On a walking holiday in a Derbyshire spa town in 1976, Malcolm Fraser had the unlikeliest of ideas. Within three years, he had rescued Buxton's Frank Matcham-designed Opera House from its ignominious use as a cinema, restored the Edwardian gem at a cost of more than £500,000, and instigated an annual opera festival that quickly established itself as an essential fixture in the opera calendar.
SOURCE: The Stage at 01:06PM on June 8, 2012