NORTHERN ITALY : L A SCALA , L AKE COMO & V ERONA Thursday, June 30th through Saturday, July 9th Bellagio on Lake Como “One hundred years after its inaugu ration, the ur annual summer Tour to Northern Festival dell’Arena di Verona is an essential Italy remains among our most popular part of the operatic scene... As for the atmo - offerings and is invariably sold out. For sphere: A kaleidoscope of feelings, impressions 2016, our program at the beginning of and colours that makes the city’s amphitheatre OJuly will encompass two performances the focal point of a mass phenomenon at Milan’s legendary Teatro alla Scala and unmatched anywhere else in terms of scale, three evenings in the spectacular Verona reper toire and results.” Opera, Nov. ’13 Arena – including Verona’s signature production of Verdi’s Aida . Between these “Lake Como remains a place of consummate two prime operatic destinations, we will enjoy partnership between the beauties of nature Piazza delle erbe, Verona a three-night respite in the idyllic village of and those of humanity… Like so many of Bellagio on the shores of Lake Como . It is Italy’s most beautiful villa gardens, those of Como owe their beauty difficult to imagine a more breathtaking site than the Grand Villa to the landscape architecture of two eras: the Renaissance Italian, Serbelloni, where we will relax without any performances. The with its taste for order, and the 19th-century English, with its magnificent views and the intoxicating charm of the village have fondness for illusions of natural wildness.” evoked unanimous enthusiasm from our travelers over the past Fodor two decades. Our itinerary will begin with two nights in the Lombardian “Verona stands on the banks of the Adige in a setting of cypress capital of Milan , with accommodations at the deluxe Hotel de la covered hills.… It is, after Venice, the finest art center in Venetia.” Ville only a short walk from famed La Scala . Our pair of Michelin performances in Italy’s most prestigious theatre will be Giuseppe Verdi’s ‘middle period’ masterwork Simon Boccanegra and “La Scala is closer to a cathedral than an auditorium. Here Verdi Richard Strauss’s beloved Viennese comedy Der Rosen - established his reputation and Maria Callas sang her way into opera kavalier . La Scala’s international casts will feature Italy’s ‘Verdi lore. It looms as a symbol – both for the performer who dreams of baritone’ Leo Nucci as the Doge Boccanegra opposite soprano singing here and for the opera buff who knows every note.…” Carmen Giannattasio as Amelia; and the experienced Strauss Fodor interpreters Sophie Koch, Christian Karg and Günther 27 Groissboeck in ‘Rosenkavalier’. The exceptional conductors will be Zubin Mehta and Myung-Whun Chung . Continuing to Lake Como for three nights at Bellagio’s Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni , our leisurely schedule includes a full dinner with wine each evening . Our third destination is the Northern Italian city of Verona , which has long been among our most important summer destinations due to the Renaissance beauty of the architecture and the overwhelming experience of the outdoor opera performances in the Roman Arena . Our three-night visit will include a trio of the season’s highlights: Verona’s grandiose staging of Verdi’s Aida ; Georges Bizet’s melodic tragedy Carmen , a pinnacle of French 19th century opera; and yet another of Verdi’s consummate romantic achievements, La La Scala Traviata . Each of these popular operas will be staged in the Arena’s vast outdoor stage which affords the opportunity of truly a small swimming pool. ( We have chosen spectacular productions. Our choice of the five-star Palazzo the Hotel de la Ville because of its ideal Victoria Hotel is again within walking distance of the Arena. location near La Scala and the city’s major sights and museums.) IMPORTANT: Thursday, June 30th, departure from New York’s KENNEDY There will be a performance on our first Airport at 8:30 pm on Alitalia flight #605, arriving at Milan’s evening. If you wish to arrive a day ahead Leo Nucci Malpensa Airport (NOT Milan’s Linate Airport) at 10:40 am on to adjust to the time change, a limited the morning of July 1st. Or independent travel to Milan. number of rooms are available for the additional night of Thursday, June 30th. You should notify us NOW if you do want MILAN: J ULY 1ST & 2 ND the early night at our hotel. ccommodations for three nights included at the Hotel de Early Friday evening, July 1st, a cocktail la Ville , a superior four-star property centrally located on the reception is planned in a private enter - APiazza Fontana only a short walk from La Scala and the tainment area of the hotel. This will be an Carmen Giannattasio exclusive shops of the via Montenapoleone. The stunning Gothic opportunity to meet other members of spires of the Duomo are viewed from the hotel’s higher floors, the Tour. and