MUNICH & GLYNDEBOURNE OPERA FESTIVALS JULY 3-14, 2018 TOUR LEADER: ROBERT GAY MUNICH & GLYNDEBOURNE Overview OPERA FESTIVALS Munich and Glyndebourne are two of the world’s leading opera festivals. Tour dates: July 3-14, 2018 Through our special connections at both festivals, Academy Travel is pleased to offer a unique tour for music lovers built around seven Tour leader: Robert Gay outstanding performances. The variety of repertoire and quality of casting on offer at these two wonderful venues is inspiring, with some of the Tour Price: $11,980 per person, twin share world’s greatest singers performing works by German, French and Italian composers ranging from the baroque to the twentieth century. Single Supplement: $1,970 for sole use of The tour begins in Munich where each year in July the Bavarian State double room Opera presents all the new productions from its previous season. The impressive roster of singers features sopranos Anna Netrebko, Pretty Booking deposit: $500 per person Yende, Nina Stemme and Anja Harteros, tenors Jonas Kaufmann and Vittorio Grigolo, and baritone Thomas Hampson. These performances are Recommended airline: Singapore Airlines, complemented by music-themed sightseeing and a journey along the Emirates or Etihad famous ‘Romantic Road’ to some of Bavaria’s most charming towns. Maximum places: 20 Glyndebourne is the doyen of English country-house opera festivals, with superb productions, excellent singers and the London Philharmonic Itinerary: Munch (7 nights), Lewes (4 nights) Orchestra or the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in the pit. Since its inception in 1934, Glyndebourne has also been an important launching pad for young singers. The relatively small size of the theatre, its fine Date published: September 13, 2017 acoustics and memorable productions make for a very satisfying experience. The setting is also very special, a private estate in the Sussex Downs south of London. Academy Travel has been a sponsor of Glyndebourne since 2012, giving it special access to the best tickets. Pre-performance talks will place each of the works in a clear historical and musical context. Afterwards, you will have the opportunity to reflect on the production, the singers and conductors with your tour leader and your fellow like-minded opera lovers. Note that this tour can be combined with Wagner’s Ring Cycle in Munich, running from July 19-28. Your tour leader For over 25 years, Robert Gay has presented music history courses for the Centre for Continuing Education at the University of Sydney. Over the same period he has designed and escorted more than 80 musical and cultural tours to Europe and America. Enquiries and On tour, Robert will provide a thorough bookings introduction to the performances you see, with detailed pre-performance talks and post- For further information and to performance reviews. Robert’s approach to secure a place on this tour music is multi-faceted. First and foremost, he please contact Frederick links the music to the biographical, historical and social context in which it Steyn at Academy Travel on was created. Secondly, he explains in plain language technical aspects of 9235 0023 or 1800 639 699 the music – how the composer communicates through sound. Finally, as a (outside Sydney) or email trained singer who attends dozens of performances each year, he offers [email protected] great insight into the qualities of the performances you see on tour. .au Performance program Best available tickets to seven outstanding operas. MUNICH Richard Strauss’s Arabella, starring Anja Harteros Richard Wagner’s Parsifal, starring Jonas Kaufmann, René Pape and Nina Stemme Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, with Pretty Yende and Vittorio Grigolo Puccini’s Tosca, starring Anna Netrebko, Joseph Calleja and Thomas Hampson GLYNDEBOURNE We are embargoed from releasing performance details of the 2018 Glyndebourne Opera Festival before October 1, 2017. However, performances will include: A new production of an opera by Debussy A well-known Puccini drama, ideally suited to Glyndebourne’s intimate surroundings A dazzling masterpiece by Handel in a celebrated Glyndebourne production Above: past production of Puccini’s Tosca staring Jonas Kaufmann and Anja Harteros Above: The Bavarian State Opera’s past production of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore Above: Glyndebourne auditorium, photo credit Charlotte Boulton Above: Nina Stemme Detailed itinerary Included meals are shown with the letters B, L, D and C for canapes. Get the most from performances In order to fully enjoy the performances, we suggest you plan to arrive in Europe at least a day before the tour commences. As well as flights, we are happy to arrange pre-tour accommodation in Munich or another European city. Please contact us to discuss the best options. Tuesday July 3 Arrival You should arrange your travels to arrive at our Munich hotel by the late afternoon. In the early evening, meet your tour leader and fellow travellers in the hotel for drinks and canapes. Overnight