A Buxton International Festival production, featuring musicians from the Buxton International Festival Orchestra.
One hundred and fifty-nine years ago, the great mezzo-soprano, composer, and pedagogue Pauline García Viardot created the salon opera Le dernier sorcier (The Last Sorcerer) in collaboration with the acclaimed Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev. The piece centred on themes of power and progress, gender and equality, and the restoration of natural order in an ever-changing world.
A chamber opera in two acts, Le dernier sorcier revolves around Krakamiche, a once-powerful sorcerer whose presence in the great woods has upset the fairies, the forest’s rightful inhabitants, and disturbed the harmony of the land. Through the combined efforts of the fairy folk and their queen, the sorcerer’s daughter and her prince, and a hapless valet, Krakamiche ultimately learns key truths about humility, love, and living in harmony with the natural world.
Libretto by Ivan Turgenev
Sung in French, with English side-titles
"A recently rediscovered treasure by one of the most compelling musicians of the 19th century, with words by one of the era’s greatest literary figures, resonates with themes that speak to us in our own era."
This event is on general sale from 14 April 2026
Priority dates are:
17 Mar – Directors Circle, Benefactors and Gold Patrons 24 Mar – Patrons 31 Mar– Gold Friends 7 Apr – Friends 14 Apr – Public and Next Gen
