Tony and Olivier Award-winning stage and screen actor Richard McCabe (Notting Hill, Peaky Blinders, Wallander, The Audience) will lead the cast of Mozart’s The Impresario in Buxton this summer.
This comic opera, originally composed for a Viennese court entertainment in 1786, is reimagined with a modern twist by director Christopher Gillett, who also provides the English spoken text. The production blends sharp comedy with Mozart’s brilliant music.
Meet the Cast
Richard McCabe as Leo
Renowned stage actor Richard McCabe takes on the role of Leo, the beleaguered impresario. An Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company, McCabe has played many iconic roles from Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream to Iago in Othello. His recent screen credits include Gladiator 2, Napoleon, The Pentaverate, A Very British Scandal, and soon to be released Savage House. He won both Olivier and Tony Awards for his portrayal of Harold Wilson in The Audience.
Nazan Fikret as Madame Herz
Soprano Nazan Fikret is a rising star having sung for companies such as Opera North and Welsh National Opera. Her portrayal of Pamina in The Magic Flute has been particularly praised. She is also an accomplished concert performer, with a growing repertoire in oratorio and song cycles.
Jane Burnell as Mademoiselle Silberklang
Jane was a 2023 Buxton Young Artist and then went on to make her professional debut with BIF in 2024 as Gasparina in La Canterina (Haydn) and Giovanna in Ernani (Verdi). She also made her international debut in the same year with Wexford Festival Opera as Molly Allgood in Lady Gregory in America (Caruso). She was the Sussex Young Musician of the Year, a finalist of the RNCM Strauss Competition, and a multiple award-winner at the David Clover Festival of Singing.
Conor Prendiville as Monsieur Vogelsang
Conor Prendiville is one of Ireland’s finest young tenors. Recent highlights include Sciortino in La Ciociara at Wexford Festival Opera, as well being a member of the Upper Austrian Opera Studio in the Landestheater Linz where he performed Riamund in Kreutzer’s Melusina.
Dan D’Souza as Buff
Baritone Dan D’Souza made his debut at English National Opera as Belcore in The Elixir of Love in Autumn 2024 and is now a Harewood Artist, supported by the inaugural Nicholas Folwell Scholarship. Previous engagements have included Cirillo Fedora and Ibn- Hakia Iolanta for If Opera, Trinculo and La Tempesta for Wexford Festival Opera.
Owain Rowlands as John
Welsh baritone Owain Rowlands’ highlights include performing and touring in China with Cardiff University Chamber Choir, in Alabama with the Yr Urdd Choir and more recently as a soloist as part of the St David’s Celebrations in New York City, Philadelphia and Washington DC. Recently Owain was a finalist in the prestigious Sir Bryn Terfel Scholarship competition, and winner of the London Welsh Young Singer Competition. He is currently studying on the David Seligman Opera School at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Inguna Morozova as Evie
Inguna is an emerging Russian/Latvian lyric soprano. A recent graduate of the Guildhall, where she studied on the Opera Course under the tuition of Sarah Pring. In 2023, she made a concert solo debut at Glyndebourne, performing Vilja lied with the Glyndebourne Sinfonia and covering the role of Sylviana in The Merry Widow, 2024. Recent highlights include productions of La Traviata, L’Elisir d’Amore, Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, Carmen and performances of Dialogues des Carmelites (Sister Catherine) and Carmen at BBC Proms 2023 & 2024.
Joyce Henderson as Lisa
Joyce Henderson, who also serves as Associate Director, steps into the role of Lisa, contributing her extensive experience and theatrical insight.Joyce trained with Jacques Lecoq in Paris and has been is an Associate of Complicité, performing in The Magic Flute (DNO & ENO) and The Street of Crocodiles. As Movement Director productions include: The Importance of Being Earnest (NT), Bleak Expectations (Criterion); Noises Off (West End), Amédée (Birmingham Rep), and with Deborah Warner on Fidelio (Glyndebourne).
Jamie MacDougall as Dan
Born in Glasgow, tenor Jamie, is one of Scotland’s leading artists who enjoys a career as a performer and broadcaster. He’s worked at Scottish Opera, Opera Holland Park, English National Opera and Opera North as well as companies in Europe and Canada. Passionate about new opera Jamie collaborates closely with New Opera in Scotland Events (NOISE). Since 2001, Jamie’s been ‘Scotland’s Voice’ for classical music on BBC Radio Scotland presenting Grace Notes, Classics Unwrapped and Classical Now. You can also catch Jamie as Lauder in his show about the legendary Scottish entertainer on 17 July at Buxton’s Pavilion Arts Centre.
The Impresario features the Buxton International Festival Orchestra, conducted by Jane Glover and Iwan Davies. Performances take place at Buxton Opera House on July 17, 21, 24, and 26, 2025.
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