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

Katie Coventry (Aminta)
© Genevieve Girling
Ellie Neate (Elisa) and Katie Coventry (Aminta)
© Genevieve Girling
Joseph Doody (Alessandro) and George Curnow (Agenore)
© Genevieve Girling
Olivia Carrell (Tamiri)
© Genevieve Girling
By Sarah Noble, 12 July 2023
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“wringing every drop of expression out of recitative and aria alike”
Reviewed at Buxton Opera House, Buxton on 9 July 2023
Programme
Mozart, Il re pastore (new production)
Performers
Buxton Festival Opera
Adrian Kelly, Conductor
Jack Furness, Director
Hannah Wolfe, Set Designer, Costume Designer
Jake Wiltshire, Lighting Designer
Northern Chamber Orchestra
Katie Coventry, Aminta
Ellie Neate, Elisa
Olivia Carrell, Tamiri
George Curnow, Agenore
Joseph Doody, Alessandro
More Opera reviews
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
Buxton Festival celebrates 40th anniversary with Eugene Onegin
Robert Gainer, 6th July
Every July, Buxton’s charming opera house hosts an international festival of opera, literature and the arts. This year the festival opened with a strong familiar favourite, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.
****1
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
More reviews...
Read reviews of
Adrian KellyBuxton Festival OperaEllie NeateHannah WolfeIl re pastoreJack FurnessJake WiltshireJoseph DoodyKatie CoventryNorthern Chamber OrchestraOlivia CarrellWolfgang Amadeus Mozart
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Sarah Noble
Sarah Noble

Originally from New Zealand, Sarah Noble is an arts administrator and freelance writer whose articles and reviews have appeared in Limelight, Opera, NZ Opera News and The Opera Critic. After stints in Sydney, Orlando, London and Manchester, she's now based in Macclesfield but travels frequently in pursuit of live performance – operatic and otherwise. Sarah was previously the producer of the International Opera Awards and now works as production co-ordinator for a classical music filming company.