“I have had the pleasure of being involved in several of Roma's Lingua Musica tours, always a true delight for both the mind and soul. The information imparted by the experts she employs throughout the “journey”, brings to life the sights and cultures. Each location becomes a memorable experience, not just a visit.”
Terence R Lewis ATCL. Hon ARAM
Managing Director
Jaques Samuel Pianos, London, UK.
Early booking will secure your place on this unique journey of discovery.
| ||||||
| Beethoven Tour Brochure |
DOWNLOAD BOOKING FORM:
| Beethoven Tour Booking Form |
_____________________________________
PRICING DETAILS:
Per person, twin-share AUD$8,100
Single Supplement AUD$1,400
DEPOSIT: AUD$800 15th APRIL 2012
**Early deposit is necessary in order to secure European flights and Performance tickets.
BALANCE DUE: 15th JUNE 2012
_________________________________________________
PRICING DETAILS:
Per person, twin-share AUD$8,100
Single Supplement AUD$1,400
DEPOSIT: AUD$800 15th APRIL 2012
**Early deposit is necessary in order to secure European flights and Performance tickets.
BALANCE DUE: 15th JUNE 2012
_________________________________________________
TOUR INCLUSIONS:
- 18 nights' accommodation in centrally located 4*/5* hotels
- 12 Classical Music Performances, including Opera
- lectures by Ruth Nye, MBE, FRCM
- On-Tour Informative talks, plus a comprehensive Tour Handbook containing information on orchestras, soloists and conductors, and detailed programme notes for all major performances.
- Comprehensive sight-seeing with local English-speaking guides
- All breakfasts, plus 12 meals as indicated in the Itinerary
- All admissions when on guided tours
- Services of the Tour Director
- Economy air fare London-Ljubljana
- Economy air fare Prague-Frankfurt
- 1st Class European train travel Vienna-Prague
- Land travel by private, air-conditioned coach
- Hotel Porterage - one bag per person, where available
- All tips and taxes
- 18 nights' accommodation in centrally located 4*/5* hotels
- 12 Classical Music Performances, including Opera
- lectures by Ruth Nye, MBE, FRCM
- On-Tour Informative talks, plus a comprehensive Tour Handbook containing information on orchestras, soloists and conductors, and detailed programme notes for all major performances.
- Comprehensive sight-seeing with local English-speaking guides
- All breakfasts, plus 12 meals as indicated in the Itinerary
- All admissions when on guided tours
- Services of the Tour Director
- Economy air fare London-Ljubljana
- Economy air fare Prague-Frankfurt
- 1st Class European train travel Vienna-Prague
- Land travel by private, air-conditioned coach
- Hotel Porterage - one bag per person, where available
- All tips and taxes
REDISCOVERING BEETHOVEN AND MORE
London, LjubLjana, Vienna, Prague, Bonn
28th August - 15th September 2012
19 Days
LINGUA MUSICA’s 25TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR
TOUR LEADER: ROMA RANDLES, LINGUA MUSICA DIRECTOR
SPECIAL GUEST: PROFESSOR RUTH NYE, MBE, FRCM
'IMMORTAL BELOVED'? Yes! There IS a connection! Our tour commences in LONDON. we will spend three days here, in the company of special personalities and visiting locations very familiar to Roma, for whom London is almost a 'Second Home'. We will not be focusing on the popular tourist destinations; instead Roma Randles will take you to some of her special places, including, The Wallace Collection, The Royal College of Music, The Royal Academy, Jaques Samuel Pianos.
A highlight of the London days will be guaranteed good seats at the Royal Albert Hall for two PROM CONCERTS. This very special annual series, started by Sir Henry Wood has grown so greatly in importance, with the world's top performers taking part that tickets are like gold and sell out rapidly.
We will fly from London to the colourful and delightful "small city" of LJUBLJANA, always a great favourite of Lingua Musica participants over many years. Here we have everything a larger city has and in abundance. A university city, a music city, a city of the great architecture of its own Josef Plecnik, a city of utter charm on either side of its willow- lined little river and unique bridges, a city of flowers and life and cafes as well as great music venues. 2012 sees the 60th birthday of Ljubljana's renowned annual Summer Music Festival and we will be privileged participants.
