AMSTERDAM TO LEIPZIG MUSIC IN NORTHERN EUROPE
SEPTEMBER 28 - OCTOBER 14, 2017 TOUR LEADER: ROBERT GAY
AMSTERDAM Overview TO LEIPZIG This new 17-day musical tour begins in the vibrant city of Amsterdam and MUSIC IN NORTHERN EUROPE travels across central Germany to the great musical and cultural centres of Dresden and Leipzig. Tour dates: September 28 - October 14, 2017 Along the way we visit Cologne, with its great cathedral towering above Tour leader: Robert Gay the Rhine, and its lovely ‘satellite’ city of Bonn where Beethoven was born. Then on to historic Weimar – famous for Goethe and Schiller – from which Tour Price: $9,775 per person, twin share we make an excursion to Eisenach, the birthplace of Johann Sebastian Bach. In Leipzig we visit the fascinating Mendelssohn museum, as well as Single Supplement: $1,850 for sole use of making a trip to nearby Halle to visit the Handel museum which also double room houses an outstanding collection of musical instruments.
Booking deposit: $500 per person Performance highlights include two of Europe’s finest orchestras – the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam and the Gewandhaus Orchestra Recommended airline: Etihad Airways in Leipzig – and opera in Amsterdam, Cologne, and Dresden. We will also hear motets sung in the austerely beautiful Thomaskirche in Leipzig where Maximum places: 20 Bach worked from 1723 till his death in 1750.
Itinerary: Amsterdam (4 nights), Cologne (3 The tour also incorporates visits to two of Europe’s greatest art galleries – nights), Weimar (2 nights), Dresden (4 nights), the newly extended and refurbished Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and Leipzig (3 nights) Dresden’s justly famous Gallery of Old Masters. Date published: April 24, 2017 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.
On tour Robert, will provide a thorough preparation to the performances you see, with detailed pre-performance talks and post- performance reviews. Robert’s approach to music is multi-faceted. First and foremost, he links the music to the biographical, historical and social context in which it was created. Secondly, he explains in plain language technical aspects of the music – how the composer communicates through sound. Finally, as a trained singer who attends dozens of performances each year, he offers great insight into the qualities of the performances you see on tour.
Robert’s enthusiasm for music is infectious, and his skills as an educator and tour leader are exceptional. Since 2010, he has led tours exclusively for Academy Travel. Enquiries and bookings “There is no doubt that it was Robert Gay’s leadership that made the trip such a memorable experience. He was brilliant in every way. His For further information and to encyclopaedic knowledge of music and generosity in sharing it, plus his secure a place on this tour understanding and insight into works of art, added immeasurably to please contact Frederick everything we did. His meticulous planning and careful attention to detail Steyn at Academy Travel on made the logistics very easy for us all. His warmth, superb communication 9235 0023 or 1800 639 699 skills, sense of humour, patience and sensitivity to group dynamics all (outside Sydney) or email made the trip a delight from beginning to end.” Feedback from Academy [email protected] Travel’s Switzerland to Spain: a musical adventure, April 2015 .au
Performance Program
Nine performances of opera, orchestral music and chamber music are included. Details of an opera or orchestral concert in Cologne or Bonn will be available from July 2017.
Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Andrew Manze, performing music by Bach, Haydn and Beethoven with violinist Pekka Kuusisto
Verdi’s rarely performed opera La Forza del Destino by the award- winning Dutch National Opera, conducted by Michele Mariotti. The star cast includes Eva-Maria Westbroek, Franco Vassallo and Robert Aronica
Concert by Viennese string quartet, Quatuor Mosaϊques performing music by Mozart, Haydn and Schubert at the Concertgebouw
An opera at Cologne Opera or in Bonn La Forza del Destino by the Dutch National Opera Berlioz’s rarely performed grand opera Les Troyens at the Semperoper Dresden, conducted by Lothar Koenigs, with Eric Cutler in the lead role
Strauss’ Salome at the Semperoper Dresden conducted by Omer Meir Wellber, with Simone Schneider in the leading role
Concert by the Dresdner Philharmonie Symphony orchestra at the newly refurbished Kulturpalast concert hall
Concert by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Herbert Blomstedt, performing music by Brahms and Schubert
Puccini’s Tosca at the Oper Leipzig conducted by Andrea Sanguineti, with Annemarie Kremer as Tosca. Tosca at the Oper Leipzig
The Semperoper Dresden Detailed itinerary
Included meals are shown with the letters B, L and D.
