It can, of course, but it’s all been hugely rewarding. I’m a natural organiser, the Friends Committee are a great team and together we’ve organised marvellous events – in Friends’ homes like Moorcroft with Pat and Phillip Holland, at places like Chatsworth, Hassop Hall and Upper House near Kinder, not to mention Stephen’s and Joanna’s Studio in London. I’m sure you’ll enjoy all of this as much as I have. I wonder what you’ve got planned for the coming year? DB: Well, we’re back at Chatsworth again in June, and that’s already sold out! We’ve events planned for Mottram Hall in Cheshire, Cressbrook Hall in the Peak, Homestead Barn In Disley and the David Mellor Design Museum near Hathersage. You may spot a strategy here of trying to arrange events at all points of the compass out from Buxton towards neighbouring towns and conurbations. LP: Sounds great! I think I’m going to miss being involved! DB: But you are, of course, still very involved aren’t you – on the Festival Board and as one of the Foundation trustees. I’m very

conscious of the importance of the Friends working as closely as possible with both the company and the Foundation to secure the long-term health and vitality of the Festival. LP: That’s absolutely true. I know that you’ve made that a priority yourself and I wonder what other priorities you’ve set? DB: Well, our principal aim is to attract and keep as many Friends as we possibly can and also to widen the membership. As you know only too well, without the Friends there would be no Festival – we make up the majority of the audiences and our membership donations provide sponsorship for an opera each year – Tamerlano this year - and much else. The fact that we’ve been able to donate over £1m over the past five years is truly awesome. There’s another delicate balancing act. On the one hand we’re always encouraging our Friends to be even more generous and to consider upgrading their membership. On the other hand we want to ensure that our Friends feel truly valued and appreciated and I’m particularly keen to hear suggestions as to how we might do this better. I wonder if you have one last tip for me? LP: David, I really wish you and the Committee well and I’ll always be around if I can help in any way. As for my tip, it’s simple: Just enjoy it!

ISSUE ONE – June 2016

WELCOME NEW TRUSTEES As well as David Brindley becoming Chairman, three new Trustees were also appointed at the Annual General Meeting: Jane Barrett, Harriet Grubb (Friends’ Secretary) and Philip Cartledge (Treasurer)

DAVID BRINDLEY Having graduated from Oxford with a degree in Russian in 1969 I headed straight off as a VSO to war-torn Laos for four years. By then a passion for SE Asia had supplanted my passion for things Russian and the experience of teaching some of the most delightful students in the world had given me a lifelong commitment to teaching back in the UK. A source of my greatest pride, as a Deputy Headteacher and then for 16 years as a Headteacher, was the opportunity to be able to promote the arts to young people from all social backgrounds and to witness their amazing talents. Despite being surrounded by talented musicians at home, my own musical efforts are to be avoided at all costs but my tastes are eclectic and take in the whole Festival offer. I am honoured to have been elected as Chairman of the Friends and looking forward to working with my fellow Trustees and the Festival team.

JANE BARRETT I started coming to the Festival over 20 years ago, and have some very happy memories of listening to glorious music on summer

evenings in this most beautiful of settings. I moved full-time to Buxton when I retired from local government in 2010 and was keen to get involved in the Festival. I started by working with Jim Robinson, typing the really excellent programme notes that he produced every year, and hoping to extend my musical knowledge in the process! The same year I joined the front-ofhouse team, and have continued to do so each year since. I was very pleased to accept the invitation to join the Friends Committee and hope to make a contribution to the continuing success of the Festival.

HARRIET GRUBB This is my third year of being involved with the Festival and my fourth year in the town itself. The Festival brings the town alive and I wanted to support that and be part of the buzz. I found out about the Friends of the Festival and started volunteering. It has been tremendous fun. My husband and I moved to Buxton as part of the BBC’s relocation to Media City in Salford. I had been working as a producer and broadcast journalist at BBC Radio

5 Live, but I gave that up to go on maternity leave. I am now working closer to home for a travel company. I was so pleased to be asked to take on the role of secretary of the Friends of the Festival. I am looking forward to working proactively with David, Lee and the other trustees.