Our most important concert here will be the performance of the great Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra under the baton of celebrity conductor, VALERY GERGIEV. Also we will enjoy a truly beautiful chamber music performance by the prize-winning AMAEL PIANO TRIO.
Prof. Volodja Balzalorsky, a brilliant violinist and close friend of Roma
Randles will be involved during our stay in his beloved city. We have
arranged a discussion over luncheon with Volodja and several of his colleagues. Volodja is Head of Strings at the Academy of Slovenia and is also much in demand as a performer on the European, UK and US circuits. He is also great fun!
We have much lined up for Ljubljana, but also, co-incidentally, it is time for the nearby MARIBOR FESTIVAL which is of great interest to Australian visitors. "Our" Richard Tognetti has been Director of this forward-looking festival for the past five years after signing a contract for six , so 2012 will be his last in this role together with the ACO. Maribor is a place of magic in so many different ways ... gorgeous churches, squares... in many ways like Ljubljana. We have planned a special luncheon with musical personalites, including Prof Balzalorsky, who studied with the same master in Cologne as Richard Tognetti. At this luncheon we also celebrate LINGUA MUSICA's 25th Anniversary!
VIENNA very naturally figures largely in our tour arrangements ... it is after all the city and surrounds most associated with our great figure of the Enlightenment. We also visit PRAGUE and the nearby spa,TEPLICE, both of which have intriguing connections with Beethoven.
Our final destination will be BONN. Here, in this utterly charming smaller city situated on the River Rhine, Beethoven is alive in every corner. It was in Bonn that he was born; and it was here that he negotiated his difficult teenage years and beyond. The story which emerges for our travellers will be one that is not widely known ...
Bonn is a city of great beauty, full of life and cafes, as you will discover with your well informed guide. Among other pursuits we will also attend three concerts of the famous BEETHOVENFEST, in which many internationally renowned musicians take part.
Do join us for celebration of our SILVER ANNIVERSARY!
DETAILED ITINERARY
Tuesday 28th August
LONDON
Our tour commences in London, where we will we staying in the ROYAL LANCASTER HOTEL. Meet fellow travellers in the later afternoon at our first tour meeting with Roma Randles, over cocktails and canapés, followed by a Welcome Dinner in one of the hotel's restaurants.
Wednesday 29th August
LONDON
A day of discovery London. In our comfortable private minibuses, we will visit some less well-known cultural highlights as well as a few of the widely known ones. Lunch will be included in a delightful setting.
EVENING PROMS PERFORMANCE:
London Proms Concert
Royal Albert Hall
Good seats guaranteed
Thursday 30th August
LONDON
Today we will introduce you to a lesser known Beethoven, a rather more complex personality which emerged from an uncompromising start in life, but perhaps even more loveable because of it. Our discussions with music personalities will be accompanied by performances which indeed we will know, and all this at a very musically significant London venue. Again lunch will be included.
EVENING PROMS PERFORMANCE:
London Proms Concert
Royal Albert Hall
Good seats guaranteed
Friday 31st August
LJUBLJANA
This morning we from London to LJUBLJANA with Adria Airways. The highly renowned Ljubljana Summer Music Festival is celebrating its Sixtieth Anniversary in 2012 and we will be privileged participants. We will attend a very special concert of the Russian Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra under the baton of the great VALERY GERGIEV. We will also enjoy a performance of Beethoven’s Archduke Trio, among other works, from the celebrated AMAEL PIANO TRIO.
Ljubljana is my favourite small city in all Europe, having as it does, everything a much larger one has and in abundance. Its lovely architecture from its own famed Joseph Plecnik, its little willow-lined river bordered by cafes, bookstores and art, its historic bridges, its churches, its delightful streets, its impressive concert and art venues. This university city is bursting with vitality and culture. My very good friend, Prof. Volodja Balzalorsky, Head of Strings at the University of Slovenia, will be an important part of our plans here. Volodja trained in Cologne with the same maestro as “our” Richard Tognetti and is in much demand as a violinist all over Europe, London and the States. He is also great fun! Our base in Ljubljana, as always, will be the HOTEL GRAND UNION.