Thursday September 28 Arrive Amsterdam Meet tour leader Robert Gay at the hotel for drinks and canapes. Overnight Hotel NH Amsterdam Museum Quarter, Amsterdam (C)
Friday September 29 Amsterdam – performance I After a talk on this evening’s performance by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, we take a guided walking tour through the historic heart of this fascinating city which, at the beginning of the 17th century, grew from being just one of the many trading towns of the Low Countries into the cultural and economic centre of the Dutch Republic. We have a welcome lunch in a local restaurant. Overnight Amsterdam (B, L)
Performance details Venue: Concertgebouw Hall Program: Bach, Haydn and Beethoven Performers: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Andrew Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring,1665, (above) in the collection of the Manze (conductor), Pekka Kuusisto (violin) Mauritshaus The Hague
Delft’s tranquil canals with New Church in the background (below) Saturday September 30 The Hague and Delft – performance II Today we take a full day excursion starting with The Hague, the political centre of The Netherlands and a base for the United Nations’ justice programs. The Hague’s art collections are similarly impressive, including Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and View of Delft, which we will see in the Mauritshaus. In the mid-afternoon, we continue on to nearby Delft, for a short walking tour of this charming medieval city. Overnight Amsterdam (B)
Performance details Venue: Concertgebouw Hall Program: Mozart, Haydn and Schubert Performers: String quartet ensemble Quatuor Mosaïques
Sunday October 1 Rijksmuseum – performance III After a talk on this evening’s performance, we head to the recently refurbished Rijksmuseum, containing an incomparable collection of Dutch masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Ruisdael, Franz Hals and more. In the afternoon, we take a short canal cruise returning to the hotel in time to relax and refresh for this evening’s opera. Overnight Amsterdam (B)
Performance details Venue: Dutch National Opera Program: Verdi’s, La Forza del Destino Performers: Robert Lloyd (Il Marchese di Calatrava), Eva- Maria Westbroek (Donna Leonora), Franco Vassallo (Don Carlo di Vargas), Robert Aronica (Don Alvaro)
Monday October 2 Cologne via Aachen Depart for Cologne via Aachen, a spa city near Germany’s borders with Belgium and The Netherlands. After free time for lunch we have a guided tour of Aachen Cathedral, founded around 800 AD. Late afternoon we arrive in Cologne and have dinner in the hotel. Overnight Hilton Hotel, Cologne (B, D)
Tuesday October 3 Cologne This morning we take a guided tour of the city, including the famous medieval cathedral, adorned with stained glass and breathtaking altarpieces and gold statues. It is testament to the power and prestige of the city over the centuries. Overnight Cologne (B, L)
Wednesday October 4 Bonn – performance IV Today we travel to Bonn for a tour of the city including sites dedicated to Bonn’s most celebrated son – Ludwig van Beethoven. We visit the Beethoven House museum and have lunch in Bonn before returning to Cologne for this evening’s performance. Overnight Cologne (B, L) Cologne Cathedral across the Rhine (above)
Performance details Portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven (below), 1820, while composing the Venue: Cologne Opera or in Bonn Missa Solemnis found in Beethoven-Haus, Bonn Program: To be announced Performers: To be announced
Thursday October 5 Weimar via marburg Today we depart for Weimar stopping in Marburg, a town that rises steeply from the Lahn River to the spectacular castle that crowns the hill. Early afternoon we continue on to Weimar, home of Goethe and Schiller and the modernist Bauhaus movement, as well as seat of the Weimar Republic. We have dinner together at a local restaurant. Overnight Grand Hotel Russischer Hof, Weimar (B, D)
Friday October 6 Bach Museum and Eisenach This morning we head to Eisenach to visit the Bach House museum, devoted to the entire lineage of the musical Bach family and includes a collection of historical musical instruments. We continue on to the famous Wartburg Castle, beloved of the German Romantics, to enjoy the commanding views over the Thuringian Forest. We return to Weimar in the late afternoon. Overnight Weimar (B) Saturday October 7 Goethe’s Weimar
This morning we visit Goethe House museum, where Goethe lived and worked. Afterwards we travel to Dresden, just a couple of hours’ drive from Weimar. This evening we have dinner in a local restaurant. Overnight Innside Melia Hotel, Dresden (B, D)
Sunday October 8 Dresden – performance V Once regarded as Germany's most beautiful city, the Dresden, on the Elbe River (above) "Baroque Florence", Dresden still bears some the scars of World War II. After a talk, we take a guided walking tour of The 18th century Zwinger Palace, Dresden (below); and Vermeer’s Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window, 1657, (bottom) held in the the historic centre of Dresden, ending at the Historic Green Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden Vault, a treasure-trove of fine and decorative arts, including one of the world’s finest collections of jewels. Overnight Dresden (B)
