Buxton Festival Office
Buxton Festival
5 The Square
Buxton
SK17 6AZ

July 10 - 25 2004

Accommodation Hotline: 0845 658 4334
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Each July the historic spa town of Buxton hosts a Festival of opera, music and literature which attracts visitors from far and wide and creates a festive buzz throughout the area. In 2002 over 24,000 tickets were sold for 70 events tightly packed into 13 days. Audiences and media alike sang the praises of the performers and speakers, who included Gore Vidal, Antonia Fraser, Alan Bennett, PD James and Michael Palin.

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The Festival’s tradition of reviving lesser-known masterpieces continues with its production of Donizetti’s Maria Padilla. This powerful and dramatic piece contains music of a searing intensity in the true grand opera tradition. A contrasting style will be provided by the Festival’s second main production: Semele by Handel. Based on a libretto by two of the wickedest wits of the 18th century, William Congreve and Alexander Pope, Semele combines some of Handel’s most beautiful music with biting insights into lust, marital infidelity and the working methods of gold-diggers like Princess Semele, a mortal who has set her sights on seducing the king of the gods.

Other operas on offer will be Leonard Bernstein’s delightful comedy Candide, Mozart’s Zaide and two pieces with family appeal, Humperdinck’s perennial favourite Hansel and Gretel and a new work with an Arthurian theme: Gwyneth and the Green Knight. The programme will be completed by a series of concerts and recitals, plus a splendid literary series with a host of well-known writers.