Saturday 1st September
LJUBLJANA
We commence our time in Ljubljana with a guided walk of discovery, passing through the town's central Prešeren Square with its many shops, cafes and imposing statute of the Slovene national poet, France Prešeren
overlooking a magnificant miniature of Ljubljana's historic area. Prešeren
Square was also home of Gustav Mahler during 1881 and 1882. From Prešeren Square we will cross Ljubljana's many historic bridges as we meander through its wonderful old quarter.
Dinner this evening in an excellent French restaurant with a Guest Speaker.
Sunday 2nd September
LJUBLJANA
Today we will visit BLED. Situated in the Julian Alps this Alpine spa town is renowned for the island in the centre of Lake Bled. This small island is home to the Assumption of Mary Pilgrimage Church, built on the site of a temple consecrated to Živa, the Slavic goddess of love and fertility. We will also visit the medieval Bled Castle, now a museum. Lunch will be included.
Monday 3rd September
LJUBLJANA
A free day for independent exploration.
However at a time to be announced the Amael Piano Trio will perform a program including Beethoven's Archduke Trio.
Tuesday 4th September
LJUBLJANA
Daytime arrangements to be announced.
EVENING LJUBLJANA FESTIVAL PERFORMANCE
The Russian Mariinski Theatre Orchestra under the baton of the acclaimed Valery Gerviev.
Wednesday 5th September
MARIBOR
This morning we depart our hotel, accompanied by Prof. Volodja Balzalorsky, on a very pleasant 1 1/2 hour drive to MARIBOR, which colourful and historic small city has been acclaimed the 2012 European
Cultural Capital. The ACO and RICHARD TOGNETTI are leaders here in 2012. Richard Tognetti took on the Directorship of the Maribor Fesival in 2007 and this will be his final year in that role.
On arrival in Maribor there will be a conducted tour of the highlights of the city before settling at our hotel for our one night stay...the centrally situated new HOTEL CITY MARIBOR.
September 5th also marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of Lingua Musica and you will enjoy a celebratory luncheon in an atmospheric restaurant with some very distinguished guests.
After the ACO evening concert ( programme below ) we will be guests of the festival management at a reception, during which you will be able to mix with visiting musicians and music-lovers as well as, of course, the members of the ACO. Today you will also personally meet RICHARD TOGNETTI and the acclaimed and much loved American soprano, DAWN UPSHAW.
As we return to our hotel late this evening, I am sure we will all agree it has been a very full and very memorable day.
EVENING MARIBOR FESTIVAL PERFORMANCE
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA:
Conductor & Lead Violin: RICHARD TOGNETTI
Soloist: DAWN UPSHAW, Soprano
Niccolo Pagganini (arr Tognetti): Caprice on Caprices Nos 20 (D Maj) & 17 ( Eflat Maj)
Maurice Ravel (arr Tognetti) : String Quartet in F Major
Franz Schubert ( arr Tognetti): String Quartet No 14 ," Death and The Maiden" ...with soprano
Dawn Upshaw . An orchestral arrangement.
Arnold Schoenberg: arr for string orchestra : Litany from String Quartet No 2 in F# minor, Op 10
Robert Schumann ( arr C. Jordan ): Mondnacht in C# minor no 5, Op 39 ( Sop. Dawn Upshaw) arr forString Orchestra.
Arnold Schoenberg : arr for String Orchestra: 'Transfigured Night" Op 4
Thursday 6th September
VIENNA
This morning we set off for VIENNA where we will arrive in time for lunch at an historic inn very close to our hotel, THE WANDL, where Lingua Musica members are always welcomed like family. During our days here, both within the city and on trips around it, we will visit and discover more about the region and the great man forever associated with it. Vienna and Music have always been importantly linked. Mozart, Beethoven,Schubert, Brahms, Mahler are only some of the greats for whom this city was the only reasonable place in which to live. Its history is indeed a splendid one. With its Roman heritage it was once placed at the very heart of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Its Baroque style superceded the Gothic followed by the architectural developments of later eras.
