Archive: this report covers Buxton International Festival in July 2023.
In July 2023, Buxton International Festival included the premiere of the musical The Land of Might-Have-Been. The festival ran from 6 to 23 July 2023.
The advertised programme included three new opera productions, Vincenzo Bellini’s La sonnambula, GF Handel’s Orlando and Mozart’s Il re pastore. BIF and Norwich Theatre presented a new musical based on the early life of Buxton’s Vera Brittain, with music by Ivor Novello, entitled The Land Of Might-Have-Been. The jazz line-up included the iconic trumpeter Wynton Marsalis plus pianist/vocalist Tom Seals and The Super Big Tramp Band. The concerts’ programme listed Nicola Benedetti and The English Concert, The King’s Singers, Sarah Connolly, Lucy Crowe, Joanna MacGregor and Gwilym Simcock. The advertised book guests included playwright Sir David Hare, Turner Prize winner Jeremy Deller, BBC correspondent Jeremy Bowen, MP Jesse Norman, vaccine queen Dame Kate Bingham, writer, communicator and strategist Alastair Campbell and journalists Gary Younge and Polly Toynbee amongst others.
In the festival’s 2023 announcement, artistic director Adrian Kelly said: “Buxton International Festival has firmly established itself in the cultural calendar. It’s an unapologetically ambitious, creative and accessible festival that takes risks and entertains. 2023 will be no different – bold, brave and back in full technicolour.”
CEO Michael Williams added: “It’s a stop-in-your-tracks, shout-from-the-rooftops festival this year. Buxton 2023 is full to the brim with daring and excellence. It’s contemporary, relevant, reflective and provocative with sumptuous opera, glorious music and opinion-forming book talks. We reach for the stars in Buxton, make no mistake.”
New musical based on early life of Vera Brittain, The Land of Might-Have-Been
Buxton International Festival and Norwich Theatre presented a new co-production in 2023, ‘The Land Of Might-Have-Been’, at Buxton Opera House. This bold new musical is built around the songs of Ivor Novello and is loosely based on incidents in the early life of Buxton’s pioneering feminist and pacifist Vera Brittain and the intriguing lives, loves and motivations of those closest to her.
The Land Of Might-Have-Been, with book and lyrics by Michael Williams, follows on from the success of another Buxton-inspired triumph, Williams’ award-winning opera, Georgiana. It was directed by Kimberley Sykes, conducted by Iwan Davies, designed by Nicky Shaw with the music of Ivor Novello, including such lovely songs as My Dearest Dear, Waltz of My Heart, My Life Belongs To you and Why Is There Ever Goodbye, arranged with additional composition by Iain Farrington. Farrington was commissioned to write a piece for King Charles III’s 2023 coronation.
Buxton’s 2023 classical music programme
Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti and The English Concert (10 July) were advertised to perform Vivaldi in Buxton Opera House. Pianist Paul Lewis (19 July) was advertised to present the first two parts of a four-part Schubert programme, then planned to be completed in 2024. Joanna MacGregor (14 July) was advertised with a programme showcasing her inimitable flair from Bach to Piazzolla. Another of the country’s leading pianists, Peter Donohoe, was listed alongside clarinettist Sacha Rattle (18 July) with the juxtaposition of late Brahms and early Berg. Shirley J Thompson, who wrote a work for King Charles III’s 2023 coronation, was billed with her one-woman opera, Women of the Windrush, sung by lyric soprano Nadine Benjamin (21 July).
Other advertised chamber music highlights included Festival favourites the Sacconi Quartet (12 July), the award-winning Sitkovetsky Trio (11 July), The Solis and Paddington Trios (13 July) and the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective (19 July).
The 2023 festival ran from 6 to 23 July. See Buxton International Festival for current programmes.
Buxton International Festival, 3 The Square, Buxton, SK17 6AZ
T: 01298 72190 Box Office (Bookings) / 01298 70395 Festival Office (Information only)
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