Buxton Festival celebrates 40th anniversary with Eugene Onegin

By Robert Gainer, 08 July 2019

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“Shelley Jackson... never faltering and delivering in emotion and power in equal measure”

Reviewed at Buxton Opera House, Buxton on 6 July 2019

Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin

Buxton Festival Opera

Adrian Kelly, Conductor

Jamie Manton, Director

Justin Nardella, Set Designer

Shelley Jackson, Tatyana

Angharad Lyddon, Olga

David Webb, Lensky

George Humphreys, Eugene Onegin

Joshua Bloom, Prince Gremin

Ceri Williams, Filippyevna

Philip Wilcox, Captain

Christopher Cull, Zaretsky

Joseph Doody, Monsieur Triquet

Gaynor Keeble, Madame Larina

Buxton Festival Chorus

Northern Chamber Orchestra

Jasmine Rickets, Choreography

From the ballroom to the trenches: The Land of Might-Have-Been

Sarah Noble, 15th July

Setting the life of Vera Brittain to the music of Ivor Novello, Buxton Festival's new musical is a welcome if overambitious showcase for them both.

***11

Arcadia in the Peak District: Mozart's Il re pastore in Buxton

Sarah Noble, 9th July

Mozart's early opera seria may not be his greatest achievement – but lightness of touch from all involved highlight its charms in Jack Furness' new production.

***11

For teenage kicks: Mozart's Lucio Silla at Buxton International Festival

Charlotte Valori, 9th July

The fashion for reviving Mozart's teenage operas brings a vocally dazzling production of Lucio Silla to Buxton, nevertheless hampered by the work's own lack of believable drama and some fairly flat staging.

***11

Fresh peaches of temptation

Charlotte Valori, 8th July

A period-perfect Albert Herring from Francis Matthews for Buxton International Festival takes time to settle into its stride, but provides plenty of laughs along the way.

****1

Verdi's Macbeth at Buxton International Festival

Charlotte Valori, 7th July

A searing, edge-of-your-seat spinetingler from Elijah Moshinsky makes the strongest possible case for Verdi's first Macbeth, ideally suited to the proportions of Buxton's beautiful Opera House.

*****

Games of Thrones: Handel's Tamerlano

Dominic Lowe, 10th July

Handel's psychotic Tartar leader and bedhopping nobles are well served in an excellent collaboration between the Buxton Festival and the English Concert with some outstanding singing from Marie Lys and Owen Willetts.

****1

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Robert Gainer

Robert Gainer has completed a BA in European Studies at the University of Warwick and an MSc in Criminology at the University of Leicester. He is currently completing further study in English and Cultural Studies, again at Warwick. He plays trumpet, cornet and flugelhorn and his musical background is in brass band and orchestra. In his spare time he enjoys writing fiction and poetry.

Buxton Festival celebrates its 40th anniversary with Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin