LONDON & G LYNDEBOURNE Monday, July 13th through Monday, July 20th Picnic on the lawn at the Glyndebourne Festival “This production feels right in the way it achieves every acclaimed production of Mozart’s The Abduction balance.” (Bachtrack, review of from the Seraglio featuring the radiant American Glyndebourne’s ‘Abduction from the Seraglio’ ) soprano Lisette Oropesa as Konstanze. Our mid-summer London Tour will also boast a trio of Anna Netrebko: “She was a magnificent Tosca… not-to-be-missed Italian operas at Covent Garden . every bit Puccini’s volatile heroine. Her singing was Puccini’s gripping music-drama Tosca will be Lon - plush, radiant and suffused with romantic yearning.” don’s hottest ticket, with Anna Netrebko , Bryn Ter - NY Times fel and Brian Jagde as the principals; and his sear - ing tragedy Madama Butterfly will feature “Bryn Terfel ’s familiar Scarpia is in formidable voice, Anna Netrebko Ermonela Jaho in her poignant assumption of the physically and vocally dominating every scene.” title role. Our third opera will be Verdi’s towering his - Financial Times torical melodrama, Don Carlo , with a brilliant cast of Hibla Gerzmava, Ruxandra Donose, Michael Lisette Oropesa: “With a voice by turns brightly crys - Fabiano, Placido Domingo, and Ferruccio talline and arrestingly powerful, she persuasively inhab - Furlanetto . Music Director Sir Antonio Pappano its the role of this chameleon coquette.” will be the conductor for both of the Puccini works. NY Times, review of the MET’s ‘Manon’ Monday, July 13th, departure from New York’s “Ermonela Jaho throws heart and soul into her Kennedy Airport at 10:35 pm on American Airlines singing. Don’t even try to resisit.” (Financial Times) Bryn Terfel flight #104, arriving at London’s Heathrow Airport at 10:50 am on the morning of the 14th. Or independent “Singing the title role of Verdi’s epic melodrama, travel to London. Michael Fabiano is nothing short of magnificent.” Mercury News, review of San Francisco’s ‘Don Carlo’ Our accommodations for six nights , with full Eng - lish breakfast included, are at the private Royal ur long overdue return to the Glyndebourne Automobile Club (RAC) in the city’s St. James’s Festival is a major highlight of Great Perfor - locale. The imposing neo-classical façade fronts onto mance Tours’ 2020 summer season. The Festi - Pall Mall, a stone’s throw from St. James’s Palace. The val’s new Corporate Sponsorship enables us to wide-ranging facilities include the Great Gallery and Osecure excellent tickets months in advance. Broadlands dining rooms, the Cocktail Bar and Long For our return, we have chosen Sir David McVicar’s Antonio Pappano. Bar, a spacious Drawing room for reading, and a Music Director 29 unique suite of saunas and hot-rooms adjacent to the Olympic- sized swimming pool in the basement. It is a comfortable 10 – 15 minute walk to Fortnum & Mason and the shops along Pic - cadilly, as well as the Royal Academy of Art and the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square. While the bedrooms are generally small, we are privileged to offer this opportunity of enjoying the RAC. IMPORTANT : Any rooms for the early night of Monday, July 13th are available on request only . Be sure to let us know if you wish to arrive before the 14th. Tuesday evening, July 14th, a cocktail reception will be arranged at the RAC. This will be an opportunity to meet other members of the Tour. No performance this evening. Wednesday, July 15th, is left free during the day to adjust to the time change. At 7:30 pm, our first performance will be the Royal The Royal Automobile Club Opera production of Giacomo Puccini’s Mozart’s consummate German ‘sing - Tosca at Covent Garden . Puccini’s famil - spiel’ ranks as the most important comic iar arias and dramatic genius will be in the success in this operatic genre. The chal - hands of a sensational cast headed by the lenging role of Konstanze includes the Russian diva Anna Netrebko at the peak fiendishly difficult aria ‘Martern aller of her career in the title role, the handsome arten’, which will be a showpiece for the American tenor Brian Jagde as Mario American soprano Lisette Oropesa . Cavaradossi, and the great Welsh baritone Winner of the prestigious 2019 Richard Bryn Terfel as Baron Scarpia. The con - Tucker Award, Oropesa was recently ductor is Sir Antonio Pappano , and the singled out for her dazzling portrayal of staging is directed by Jonathan Kent with set designs by Paul Massenet’s Manon at the MET. Tenor Martin Mitterrutzner is Brown . Sung in Italian with English surtitles. her lover Bel monte and bass Ante Jer kunica her ‘buffo’ admi rer Osmin. The second pair of lovers will be sung by Tuuli Takkala Midday on Thursday, July 16th, we will transfer by private bus to as Blonde and Kristian Adam as Ped rillo. The conductor is the Glyndebourne Festival , located near Brighton on the Nicholas Carter , and the set designer is Vicki Mortimer . Sung southern coast of England. Glyndebourne is the private estate of in German with English surtitles. (We will return to London the Christie family, where the intimate opera house is sur - shortly after midnight.) rounded by glorious gardens and rolling sheep meadows. The tea halls are open prior to the performance, and dinner is served Friday morning, July 17th, during the long interval. The largely wooden structure of the we have planned a leis - new theatre (opened in 1994) captures the atmosphere of an Eliz - urely 2-hour Walking Tour abethan theatre and preserves a warm, intimate atmosphere with beginning at 10:30 am. The exceptional acoustics. During the long second interval at Glynde - area around the Club and bourne, we will enjoy the dinner buffet served in the Nether St. James’s Square is rich Wallop adjacent to the opera house. with British history, dating back to the 17th century Our opera at Glyndebourne will be a development of London’s revival of Sir David McVicar ’s “visually West End. Norfolk House stylish, superbly acted” 2015 production in the Square was owned of The Abduction from the Seraglio . by the Astor family and was the headquarters for Eisenhower’s Allied Com - mand during World War II. Lisette Oropesa Near by is St. James’s St. James’s Palace Church, Piccadilly designed by Christ - opher Wren in 1684. Our stroll will con - tinue along the var - ied luxury shops along Jermyn Street and will pass by the old-world Gentlemen’s Glyndebourne Jermyn Street 30 Carlo . This will be the four-act Italian version, in “ Nicholas Hyt - ner ’s atmospheric Royal Opera production with spectacular sets and lavish costumes by Bob Crowley ” (ROH) . ‘Don Carlo’ unfolds in a series of brilliant confrontational scenes following the libretto taken from Schiller’s play set in 16th century Spain. By any measure, this ranks as one of Verdi’s supreme works and a pinnacle of the entire operatic repertoire, with soaring arias for each of the conflicted principals. The stellar cast is headed by the Abkhazian-Russian soprano Hibla Gerzmava as Queen Eliza - betta, Rumanian mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose as Princess Eboli, American tenor Michael Fabiano as Carlo, Placido Domingo as Rodrigo, Italian bass Ferruccio Furlanetto as King St. James’s Park Philip II, and Ukrainian bass Taras Shtonda as the Grand Clubs (White’s, Boodle’s and Brooks’s) on St. James’s Street Inquisitor. The conductor is Richard Farnes . Sung in Italian before ending at St. James’s Palace , opened in 1536 and a fine with English surtitles. example of Tudor style. Following ‘Don Carlo’, it would be an anticlimax to stay through At 7:30 pm on Friday Monday when most performing venues are dark. Departure from evening, we will return London’s Heathrow Airport on Monday, July 20th at 2:00 pm on to Covent Garden for American Airlines flight the Royal Opera ’s pro - #105, arriving at New duction of Puccini’s York’s Kennedy Airport Madama Butterfly . at 5:20 pm. Or indepen - This promises to be a dent departure. memorable evening, with Sir Antonio Pap - Ermonela Jaho Gerald Finley Royal Opera House, pano conducting and Covent Garden with the Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho repris - ing her heart-breaking portrayal of Cio-Cio-San. She has made this role her own throughout Europe and at the MET, offering a fragile, sensi - tive characterization fully capable of rising to the heights of ‘Un bel di’ and Butterfly’s final death scene. The superlative ensemble includes Eliza - beth DeShong as Suzuki, Marcelo Puente as Pinkerton, and Gerald Finley as Sharpless. The direction is by Moshe Leiser/Patrice Caurier , Placido Domingo Michael Fabiano and the scenery is by Christian Fenouillat . “This beautiful Royal Opera production has striking imagery throughout – inspired by 19th century European views of the Orient – to complement the alluring score.” (ROH). Sung in Ital - ian with English surtitles. Saturday, July 18th, if left free for independent activities. West End theatres will be offering matinees and evening perfor - mances, and the Club’s con - cierge desk will be happy to assist you with tickets. Both the Royal Academy and the Nati onal Gallery are within a London & Glyndebourne 10 – 15 minute walk. On Sunday, July 19th, lunch Price per person, based on double occupancy $ 6,950* will be included prior to our Single room supplement $ 750 afternoon opera. Arrange - ments will be made at the Club * Our price reflects the trio of expensive Covent Garden tickets or at one of the many restau - and a substantial contribution to the Glyndebourne Festival. rants/cafés in the Covent Gar - den area. Air fare NOT included.