PHILIP CARTLEDGE I’ve recently been appointed Trustee and Treasurer of the Friends. Born and brought up in Chapel-en-le-Frith, I went to New Mills Grammar School and then to the Royal Academy of Music and London University. I was Director of Music Schools at Harrow School where I taught music from 1976 to 2000. Later I became Administrator of Lighthouse, South London, which is part of the HIV/AIDS charity, Terrence Higgins Trust. In 2006 I moved back to Chapel and have become involved with music-making in and around Buxton, including as singer and pianist with Susie and the Bad Habits. My big break came in 2013 when Michael Williams broke his leg and I stepped in to conduct the Puccini Gloria with Buxton Musical Society. An opera fan and a loyal supporter of the Buxton Festival right from the start, I’m already enjoying getting to know the other Trustees and am greatly looking forward to the closer relationship with the Festival and with the Friends that my new role afffords me.

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FRIENDS’ PARTY Old Hall Hotel, Buxton Friday 22 July at 10pm

FRIENDS EVENTS OPENING NIGHT PARTY

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

LUNCH, MUSIC, PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURE

Pavilion Café, Buxton Friday 8 July at 9.45pm

Homestead Farm Jackson’s Edge, near Disley Sunday 11 September at 12 noon

Come and enjoy a post-opera celebration on the opening night of the Festival with other members of the Friends and VIP guests. Bookable via the Festival Box Office 01298 72190.

We were delighted to accept Chris and Stephen Grime’s invitation to hold a fundraising event at their lovely home Homestead Barn, Jacksons Edge in Disley for members.

FRIENDS’ DINNER

Chris is a painter and sculptor and, together with artist friends, will hold an exhibition of their work for you to visit and discuss with them before you enjoy a recital by the Northern Chamber Orchestra String Quartet followed by a buffet lunch. Tickets £25 each.

Old Hall Hotel, Buxton Sunday 17 July at 5.45pm Join us for a three-course dinner at the delightful Old Hall Hotel, an opportunity to have a break from the busy Festival schedule and relax with other members of the Friends over a convivial dinner before the evening performance. The dinner has been kindly sponsored by an old friend of the Festival meaning that the price you pay goes directly to support the work of the Festival. Tickets £35 each. Book online at buxtonfestival.co.uk and go to the Friends page of the website Book by post 3 The Square, Buxton SK17 6AZ. Cheque payable to ‘Friends of Buxton Festival’

FRIENDS OPERA HOLIDAY TO GLYNDEBOURNE Due to the popularity of the Friends’ opera holiday to Glyndebourne which sold out soon after it was advertised to members by e-newsletter last month a second holiday has now been arranged for 25 October for 3 nights to include Madama Butterfly and Don Giovanni. If you would like to book for the holiday based in Eastbourne at the elegant seafront Cavendish Hotel then please call our travel partner Grosvenor Travel on 01492 547744.

DATES FOR YOUR 2017 DIARY! The Friends are planning a programme of events for members to enjoy next year which will include two new venues, Mottram Hall which was built around 1750 and now run as a luxury hotel will be host for our Spring luncheon and recital in late April followed in May by our first visit to the David Mellor Design Museum in the delightful village of Hathersage for a recital and supper. We are also pleased to be returning to Upper House in the village of Hayfield and Cressbrook Hall both set in breath-taking locations. Details and bookings for these events will be given in the next newsletter. Fri 10 Feb AGM Lunch at the Old Hall Hotel Wed 26 Apr Coffee Morning Talk Sun 30 Apr Mottram Hall recital and lunch Thu 4 May Opera Study Day Wed 17 May Recital and Supper at the David Mellor Design Museum Wed 7 Jun Upper House Recital Sun 10 Sep Cressbrook Hall Tea Party and recital