dining facilities include the Visconteo Bar and a Friday evening at 8:00 pm, our first fashionable restaurant appropriately named L’Opera . The performance at La Scala will be Giu - premises also offer a fitness club and solarium roof terrace with seppe Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra . As the complex Vienna Doge, the veteran ‘Verdi baritone’ Leo Nucci has made the title role his own throughout his native Italy and in Zürich and Vienna. The cast will also include the gifted young Italian Dmitri Beloselskiy soprano Carmen Giannattasio as Bocca negra’s daughter Amelia Grimaldi, Russian bass Dmitri Beloselskiy as Fiesco, and Italian tenor Giorgio Ber - Leonardo’s rugi as Gabriele Adorno. The conductor The Last is Myung-Whun Chung , and the staging Supper is by director Federico Tiezzi and set designer Pier Paolo Bisleri . Set against the backdrop of 14th century Genoa, the Myung-Wun Chung revised 1881 version contains a sequence of Verdi’s consummate scenes, especially the extended ‘father- daughter’ duet (as Amelia and Boccanegra discover their true relationship) and the magnificent Council Chamber ensemble with the Doge confronting Paolo. Today ‘Boccanegra’ is widely recognized as one of Verdi’s finest achievements. Sung in Italian with English titles. Saturday morning, July 2nd, a short transfer will take us to the church and former Dominican monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie , which houses Leonardo da Vinci’s famous masterpiece of The Last Supper , finished in 1498 . Now completely restored, retouched, and free of the shroud of scaffolding, the painting is viewed in the attached refectory, called the Cenacolo . Milan, Duomo marketplace 28 gardens and dramatic mountains bordering Lake Como , the most beautiful of the romantic Italian lakes. The scenery is magnificent around the village of Bellagio, the “Pearl of the Lake”, which enjoys a unique promontory site on the northern shore. The bedrooms are richly furnished in Italianate style, and the dining room is renowned for its imaginative cuisine. There is a large outdoor swimming pool adjacent to the lake shore. Sunday evening, July 3rd, we will enjoy a leisurely dinner at the Sophie Koch Christiane Karg Günther Groissboeck Villa Serbelloni. The view from the terrace overlooking Lake Como and the mountains has been immortalized by such writers (Entry is by appointment only and must be as E. M. Forster, Henry James and Edith Wharton. made months in advance.) Sunday afternoon and all-day Monday and Tuesday are left free During your free time in Milan, you may for relaxing by the Lake and enjoying the shops and sights want to visit one of the city’s priceless art around Bellagio. Just beyond the village lie the extensive Villa museums. The intimate Poldi Pezzoli Melzi gardens for which Bellagio is renowned, offering an Museum of Renaissance masters and the inviting afternoon stroll; and the Palladian Villa Carlotta is easily Brera Gallery of Old Masters are both of accessible by ferry or motor taxi across the lake. There are Zubin Mehta major importance, and La Scala’s Museum many shops in the center of Bellagio and a variety of cafés on the traces the operatic history of Europe’s most lakeshore for a relaxing cappuccino or gelato. (In previous years, famous theatre. The flamboyantly decorative Gothic Duomo our opera schedules have often limited our Bellagio visits to only (Cathedral) and picturesque Galleria of shops and cafés are also two nights. As our travelers have consistently urged us to stay within easy walking distance of our hotel. Italy’s most longer in this beautiful setting, this year’s schedule allows us to fashionable designer boutiques and upscale leather stores are remain for a third night.) only a few blocks away. Dinner is again included at the hotel on our national holiday, At 7:00 pm on Saturday (early curtain), we will return to La July 4th, and Tuesday the 5th. Scala for a performance of Richard Strauss’s Der Rosen - kavalier . The exuberant score evocatively captures the ambience of librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s human comedy, VERONA: J ULY 6TH –8TH set in Vienna in the mid-18th century during the reign of n Wednesday, July 6th, a several-hour bus ride across the Empress Maria Theresa. The Marschallin’s Act I ‘Monologue’, picturesque landscape of Northern Italy will bring us to the soaring lyricism of the Act II ‘Presentation of the Rose’, and O Verona to experience what is probably the world’s grandest the heart-breaking Final Trio in which the Marschallin gracefully opera productions. relinquishes her Cavalier are among the supreme achieve - Our accommodations for three nights with buffet breakfast ments of the entire Strauss/ - are at the deluxe Palazzo Victoria Hotel , which enjoys a perfect von Hof mannst hal partners - location in the heart of the old city within easy walking distance hip.