Friday 7th September
VIENNA
VIENNA, of all cities, is so well associated with BEETHOVEN. Both within the city and on excursions we visit all those places forever linked to the master.
We will commence our time in Vienna with an excursion along the famous Ringstrasse, which surrounds the Old City, nearly 5kms long. The Ringstrasse, built by Emperor Joseph between 1858 and 1865, was designed to replace the original walls and to exhibit the many grand new
architectural monuments of his city ... the great State Opera House,
the Musikverein, Stadtpark, The Town Hall, the Burgtheater, the Parliament, the Kunsthistoriches Museum and part of the
Hofburg Palace.
In addition, with your excellent guides, you will visit all those places for which Vienna is famous and naturally an opera and a concert.
We will attend one Opera at the great Vienna Opera House and one major concert . Details will be published once they are available.
Saturday 8th September
TBA
Sunday 9th September
PRAGUE
Our last morning in VIENNA will be a free one, but being Sunday, a visit to one of the great Vienna churches for example St Charles or St Stephen's Cathedral closeby will be a possibility. The music is sure to be wonderful. More details when available. (NB. The Vienna Boys' Choir will be on annual vacation).
In the afternoon we transfer for a 3 hour first class train journey to PRAGUE. Dinner will be served in our hotel restaurant and very possibly this evening we will attend the opera.(Details tba).
In PRAGUE we stay in the marvellous HOTEL JALTA right on Wenceslaus Square. Prague is a beautiful and immensely interesting city with many cultural highlights, as you will discover.
Monday 10th September
PRAGUE
A morning guided tour with our very well informed guide who knows well and loves her city. Afternoon will be free for personal exploration.
Tuesday 11th September
TEPLICE
Today we enjoy a full day’s excursion to the lovely resort town of TEPLICE where we will have time for lunch and a guided tour. It is here that Beethoven once spent some weeks of recuperation ( it was very popular with aristocratic figures as well...not that this would have influenced our man at all). It was here that he met Goethe also on holiday, and here that it has been proven beyond all doubt that the famous letter “To My Dearly Beloved” was written. ("TO WHOM" is a topic we will explore on tour!) It was also here that Beethoven wrote his glorious Seventh Symphony.
Your evening will be your own, (unless this is also the evening for our opera.) Details to be published as they become available.
Wednesday 12th September
BONN
This morning we fly to FRANKFURT and thence, in our private coach, a two hour drive along a delightful riverside route to BONN. Our hotel here will be the marvellously situated HOTEL KONIGSBERG where many
of the musicians also stay. What a beautiful and entirely appropriate city in which to end our REDISCOVERY of BEETHOVEN tour! After arrival your time will be your own for private wandering in this picturesque small city with its many small squares, cafes, bookshops etc till we gather in the hotel foyer before dinner at a restaurant tba.
It is in BONN that Beethoven was born in 1770 and where he spent his childhood and teenage years. It is a remarkably interesting story and we will investigate more fully here what we have already addressed in London and elsewhere...the influences which contributed to the Beethoven the world celebrates ... some of them extraordinary. Bonn was the capital of Western Germany before Berlin and is an attractive , smaller and invitingly comfortable city, as you will discover with your very well informed guide.
Here also we will attend THREE performances of the highly acclaimed annual BEETHOVENFEST in which great international artists always participate. Each year a different social and political aspect associated with Beethoven and his contemporaries is explored. BONN is full of references to the great man and you will be taken to see many and also have time for private wandering. One of our performances will actually be in the Beethoven House.
Thursday 13th September
BONN
At 9am you will be collected for an interestng guided walk in the footsteps of Beethoven, which will finish at the Beethovenhaus, continuing with an interior visit and ending with a piano recital in the hall.
The rest of the day will be yours for independent exploration.
