Little-known pieces in a perfect setting

BUXTON Festival has founded its reputation for excellence on uncovering lost or hidden gems from the world of opera and turning them into hits.

And no festival production has been better received in recent years than Roberto Devereux, an award-winning new version of a seldom-seen piece by Donizetti that starred soprano Mary Plazas, was the brainchild of festival artistic director Andrew Greenwood and which was brought to the stage by Stephen Medcalf.

Flushed with that success, the same trio will be reunited this summer for another slice of Donizetti.

Lucrezia Borgia is a torrid tale of poison, incest and revenge and Stephen Medcalf believes it will justify its billing as the highlight of the 2009 Buxton Festival.

"I think it's a tremendous piece and I jumped at the chance to do it," he says. "After the success of Roberto Devereux, it's another history play with about the same rough resemblance to true fact. It's based on an original play by Victor Hugo that caused a sensation when it first came out. And Donizetti wrote the opera within months of the play opening.

"I think we did Roberto Devereux honestly, very directly and we paid a lot of attention to the performances and they were all very good. We will have a similar approach to Lucrezia."

Stephen is looking forward to working with Mary Plazas, who plays the title role, again.

"Mary has tremendous intensity, a terrific voice and, from a director's point of view, is a joy as she has lot of honesty on the stage.

"And I always love doing lesser-known pieces because the audiences come more open-minded. If you are doing The Marriage of Figaro, or any of the great repertoire pieces, they come with a whole bag of expectations. When they are less well-known, they come with an innocence and a readiness to enjoy what they see."

Stephen does admit, however, that not all forgotten operas are gems.

"Sometimes people dig up little-known works and you wonder why," he says. "But these are terrific pieces."

Stephen says one of the reasons that the Donizetti works have not been seen widely in modern times is that they are hard to cast but once you have the right singers they come alive.

"But the interesting thing is I have started noticing productions of Roberto Devereux since we did it – around Europe there is a bit of a renaissance for Donizetti. I think with these operas they have just got it wrong and they should be done more often."

And there's no better setting for Lucrezia Borgia than Buxton Opera House, says Stephen.

"It's the perfect size for these chamber operas," he says. "You don't need massive choruses. They are ensemble pieces with small characters and you don't require a huge orchestra.

"It's also one of the most beautiful opera houses in the country."

Stephen's first job was for Buxton Festival after coming out of college and he fell in love with the event then.

"It's a very special festival, a wonderful atmosphere," he said.

Festival Opera Programme

LUCREZIA BORGIA By Donizetti July 10, 14, 18, 21, 25, 28

VERONIQUE By Messager

July 11, 15, 19, 22, 26

COMACHO'S WEDDING By Mendelssohn July 16-24

MITRIDATE RE DI PONTO By Mozart July 12, 20

ORLANDO By Handel July 13, 23, 27

THE LIGHTHOUSE By Davies July 17, 25

Tickets: £7-£49

Call: 0845 127 2190; www.buxtonfestival.co.uk.