Buxton Opera Festival review: Treat for eyes and ears at Milo Harper Harp recital at the Assembly Rooms
Buxton Opera Festival is in full swing with glorious weather helping the ever-popular annual spectacular get off to a delightful start, writes Mavis Kirkham.
Previous visitors to the internationally renowned festival know that some of the best performances can be found in venues dotted across the town including Buxton’s beloved Assembly Rooms.
In his Morning Serenade Milo Harper played music by a range of composers much of which he had transcribed for the harp. He began, appropriately with Prokofiev’s Morning Serenade from Romeo and Juliet.
The recital centred on Debussy’s Suite Bergamasque which includes Clair de Lune. It was beautiful. He also played two very different works based on folk songs by Poulenc and Bartok. Other short pieces were by Bowen, Mozart and Alvars.
This concert took place in the restored Assembly Rooms in Buxton Crescent with its beautiful ceiling providing a treat for the eyes as well as the ears.
This carefully chosen programme really demonstrated the variety that the harp can achieve. We emerged into brilliant sunshine with our heads full of the sound equivalent of sunlight on water, flowing beautifully, full of ripples and eddies and occasional waterfalls. A great way to start a summer morning.