BIF’S ROLE IN BRINGING NEW LIFE TO THE TOWN’S HISTORIC BUILDINGS IS TO BE EXPLORED IN A NEW JOURNAL

In an interview with The Buxtonian, published by Buxton Civic Association, CEO Michael Williams outlines the importance of music in shaping the architecture of the Derbyshire spa resort.

“It’s obvious to say that Buxton International Festival wouldn’t exist without Buxton Opera House,” said Michael. “Festival founder Malcolm Fraser was inspired to bring opera back to life here nearly five decades ago when he saw it being used as a cinema. However, it’s not courting controversy to say that Buxton Opera House wouldn’t be an opera house without opera in it.”

The July edition of The Buxtonian concentrates on the built environment, and BIF is a good example of an organisation which has brought the past full circle to give Buxton’s buildings a future.

“I am very interested in what I call ‘opera of place,’ creating new works which are linked thematically to the area where they are performed. The first was about Buddha when I was in Nepal, then a work about Tiger Bay in Cardiff and Nelson Mandela in South Africa.

“So, it seemed logical to do something similar in Buxton, and the figure of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, the 18th century beauty with an eventful and tragic life, was the focus for BIF’s critically acclaimed 2019 pasticcio in which music of the period told her story.”

And this year, BIF is putting one of Buxton’s most important historical figures centre stage in another opera of place with the world premiere of The Land of Might-Have-Been, the story of Vera Brittain’s doomed love.

The Festival has grown so much over the years that it now needs more venues, and Buxton’s architectural treasure trove has provided excellent settings for its literary talks and concerts: The Pavilion Arts Centre, The Octagon and St John’s Church.

St John’s is an obvious case of using a building pretty much as it was intended: music was always central to its existence.

When The Octagon was being planned live music was seen then - and now, if the success of BIF in bringing visitors each year is any indication - as vital to keeping tourists happy.

The Pavilion Arts Centre has played many roles. It opened in 1889 and is the oldest theatre still standing in Buxton, though it was put in the shade when Buxton Opera House opened in 1903, becoming a cinema showing silent movies.

Live drama returned in 1932, when it became The Playhouse, used as a satellite of London’s theatreland from 1937 to 1942 when the Old Vic Theatre ran an annual festival of plays there, with a repertory company which included Sir Nigel Hawthorne.

As The Paxton Suite it took on a variety of roles including as a conference hall and home to book, record and craft fairs until it closed in 2010 to allow for work on today’s multi-purpose theatre and cinema complex to get underway.

The full interview will be in The Buxtonian, an e-publication available to BCA members.

Written by John Phillips