ISSUE ONE – June 2016

Looking forward to July The Festival team’s picks for this year’s Festival

CLAIRE BARLOW This summer I can’t wait to meet Sarah Raven. About five years ago I bought my mum a birthday present from the lovely Sarah Raven website and now I get a beautiful magazine through the post every month full of tempting flowers, gardening equipment and foodie gifts. I also have one of Sarah’s lovely cookbooks from which I attempt to cook her summer recipes. It’ll be great to meet the lady herself to find out where I am going wrong with that tricky lamb dish… I’m also looking forward to taking my little boy to The Magical Storytelling Yurt in the Pavilion Gardens – it’ll be the first time I’ll actually have a genuine reason to go!

LEE BARNES I recently attended the Friends of the Festival Opera Study Day to find out more about the operas to be performed at the Festival this

year. We had three excellent speakers each talking enthusiastically about one of the operas. The one I think I am going to most enjoy is Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi but I’m sure I will end up liking all three. I enjoy those literary talks where I feel I may learn something more than just reading the book and I am most looking forward to Lord Hennessy’s talk on the Royal Navy Submarine Service since the World War II – having an uncle who served as an officer in the Submarine Service I have had an interest in this subject since a small boy.

LILY BRACEGIRDLE When I was studying Music at university, one of my modules was based around the lives of Beethoven and Schubert, and we spent a few lectures and seminars studying Beethoven’s Fidelio – the later version of Leonore. I am really looking forward to watching Leonore to see how it compares to his later revisions… This year’s late-night music also looks really good and I like the variety of musical genres on offer. I listened to Tir Eolas’ new album a few months ago and really enjoyed it – if you have chance, you should check out their YouTube videos, and come and see them live on 16 July!

ROBBIE CARNEGIE Over the years I’ve been gripped by Music Theatre Wales’ work at the Festival – I vividly remember their productions of Greek and The Killing Flower – so I’m looking forward to their UK premiere of The Golden Dragon. While I don’t pretend to always ‘understand’ modern opera, the theatricality of their productions is always very striking as is the technical element of the singing. I enjoy shows that combine music and drama so I like the look of Breaking the Rules, and always look forward to the ‘cover shows’, Scenes from an Opera, full of invention and committed performances from the Chorus members.

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Festival 2017 operas announced We’re able to exclusively announce the three Festival operas for 2017: Verdi Macbeth Britten Albert Herring Mozart Lucio Silla

LUCY DURACK Having arrived in Buxton just two days before last year’s Festival, it was something of a whirlwind. This year I expect the experience to be different, but no less exciting. All three opera productions promise gut-wrenching drama as well as wonderful voices. In the literary programme, highlights for me will probably include ‘A is for Arsenic’ – very excited to see Hugh Fraser! Also high on my list is ‘An Evening of Murder’ – if I had to choose someone to be in another life, it would definitely be Lucy Worsley. The variety of experiences that Buxton offers surely cannot be equalled by any other festival.

The 2017 Buxton Festival runs from 7–23 July.

Buxton Books Weekend This year’s Buxton Books Weekend will run from 18–20 November, with book-related events including from Matthew Parris on the art of the putdown, Simon Jenkins on English cathedrals, food writer William Sitwell on the man behind rationing, Radio 4 comedy scientist Helen Keen on the Science of Game of Thrones, The Odditorium, an inspiring medley of Antarctic exploration, literary hoaxes, wild avant-garde art, time travel and the world’s largest underground temple and a Literary Lunch at the Old Hall Hotel, featuring Matthew Dennison on Beatrix Potter and Marina Warner on fairy tales. More speakers are being confirmed all the time so look out for details at the Festival in July.

Manchester Theatre Awards LIZ MACKENZIE Yet again there is so much choice at this year’s Festival. Like countless people I don’t want to miss the performance by Angela Hewitt and Stephen Kovacevich and I am looking forward to hearing Anne Sophie Duprels and Gillian Keith’s voices again. Benjamin’s Wild’s talk on Cecil Beaton and Anne Sebba’s views on Parisian women interest me, as does Paula Hawkins discussing her bestseller The Girl on the Train.