Munich (C) Wednesday July 4 Arabella This morning there is a talk on Strauss’s 1933 opera Arabella. It is the last of six works he created with his librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal, one of the most productive creative partnerships in music history. Arabella is a lyrical work, often compared to the better-known Der Rosenkavalier. The title role is a showcase for a lyric soprano, and tonight we hear the celebrated German Above: The Bavarian State Opera’s past production of Richard Strauss’s Arabella soprano Anja Harteros as Arabella. There will be time to explore the centre of Munich, perhaps visiting the open-air Viktualienmarkt before we enjoy a welcome lunch in a Munich restaurant. Tonight’s performance starts at 7.00pm. Overnight Below: the Schaezlerpalais in Augsburg Munich (B, L) Performance details Venue: National Theatre, Munich Program: Richard Strauss’s Arabella Performers: Anja Harteros (Arabella), Hanna-Elisabeth Müller (Zdenka), Thomas J. Mayer (Mandryka), Constantin Trinks (conductor) Thursday July 5 Augsburg Today we make a full-day excursion to Augsburg, about an hour from Munich. This historically and artistically significant town is often overlooked by tourists. Augsburg was the home-town of Leopold Mozart, so there are some important musical connections as well. Our first stop is the Schaezlerpalais, a magnificent German baroque town house, with a painting collection of German Renaissance works, including Augsburg- born Hans Holbein, and later masters such as Veronese, Canaletto, Van Dyck and Tiepolo. We also visit the medieval cathedral and the Fuggerei, a gated district of poor-houses built in 1519 by Jakob Fugger, banker to Emperor Charles V and the wealthiest man in Europe at the time. It is thanks to Fugger and other wealthy Augsburghers that the city earned its reputation as the Bavarian Florence. We return to Munich in the late afternoon. Overnight Munich (B) Friday July 6 L’elisir d’amore Our pre-performance talk today explores the bel canto period and Donizetti’s comic opera L’elisir d’amore. Like many bel canto works, the success of the performance depends very much on the virtuosity of the performers. Tonight we get to hear two leading exponents of the bel canto style in action. Young South-African coloratura soprano Pretty Yende shot to stardom after winning the Vincenzo Bellini prize in 2010. She thrilled Parisian audiences as Lucia in 2016, a role she will reprise at the Met in early 2018. Vittorio Grigolo’s liquid lyric tenor will fit the role of the lovelorn Nemorino perfectly, and the magnificent buffo bass, Ambrogio Maestri, sings the role of the quack doctor, Dulcamara. After the pre-performance talk, we visit one of Munich’s leading art galleries, the Alte Pinakothek. Those interested in Kandinsky and Munich’s ‘Blue Rider’ movement will also want to visit the nearby Pinakothek der Modern. Tonight’s performance begins at 7.00pm. Overnight Munich (B) Performance details Venue: National Theatre, Munich Program: Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore Performers: Pretty Yende (Adina), Vittorio Grigolo (Nemorino), Above: The National Theatre in Munich; and The Bavarian State Ambrogio Maestri (Dulcamara) Opera’s past production of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore; Below: the promotional poster for Wagner’s Parsifal, photo credit The Saturday July 7 Bavarian State Opera The Romantic Road Bavaria’s famous Romantic Road follows the rivers and valleys of Bavaria through some of the region’s most beautiful small towns, largely untouched by war and modern development. Today’s excursion takes us to two standout villages. Medieval Dinkelsbühl has ramparts, watchtowers and a castle of the order of the Teutonic Knights. Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber, where we have lunch, was founded in the 12th century. It is home to one of the largest and most important works by German Renaissance sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider, the St Francis Altar. Riemenschneider worked in many of the towns along the Romantic Road. Towns like Dinkelsbühl and Rothenburg were ‘rediscovered’ in the 19th century as Germany explored its national identity, and were an inspiration for Wagner and others to create works set in the Middle Ages. We return to Munich in the late afternoon. Overnight Munich (B, L) Sunday July 8 Parsifal After our previous day’s journey, it is rather fitting that we see Wagner’s contemplative medieval drama Parsifal this evening. The three-act music-drama is based loosely on a 13th-century German epic poem, and tells the tale of the Arthurian knight, Sir Percival. Kirill Petrenko conducts tonight’s performance of a new production by Pierre Audi. The cast is unbeatable, with Munich-based tenor Jonas Kaufmann in the title role, Swedish superstar Nina Stemme as Kundry, fine bass René Pape as Gurnemanz and baritone Christian Gerhaher as Amfortas. This morning there is a pre-performance talk, followed by free time to relax or visit one of Munich’s many fine galleries and museums.