EVENING BEETHOVENFEST PERFORMANCE:
Beethovenfest Concert
Beethoven: Violin Concerto Op 61
Sibelius: Symphony No 1
WDR Symphonieorchester
Conductor: Saraste
Lisa Batiashvili: Violin
Friday 14th September
BONN
Today we will take a delightful Rhine River cruise as well as ascending to a nearby mountain peak from where the views are amazing. Luncheon will be included today ... this will actually be our final one together. Details tba.
EVENING BEETHOVENFEST PERFORMANCE
Beethovenfest Concert
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis Op 123
Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie
Bayrischer Rundfunk Chorus and Soloists
Conductor: Herbert Blomstedt
Saturday 15th September
BONN
Our wonderful tour concludes after breakfast. I think we will all agree that we now have a much closer acquaintance with this great man of the Enlightenment ... a brilliant personality derived from so many different influences and who had encountered every possible adversity in life, who experienced such enormous frustration, pain and disappointment, who sometimes closed himself off entirely, but at the same time, was a man who revealed to the world such joy and such thankfulness. We are glad to have concluded our tour in a city so closely tied to this genius.
Onward travel is quite easy from Bonn. We can advise ( and also, if requested, arrange for you, dependent upon your further travel itinerary.)
**** EARLY BOOKING AND DEPOSITS ARE NECESSARY TO SECURE PERFORMANCE TICKETS.****
London, LjubLjana, Vienna, Prague, Bonn
28th August - 15th September 2012
19 Days
LINGUA MUSICA’s 25TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR
TOUR LEADER: ROMA RANDLES, LINGUA MUSICA DIRECTOR
SPECIAL GUEST: PROFESSOR RUTH NYE, MBE, FRCM
'IMMORTAL BELOVED'? Yes! There IS a connection! Our tour commences in LONDON. we will spend three days here, in the company of special personalities and visiting locations very familiar to Roma, for whom London is almost a 'Second Home'. We will not be focusing on the popular tourist destinations; instead Roma Randles will take you to some of her special places, including, The Wallace Collection, The Royal College of Music, The Royal Academy, Jaques Samuel Pianos.
A highlight of the London days will be guaranteed good seats at the Royal Albert Hall for two PROM CONCERTS. This very special annual series, started by Sir Henry Wood has grown so greatly in importance, with the world's top performers taking part that tickets are like gold and sell out rapidly.
We will fly from London to the colourful and delightful "small city" of LJUBLJANA, always a great favourite of Lingua Musica participants over many years. Here we have everything a larger city has and in abundance. A university city, a music city, a city of the great architecture of its own Josef Plecnik, a city of utter charm on either side of its willow- lined little river and unique bridges, a city of flowers and life and cafes as well as great music venues. 2012 sees the 60th birthday of Ljubljana's renowned annual Summer Music Festival and we will be privileged participants.
Our most important concert here will be the performance of the great Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra under the baton of celebrity conductor, VALERY GERGIEV. Also we will enjoy a truly beautiful chamber music performance by the prize-winning AMAEL PIANO TRIO.
Prof. Volodja Balzalorsky, a brilliant violinist and close friend of Roma
Randles will be involved during our stay in his beloved city. We have
arranged a discussion over luncheon with Volodja and several of his colleagues. Volodja is Head of Strings at the Academy of Slovenia and is also much in demand as a performer on the European, UK and US circuits. He is also great fun!
We have much lined up for Ljubljana, but also, co-incidentally, it is time for the nearby MARIBOR FESTIVAL which is of great interest to Australian visitors. "Our" Richard Tognetti has been Director of this forward-looking festival for the past five years after signing a contract for six , so 2012 will be his last in this role together with the ACO. Maribor is a place of magic in so many different ways ... gorgeous churches, squares... in many ways like Ljubljana. We have planned a special luncheon with musical personalites, including Prof Balzalorsky, who studied with the same master in Cologne as Richard Tognetti. At this luncheon we also celebrate LINGUA MUSICA's 25th Anniversary!