We were excited that last year’s Festival opera Giovanna d’Arco received a ‘Best Opera’ nomination at the Manchester Theatre Awards in March. Festival Team members Lucy Durack, Robbie Carnegie and Lily Bracegirdle attended the ceremony at HOME, where the award went to our friends at Royal Northern College of Music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which included a number of Festival Chorus members and interns among its cast.

Congratulations to Justin Justin Doyle – who will be conducting Bellini’s Il Capuleti e i Montecchi at this year’s Festival – has been named Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the RIAS Chamber Choir in Berlin! Huge congratulations to Justin on such a prestigious appointment!

ISSUE ONE – June 2016

In early 1977 I was invited by Ray Walter, High Peak Borough Council’s Amenities Committee Chairman, to be the third member of a working party to consider the future of the Opera House, a Council-owned building, which was shortly to lose its cinema company tenant, and to meet Malcom Fraser and Anthony Hose who wished to establish a summer Opera Festival. There were two main problems. How could we raise over half a million pounds and then run the building at an affordable cost the rest of the year? We went round in circles until I asked what was the minimum amount needed to enable the theatre to re-open. The answer was £100,000 and we launched an appeal for that amount in March 1978. The response was excellent and we soon took the line that the £100,000 did not include grants. Thanks largely to Margaret Millican, the total cost of £504,000 was raised including £235,000 from the Council. To overcome the second problem I calculated that there was already a core level of theatrical activity in the adjoining Playhouse which could be moved to the far finer facilities of a restored Opera House and which would generate sufficient income to cover basic minimal running costs. We believed that the quality of the building would attract more and more professional usage but that this would take time to build up. Using volunteers front of house as already established at the Playhouse would make running costs affordable.

Michael Williams As he steps down from the Festival Board, Michael Williams looks back over his time with the Festival

Thanks to Derek Sugden’s magnificent work, the restoration was completed within budget and in time for the opening in July 1979. I shall never forget driving to the theatre on the opening night through crowd-lined streets, and my excitement when the curtain rose in a packed theatre on a stage enveloped in Malcom Fraser’s trademark dry ice. Since then there have been so many memorable performances, but of the operas I would single out Beatrice and Benedict and, more recently, Intermezzo which I managed to see five times. In 1980 Anthony Hose asked me if the Musical Society would contribute to the Festival an orchestral Mass in St John’s church. We have done

this ever since. Singing the Masses of Mozart, Haydn and the great 16th century composers in Latin is now commonplace and it is easy to forget that in 1980 this was pioneering stuff. The Church of England expected communion services to be sung in English for several more years. We introduced a second orchestral service in 1992, and since 1996 with only two exceptions this has been broadcast by the BBC. The other area for which I have been responsible since 1990 is the organisation of the organ recitals in St John’s Church which Fred Parnell had originated in 1979 starting with David Hill and Thomas Trotter. The list since them reads like a Who’s Who of current Cathedral organists. During my time on the Board I and my colleagues have progressed from agonising whether we could lawfully proceed to the happier situation of a vastly expanded programme of hugely greater quality despite money still being extremely tight. The Festival’s unique combination of operas, concerts and literary talks has now made it far more attractive to a wider audience. I never dreamt in 1977 that Buxton would come to host one of Britain’s leading Festivals or that the theatre could be so successful. It gives me great pride when constantly meeting people in Britain and abroad who immediately associate Buxton with its Festival and Opera House and I feel privileged to have played some small part in the success of both organisations.

OVERTURE

Early Morning Discussions Join us at 9am Upstairs at the Old Clubhouse for illuminating discussions between fascinating figures on topics that touch all of our lives. Further early morning discussions to be announced. Watch the website for details.

