Centred on Frank Matcham’s jewel of an opera house, this delightful annual festival in the Peaks mixes informality with first-class musical standards. The operas this year are Handel’s Tamerlano (21 July), with its powerful portrayal of the tragic Turkish Sultan Bajazet; Beethoven’s Leonore (22 July), the rarely heard prototype of the opera that became Fidelio, and containing some superb music that Beethoven subsequently discarded; and Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi (23 July), very distantly based on Romeo and Juliet, and notable for the exquisitely tender music for the star-crossed lovers.

THURSDAY 21 JULY

1.30-2.00 Arrival at the Lee Wood Hotel, The Park, Buxton SK17 6TQ

Tel: 01298 23002

2.30-4.30 Study session in one of the hotel meeting rooms, including

coffee break. There will be time for questions/discussion.

5.15 Dinner in the hotel’s AA rosette-winning restaurant (choice of 4

starters, mains and sweets, including coffee but excluding wine)

6.50 Walk to Opera House

7.15 Tamerlano (in Italian, with surtitles). Cast includes Rupert Enticknap (Tamerlano), Owen Willetts (Andronico), Paul Nilon (Bajazet), Katherine Manley (Asteria). Director Francis Matthews. Conductor Laurence Cummings

FRIDAY 22 JULY

10.30-12.30 Study session in hotel, with break

(The hotel offers a good lunch menu, plus bar snacks)

Free afternoon to explore Buxton. Attractions include the

Thermal Baths and the Georgian Crescent and Great Stables.

(Dinner is independent, though some may again like to eat in the hotel)

7.15 Leonore (in German, with surtitles) Cast includes Kirstin Sharpin (Leonore), David Danholt (Florestan), Scott Wilde (Rocco) Director Stephen Medcalf. Conductor Stephen Barlow

SATURDAY 23 JULY

10.30-12.30 Study session, with break

5.15 Dinner in the hotel

7.15 I Capuleti e i Montecchi (in Italian, with surtitles). Cast includes Stephanie Marshall (Romeo), Sarah-Jane Brandon (Giulietta), Luis Gomes (Tebaldo). Director Harry Fehr. Conductor Justin Doyle