VIENNA very naturally figures largely in our tour arrangements ... it is after all the city and surrounds most associated with our great figure of the Enlightenment. We also visit PRAGUE and the nearby spa,TEPLICE, both of which have intriguing connections with Beethoven.
Our final destination will be BONN. Here, in this utterly charming smaller city situated on the River Rhine, Beethoven is alive in every corner. It was in Bonn that he was born; and it was here that he negotiated his difficult teenage years and beyond. The story which emerges for our travellers will be one that is not widely known ...
Bonn is a city of great beauty, full of life and cafes, as you will discover with your well informed guide. Among other pursuits we will also attend three concerts of the famous BEETHOVENFEST, in which many internationally renowned musicians take part.
Do join us for celebration of our SILVER ANNIVERSARY!
DETAILED ITINERARY
Tuesday 28th August
LONDON
Our tour commences in London, where we will we staying in the ROYAL LANCASTER HOTEL. Meet fellow travellers in the later afternoon at our first tour meeting with Roma Randles, over cocktails and canapés, followed by a Welcome Dinner in one of the hotel's restaurants.
Wednesday 29th August
LONDON
A day of discovery London. In our comfortable private minibuses, we will visit some less well-known cultural highlights as well as a few of the widely known ones. Lunch will be included in a delightful setting.
EVENING PROMS PERFORMANCE:
London Proms Concert
Royal Albert Hall
Good seats guaranteed
Thursday 30th August
LONDON
Today we will introduce you to a lesser known Beethoven, a rather more complex personality which emerged from an uncompromising start in life, but perhaps even more loveable because of it. Our discussions with music personalities will be accompanied by performances which indeed we will know, and all this at a very musically significant London venue. Again lunch will be included.
EVENING PROMS PERFORMANCE:
London Proms Concert
Royal Albert Hall
Good seats guaranteed
Friday 31st August
LJUBLJANA
This morning we from London to LJUBLJANA with Adria Airways. The highly renowned Ljubljana Summer Music Festival is celebrating its Sixtieth Anniversary in 2012 and we will be privileged participants. We will attend a very special concert of the Russian Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra under the baton of the great VALERY GERGIEV. We will also enjoy a performance of Beethoven’s Archduke Trio, among other works, from the celebrated AMAEL PIANO TRIO.
Ljubljana is my favourite small city in all Europe, having as it does, everything a much larger one has and in abundance. Its lovely architecture from its own famed Joseph Plecnik, its little willow-lined river bordered by cafes, bookstores and art, its historic bridges, its churches, its delightful streets, its impressive concert and art venues. This university city is bursting with vitality and culture. My very good friend, Prof. Volodja Balzalorsky, Head of Strings at the University of Slovenia, will be an important part of our plans here. Volodja trained in Cologne with the same maestro as “our” Richard Tognetti and is in much demand as a violinist all over Europe, London and the States. He is also great fun! Our base in Ljubljana, as always, will be the HOTEL GRAND UNION.
Saturday 1st September
LJUBLJANA
We commence our time in Ljubljana with a guided walk of discovery, passing through the town's central Prešeren Square with its many shops, cafes and imposing statute of the Slovene national poet, France Prešeren
overlooking a magnificant miniature of Ljubljana's historic area. Prešeren
Square was also home of Gustav Mahler during 1881 and 1882. From Prešeren Square we will cross Ljubljana's many historic bridges as we meander through its wonderful old quarter.
Dinner this evening in an excellent French restaurant with a Guest Speaker.
Sunday 2nd September
LJUBLJANA
Today we will visit BLED. Situated in the Julian Alps this Alpine spa town is renowned for the island in the centre of Lake Bled. This small island is home to the Assumption of Mary Pilgrimage Church, built on the site of a temple consecrated to Živa, the Slavic goddess of love and fertility. We will also visit the medieval Bled Castle, now a museum. Lunch will be included.
Monday 3rd September
LJUBLJANA
A free day for independent exploration.
However at a time to be announced the Amael Piano Trio will perform a program including Beethoven's Archduke Trio.
Tuesday 4th September
LJUBLJANA
Daytime arrangements to be announced.