Friday 15 July 9am–10am, Old Clubhouse

Thursday 21 July 9am, Old Clubhouse

Friday 22 July 9am, Old Clubhouse

PETER HENNESSY & NICK ROBINSON The Art of the Political Interview

STEPHEN BARLOW & LAURENCE CUMMINGS Authenticity in Performance

SHIRAZ MAHER & ROD DUBROWMARSHALL Understanding the Roots of Extremism

Festival Artistic Director Stephen Barlow and fellow conductor Laurence Cummings talk about the finer points of making interpretative decisions, including a discussion on the value of historically informed performance, the use of original instruments and baroque pitch.

Rod Dubrow-Marshall talks to Shiraz Maher, the writer, journalist and author of Salafi-Jihadism: The History of an Idea. No topic has captured the public imagination of late quite so dramatically as the spectre of global jihadism. While much has been said about the way jihadists behave, their ideology remains poorly understood. Packed with refreshing and provocative insights, Maher explains how war and insecurity engendered one of the most significant socio-religious movements of the modern era.

The historian, academic and crossbench peer, Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield, talks to Today frontman and former BBC political editor Nick Robinson. Does the ‘softly-softly’ approach yield more results than the more adversarial approach? As politicians become more briefed and polished, does the work of the interviewer need to change to reflect that?

In association with

ISSUE ONE – June 2016

WITH THANKS TO JANET The Festival Foundation has recently learned that the late Janet Ede has left the Foundation a legacy of £5,000. Janet, who lived in Cromford near Matlock, was a stalwart attender of the Festival and of Friends events and had been a member of the Friends for over 14 years. It is a wonderful gesture on her part to remember the Foundation in her will.

Northern Chamber Orchestra The NCO celebrates 50 years of exceptional music-making in its 2017–18 season. Over the years, its ambitions have seen it develop artistically – expanding its repertoire and collaborative approach to programming, commissioning new works, and attracting soloists of the highest calibre. Based in Manchester and regularly performing in Cheshire, the Orchestra is now proactively turning its attention to playing more often in Derbyshire, including, of course, Buxton – where it has enjoyed a long and successful association with Buxton Festival as ‘Orchestra in Residence’. Earlier in April, Stephen Barlow conducted the Orchestra at a special Mind Music concert in Manchester, exploring works related to neurodegenerative disease (proceeds

going to Parkinson’s UK). Organised and presented by our Principal Clarinet, Elizabeth Jordan, in memory of her father, the project also involved recording a soon-tobe released Mind Music CD. The NCO is now exploring ways to further develop its long-term partnerships with Buxton Festival and Orchestras Live, while its relationship with Buxton Opera House is also evolving. We’ll keep you posted as exciting new concerts and projects are confirmed. In the meantime, you can hear the NCO playing (in the pit!) for Buxton Festival’s main opera productions and see it in concert at St John’s Church on Monday 18 July at 3.30pm. The NCO’s String Quartet is playing at the Buxton Friends’ fundraiser event on 11 September at Homestead Farm.

The Foundation’s endowment fund helps to ensure that future generations can also enjoy the Festival. If you would like to do the same, it is a simple matter to add a codicil to your will naming Buxton Festival Foundation (Registered charity number 1096269). Ian Johnston, a trustee of the Foundation, said ‘Gifts like Janet’s can really help to make a difference. It’s nice to know that you can choose that some of your estate is going, Inheritance Tax free, to support something that you really value, rather than being swallowed up in the general Exchequer’.

OVERTURE

From Crazy Composers to Creeping Toads... Outreach manager Claire Barlow about what’s new in her department

It’s all happening the in the Outreach department at the moment. We’ve got 60 Year Two children working their way through their Arts Award (we’re off to meet Crazy Craig at Buxton Opera House next week for a drama workshop). Then there’s the Kaleidoscope Choir who’ve been filming with the BBC (eagled-eyed viewers will spot us on Escape to the Country soon) as well as raising the roof of the Green Man Gallery at the Buxton Spring Fair. If you happen to wander past Buxton Opera House on a Tuesday lunchtime you’ll hear us belting out our ‘works in progress’ as we rehearse for our concert in the Fringe Festival on 12 July at the United Reformed Church. We’re also still on a high from our first pilot session with young people in