Performance details Venue: Kulturpalast Program: music by Beethoven and Smetana Performers: Dresdner Philharmonie, Michael Sanderling (conductor), Julian Steckel (violincello)
Monday October 9 Dresden – performance VI After a talk on this evenings performance, the rest of the day is at leisure. Overnight Dresden (B)
Performance details Venue: Semperoper Program: Berlioz’s, Les Troyens Performers: Lothar Koenigs (conductor), Eric Cutler (Énée), Jennifer Holloway (Cassandre), Christoph Pohl (Chorèbe), Christa Mayer (Didon)
Tuesday October 10 Old Masters – performance VII After a talk on this evening’s performance, we visit marvellous Gallery of Old Masters where you will be free to explore the great collection at your leisure. The Electors and Kings of Saxony amassed a breathtaking collection of masterpieces by Raphael, Giorgione, Titian, Van Eyck, Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer and others. Overnight Dresden (B, L)
Performance details Venue: Semperoper Program: Strauss, Salome Performers: Omer Meir Wellber (conductor), Lance Ryan (Herodes), Jane Henschel (Herodias)
Wednesday October 11 Handel House Museum Today we travel to Leipzig, via Halle, a short distance from Dresden and Handel’s birthplace. The old city of Halle features the Handel House Museum and a fine cathedral. We have lunch in Halle before continuing on to Leipzig. Overnight Hotel Marriott, Leipzig (B, L)
Thursday October 12 Mendelssohn – performance VIII Leipzig is home to some prominent musical figures. Wagner was born here and Mendelssohn established the Leipzig Conservatorium and conducted the Gewandhaus Orchestra for eleven years. This morning we take a tour of the city including the Mendelssohn Museum, where Felix and his family lived during the last years of his life. This afternoon and evening are at leisure. Overnight Leipzig (B)
Performance details Venue: Gewandhaus Leipzig Program: Brahms and Schubert Performers: Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Herbert Blomstedt (conductor), Christina Landshamer (soprano), Michael Nagy (baritone)
Friday October 13 Grassi Museum – performance V Conductor Herbert Blomstedt (above) will be in full swing at the This morning we visit the Grassi Museum, housing an Gewandhaus for his 90th Birthday! excellent survey of German decorative arts and design from Inside Thomaskirche (St. Thomas Church) in Leipzig (below), where the middle ages to the 20th century, including a very good Johann Sebastian Bach worked as a Kapellmeister (music director) from collection of musical instruments. Afterwards we have our 1723 until his death in 1750 farewell lunch at Auerbach’s Keller which was immortalized in a scene from Goethe’s ‘Faust’. Overnight Leipzig (B, L)
Performance details Venue: Oper Leipzig Program: Puccini, Tosca Performers: Karine Babajanyan (Floria Tosca), Xavier Moreno (Mario Cavaradossi), Tuomas Pursio (Baron Scarpia)
Saturday October 14 Departure The tour ends after breakfast. A morning group transfer to Berlin’s Tegel airport is available for those joining afternoon flights. (B)
Hotels
These four-star hotels have been selected principally for their central location.
Amsterdam, NH Museum Quarter Hotel (4 nights) Cologne, Hilton Cologne Hotel (3 nights) Weimar, Grand Hotel Russischer Hof (2 nights) Dresden, Melia Innside Hotel Dresden (4 nights) Leipzig, Hotel Marriott Leipzig (3 nights)
DRESDEN: THE TWO SEMPER OPERA HOUSES
ROBERT GAY
Richard Strauss’s Metamorphosen for 23 solo strings, By contrast, its much more interesting successor, Der completed in April 1945, is a threnody for the destruction of fliegende Holländer, was coolly received. In spite of this the German cultural world Strauss knew so intimately and apparent setback, Wagner was appointed Kapellmeister in valued so highly. While writing the piece, he was thinking of Dresden, and his fifth opera Tannhäuser premiered there in the beautiful city of Dresden – often described as the 1845. ‘Florence of the North’ – which had been destroyed by Allied bombing on the night of 13 February 1945. Most of the old Preparations for his sixth opera, Lohengrin, were abandoned city, including the beautiful opera house where nine of however because Wagner became embroiled in the Dresden Strauss’s operas – including Salome, Elektra and Der Revolt of 1849. Almost overnight, it became necessary for him Rosenkavalier – had premiered, was engulfed in the ensuing to flee not only the city, but also the state of Saxony, and fire-storm. finally the German lands as well. Gottfried Semper too was implicated in revolutionary activities and also had to flee for This opera house, which opened in 1878, stood on the his life. imposing Theaterplatz on the edge of the old city near the river Elbe. After the war, it stood grimly as a blackened ruin A decade later, in 1869, the first Semper opera house was for more than 30 years until the East German government destroyed by fire, but this time it was the kind of fire that so made the welcome but surprising decision to restore the often engulfed opera houses when highly flammable sets and burnt-out shell to its former glory. Superbly achieved down to costumes came into too close contact with more primitive the last detail, the opera house reopened on 13 February lighting arrangements or dangerous special effects. 