EVENING LJUBLJANA FESTIVAL PERFORMANCE
The Russian Mariinski Theatre Orchestra under the baton of the acclaimed Valery Gerviev.
Wednesday 5th September
MARIBOR
This morning we depart our hotel, accompanied by Prof. Volodja Balzalorsky, on a very pleasant 1 1/2 hour drive to MARIBOR, which colourful and historic small city has been acclaimed the 2012 European
Cultural Capital. The ACO and RICHARD TOGNETTI are leaders here in 2012. Richard Tognetti took on the Directorship of the Maribor Fesival in 2007 and this will be his final year in that role.
On arrival in Maribor there will be a conducted tour of the highlights of the city before settling at our hotel for our one night stay...the centrally situated new HOTEL CITY MARIBOR.
September 5th also marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of Lingua Musica and you will enjoy a celebratory luncheon in an atmospheric restaurant with some very distinguished guests.
After the ACO evening concert ( programme below ) we will be guests of the festival management at a reception, during which you will be able to mix with visiting musicians and music-lovers as well as, of course, the members of the ACO. Today you will also personally meet RICHARD TOGNETTI and the acclaimed and much loved American soprano, DAWN UPSHAW.
As we return to our hotel late this evening, I am sure we will all agree it has been a very full and very memorable day.
EVENING MARIBOR FESTIVAL PERFORMANCE
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA:
Conductor & Lead Violin: RICHARD TOGNETTI
Soloist: DAWN UPSHAW, Soprano
Niccolo Pagganini (arr Tognetti): Caprice on Caprices Nos 20 (D Maj) & 17 ( Eflat Maj)
Maurice Ravel (arr Tognetti) : String Quartet in F Major
Franz Schubert ( arr Tognetti): String Quartet No 14 ," Death and The Maiden" ...with soprano
Dawn Upshaw . An orchestral arrangement.
Arnold Schoenberg: arr for string orchestra : Litany from String Quartet No 2 in F# minor, Op 10
Robert Schumann ( arr C. Jordan ): Mondnacht in C# minor no 5, Op 39 ( Sop. Dawn Upshaw) arr forString Orchestra.
Arnold Schoenberg : arr for String Orchestra: 'Transfigured Night" Op 4
Thursday 6th September
VIENNA
This morning we set off for VIENNA where we will arrive in time for lunch at an historic inn very close to our hotel, THE WANDL, where Lingua Musica members are always welcomed like family. During our days here, both within the city and on trips around it, we will visit and discover more about the region and the great man forever associated with it. Vienna and Music have always been importantly linked. Mozart, Beethoven,Schubert, Brahms, Mahler are only some of the greats for whom this city was the only reasonable place in which to live. Its history is indeed a splendid one. With its Roman heritage it was once placed at the very heart of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Its Baroque style superceded the Gothic followed by the architectural developments of later eras.
Friday 7th September
VIENNA
VIENNA, of all cities, is so well associated with BEETHOVEN. Both within the city and on excursions we visit all those places forever linked to the master.
We will commence our time in Vienna with an excursion along the famous Ringstrasse, which surrounds the Old City, nearly 5kms long. The Ringstrasse, built by Emperor Joseph between 1858 and 1865, was designed to replace the original walls and to exhibit the many grand new
architectural monuments of his city ... the great State Opera House,
the Musikverein, Stadtpark, The Town Hall, the Burgtheater, the Parliament, the Kunsthistoriches Museum and part of the
Hofburg Palace.
In addition, with your excellent guides, you will visit all those places for which Vienna is famous and naturally an opera and a concert.
We will attend one Opera at the great Vienna Opera House and one major concert . Details will be published once they are available.
Saturday 8th September
TBA
Sunday 9th September
PRAGUE
Our last morning in VIENNA will be a free one, but being Sunday, a visit to one of the great Vienna churches for example St Charles or St Stephen's Cathedral closeby will be a possibility. The music is sure to be wonderful. More details when available. (NB. The Vienna Boys' Choir will be on annual vacation).