We’re looking forward to welcoming 150 children with special education needs to Buxton at the end of May for a concert with the Volant Trio as part of our partnership with Live Music Now. Then in June teenagers from Buxton’s two secondary schools will take part in a poetry workshop to celebrate the launch of this year’s Buxton Poetry Competition. With an eye to July, we’re making final preparations for our ‘Crazy Composers’ pop-up classroom where children from across the country will come to Buxton to work with musicians from The English Concert to learn all about baroque composers. The NCO will delight school children with two performances of Stanley’s Stick – a charming musical story aimed at key stage one children. And finally on 16 July we welcome The Magical Storytelling Yurt featuring storyteller Creeping Toad for a day of wonderful words.

supported accommodation in Buxton. In partnership with Adullam Housing we’re hoping to run a music and drama project to help these lovely but neglected young people develop some of the life skills they will need as them become young adults in our community.

As you can see, we try to keep out Outreach programme as fun and varied as possible. But there is a serious side. We aim to work with people from all different aspects of our community – primary and secondary schools, troubled teens, older people and young families. We offer all our activities at no cost to the participants and we only work with the best local and national artists to provide a quality arts experience for everyone. We are committed to being an active, valuable part of our community to help meet specific needs with arts-based activities.

ISSUE ONE – June 2016

Explore your hidden talents... POETRY COMPETITION The Festival’s annual poetry competition is now accepting entries on the theme of Hidden. Poets of all ages and styles are invited to write something for the competition. And this year there is even more reason to have a go, as we’ve upped the top prize to £500! The competition’s Open Category is judged by past competition winner Matt Black. The competition also has categories for young poets to enter for free. Young poets aged 11 and under can enter the Children’s Category, while teenage writers can enter the Young People’s Category for 12–18 year olds. The competition winners will be announced at a special prize-giving event at the Buxton Festival Book Weekend in November. At this event we will hear all the shortlisted poems read by their authors, as well as poems from our judges.

Please visit buxtonfestival.co.uk/ outreach/poetry-competition/ to find out more and to download an entry pack.

The winner of last year’s Poetry Competition, Aly Stoneman writes:

‘Winning the Buxton Poetry Prize with my poem “Windfalls” boosted my confidence no end and encouraged me to keep writing. I had no idea of my placing when I attended the award ceremony, only that I had been short-listed, and the wonderful feeling of excitement will stay with me forever. I’m particularly proud to have won this prize because of its association with Derbyshire where I work and also because I greatly admire Helen Mort, who was the adjudicator in 2015, and so I was really thrilled that she chose my poem.’

BOOKS AT BUXTON 8â&#x20AC;&#x201C;24 JULY 2016 buxtonfestival.co.uk

TREVOR ROYLE

ANNE SEBBA

DR LUCY WORSLEY

TIFFANY JENKINS

FLORA FRASER

JEREMY LEWIS

LAURA THOMPSON

DAVID AARONOVITCH

MATTHEW OATES

JOSEPHINE WILKINSON

ANDREW DICKSON

HUGH FRASER

SIMON BRADLEY

SARAH RAVEN

JANET ELLIS

THOMAS PAKENHAM GEORGE GOODWIN

JOAN BAKEWELL

RICHARD DAVENPORT-HINES

KATHRYN HARKUP VIRGINIA BAILY

PAULA HAWKINS PETER HENNESSY JO BAKER

TAYLOR ED DOWNING VULLIAMY ANDREW LOWNIE

ALEXEI SAYLE

HARRY FREEDMAN

D J TAYLOR

MELVYN BRAGG BENJAMIN WILD JULIA CLAIRE HARMAN BRADBURY

JAMES JINKS

VINCE CABLE

ANNA HOPE

DAVID CRYSTAL

LAURA DAWES

GARETH WILLIAMS PAUL CARTLEDGE PHILIP EADE