The HOT Take Abroad Pt. 4 – Buxton Festival

Buxton is a lovely Georgian spa town in the north of England, surrounded by the beautiful Derbyshire Peak District.   The Opera House is a beautiful 900 seat Victorian jewel box.  It was built in 1903 and designed by the renowned theatre architect Frank Matchem, who also designed the London Coliseum, home of English National Opera.

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Each summer the Buxton Festival presents a series of lesser known operas ranging from the baroque to contemporary.  We saw Beethoven’s Leonore – the first version of what would later be known as Fidelio; and Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi.  We also caught a beautiful concert of music by J S Bach, CPE Bach and Georg Philipp Telemann (Father, Son and Godfather) given by the English Concert at St John’s Church.

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Beethoven’s Leonora was the great composer’s first attempt at an opera score. The tale of the falsely imprisoned nobleman who was rescued by his daring wife, disguised as a young man, has suffered somewhat in the opera house for being perceived as too heavy and overblown.  This early version of the score is lighter and fresher, with an almost baroque sense of pacing and style. Director Stephen Medcalf set the work in Napoleonic times, and Stephen Barlow, the Artistic Director of the Festival (and also husband of Joanna Lumley!) conducted at a brisk pace. Kirstin Sharpin was powerful in the title role, and David Danholt was a full-throated Florestan.  The America Bass, Scott Wilde, was also impressive as Rocco, the Gaoler.  Buxton’s Young Artists Program supplies the chorus, and they sing superbly well. In a nice twist, as Leonore stripped off her male apparel at the end of the opera to reveal herself to Florestan, the female chorus members also changed from soldiers into lovely maidens!

I Capuleti e i Montecchi - Vincenzo Bellini - Buxton Festival - Saturday 9th July 2016Conductor - Justin DoyleDirector - Harry FehrDesigner - Yannis ThavorisLighting - Simon CorderTebaldo - Luis GomesRomeo - Stephanie MarshallGiulietta - Sarah-Ja

I Capuletti e i Montecchi is Bellini’s take on the Romeo and Juliet story.  But far from the romantic tragedy of Shakespeare and Gounod, this is a tale of war and conquest.  The plot twists are frequent, with the Capulets ultimately triumphing over the Montagues, but the tragic ending cannot be avoided.  Bellini sets Romeo as a mezzo-soprano, which gives ample opportunity for his signature Soprano/mezzo duets, known to many of us from the incredible recordings of Joan Sutherland and Marilyn Horne.  Here the young duo of Stephanie Marshall (Romeo) and Sarah-Jane Brandon (Juliet) did great justice to Bellini’s florid coloratura, and the lovers’ sad demise was sung with touching beauty.  Tebaldo, here sung by the Portuguese tenor, Luis Gomez, is the rival for Juliet’s hand.  With only Juliet’s father, Capellio, and Lorenzo, the Friar Lawrence equivalent, to complete the cast, this action-packed drama deserves more regular exposure. Harry Fehr updated the setting to modern day warfare, with beret-wearing soldiers toting machine guns, brought the story to life.