In the afternoon we transfer for a 3 hour first class train journey to PRAGUE. Dinner will be served in our hotel restaurant and very possibly this evening we will attend the opera.(Details tba).
In PRAGUE we stay in the marvellous HOTEL JALTA right on Wenceslaus Square. Prague is a beautiful and immensely interesting city with many cultural highlights, as you will discover.
Monday 10th September
PRAGUE
A morning guided tour with our very well informed guide who knows well and loves her city. Afternoon will be free for personal exploration.
Tuesday 11th September
TEPLICE
Today we enjoy a full day’s excursion to the lovely resort town of TEPLICE where we will have time for lunch and a guided tour. It is here that Beethoven once spent some weeks of recuperation ( it was very popular with aristocratic figures as well...not that this would have influenced our man at all). It was here that he met Goethe also on holiday, and here that it has been proven beyond all doubt that the famous letter “To My Dearly Beloved” was written. ("TO WHOM" is a topic we will explore on tour!) It was also here that Beethoven wrote his glorious Seventh Symphony.
Your evening will be your own, (unless this is also the evening for our opera.) Details to be published as they become available.
Wednesday 12th September
BONN
This morning we fly to FRANKFURT and thence, in our private coach, a two hour drive along a delightful riverside route to BONN. Our hotel here will be the marvellously situated HOTEL KONIGSBERG where many
of the musicians also stay. What a beautiful and entirely appropriate city in which to end our REDISCOVERY of BEETHOVEN tour! After arrival your time will be your own for private wandering in this picturesque small city with its many small squares, cafes, bookshops etc till we gather in the hotel foyer before dinner at a restaurant tba.
It is in BONN that Beethoven was born in 1770 and where he spent his childhood and teenage years. It is a remarkably interesting story and we will investigate more fully here what we have already addressed in London and elsewhere...the influences which contributed to the Beethoven the world celebrates ... some of them extraordinary. Bonn was the capital of Western Germany before Berlin and is an attractive , smaller and invitingly comfortable city, as you will discover with your very well informed guide.
Here also we will attend THREE performances of the highly acclaimed annual BEETHOVENFEST in which great international artists always participate. Each year a different social and political aspect associated with Beethoven and his contemporaries is explored. BONN is full of references to the great man and you will be taken to see many and also have time for private wandering. One of our performances will actually be in the Beethoven House.
Thursday 13th September
BONN
At 9am you will be collected for an interestng guided walk in the footsteps of Beethoven, which will finish at the Beethovenhaus, continuing with an interior visit and ending with a piano recital in the hall.
The rest of the day will be yours for independent exploration.
EVENING BEETHOVENFEST PERFORMANCE:
Beethovenfest Concert
Beethoven: Violin Concerto Op 61
Sibelius: Symphony No 1
WDR Symphonieorchester
Conductor: Saraste
Lisa Batiashvili: Violin
Friday 14th September
BONN
Today we will take a delightful Rhine River cruise as well as ascending to a nearby mountain peak from where the views are amazing. Luncheon will be included today ... this will actually be our final one together. Details tba.
EVENING BEETHOVENFEST PERFORMANCE
Beethovenfest Concert
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis Op 123
Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie
Bayrischer Rundfunk Chorus and Soloists
Conductor: Herbert Blomstedt
Saturday 15th September
BONN
Our wonderful tour concludes after breakfast. I think we will all agree that we now have a much closer acquaintance with this great man of the Enlightenment ... a brilliant personality derived from so many different influences and who had encountered every possible adversity in life, who experienced such enormous frustration, pain and disappointment, who sometimes closed himself off entirely, but at the same time, was a man who revealed to the world such joy and such thankfulness. We are glad to have concluded our tour in a city so closely tied to this genius.
Onward travel is quite easy from Bonn. We can advise ( and also, if requested, arrange for you, dependent upon your further travel itinerary.)
**** EARLY BOOKING AND DEPOSITS ARE NECESSARY TO SECURE PERFORMANCE TICKETS.****
If you would like to be advised as updated information is posted to our website, why not join our Mailing List, or send us an email.