1985 on the fortieth anniversary of its destruction. These days, in the beautiful interior of the reconstructed However, this is not the whole story. There had been an second Semperoper, one of Europe’s finest orchestras, the earlier opera house on the same site, and extraordinarily it Staatskapelle Dresden, gives regular subscription concerts as was designed by the same architect – Gottfried Semper. This well as playing in the pit for every opera performance. first Semperoper was described, when it opened in 1841, as Strauss’s tragic Metamorphosen ends with lugubrious ‘the most beautiful theatre in the world’. references to the funeral march from Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’ Symphony, but against all odds and all expectation, Semper’s Soon after its completion, the building housed an important great Dresden opera house rose from the ashes of war and, premiere by a completely untried young composer. Richard phoenix-like, lives again as a world-class opera and concert Wagner’s Rienzi was given a spectacular production and was venue of which Richard Strauss himself could once again be an outstanding success, quickly becoming a repertoire work. proud.
Tour Price Fitness Requirements
The tour price is $9,775 per person, twin share (land content of THIS tour only). The supplement for a single room is $1,850 per person. A non-refundable deposit of $500 per person is Grade Two required to secure a place on the tour. It is important both for you and for your fellow travellers that Final program & you are fit enough to be able to enjoy all the activities on this tour. To give you an indication of the level of physical fitness second deposit required to participate on our tours, we have given them a star grading. Academy Travel’s tours tend to feature In April 2017, an updated itinerary with most performance extended walking tours and site visits, which require greater details will be published. At this stage we will send you a fitness than coach touring. We ask you to carefully consider second invoice for $1,500 to cover the cost of tickets. If you your ability to meet the physical demands of the tour. are not satisfied with the range and quality of performances in the final itinerary, you can withdraw from the tour within 14 days of receiving the final version and receive a full refund of Participation criteria for this tour your deposit. This Grade Two tour is designed for people who lead active lives and can comfortably participate in up to five hours of Tour Inclusions physical activity per day on most days, including longer Included in the tour price walking tours, challenging archaeological sites, climbing stairs, embarking and disembarking trains and/or boats, and All accommodation in carefully selected four-star hotels a more demanding tour schedule with one night stops or All breakfasts several internal flights. Selected lunches and dinners in hotels and local restaurants as noted in the itinerary You should be able to: Best-available tickets to all included performances keep up with the group at all times Pre-performance talks walk for 4-5 kilometres at a moderate pace with only All ground transport via private air-conditioned coach short breaks All entrance fees to sites mentioned on the itinerary stand for a reasonable length of time in galleries and Porterage of one piece of luggage into and out of hotels museums only tolerate uncomfortable climatic conditions such as cold, Services of tour leader throughout tour/ local guides at humidity and heat some sites walk up and down slopes Tips for local guides and drivers negotiate steps and slopes on archaeological sites, which are often uneven and unstable Not included get on and off a large coach with steep stairs, train or International air fares, taxes and surcharges (see below) boat unassisted, possibly with luggage Travel insurance move your luggage a short distance if required Meals not mentioned in itinerary Expenses of a personal nature A note for older travellers Air travel OPTIONS If you are more than 80 years old, or have restricted mobility, The tour price quoted is for land content only. For this tour, it is highly likely that you will find this itinerary challenging. we recommend Etihad Airways who fly into Amsterdam and You will have to miss several activities and will not get the home via Berlin. Please contact us for the best possible full value of the tour. Your booking will not be accepted until prices on economy, business or first class fares. Transfers after you have contacted Academy Travel to discuss your between airport and hotel are included for all passengers situation and the exact physical requirements of this tour. booking their flights through Academy Travel. These may be While we will do our best to reasonably accommodate the group or individual transfers. physical needs of all group members, we reserve the right to refuse bookings if we feel that the requirements of the tour are too demanding for you and/or if local conditions mean Enquiries & bookings we cannot reasonably accommodate your condition. For further information and to secure a place on this tour please contact Frederick Steyn at Academy Travel on 9235 0023 or 1800 639 699 (outside Sydney) or email [email protected]