LONDON : C OVENT GARDEN HIGHLIGHTS Royal Opera & Ballet, English National Opera, Wigmore Hall Thursday, April 4th through Friday, April 12th The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden with Floral Hall Jonas Kaufmann: “As Don Alvaro, he was over - ing Erwin Schrott as Mephistopheles, Michael whelming. At full voice, he is without rival… His tone is Fabiano as Faust, and Diana Damrau as Margeu - luscious and thrilling.” rite. A third evening in London’s most prestigious the - Opera News, review of ‘Forza del Destino’ atre will be the celebrated Kenneth MacMillan pro - duction of Romeo and Juliet , one of the most beauti - Anna Netrebko: “An instrument of great beauty and ful ballets in the entire repertoire, set to Sergei Prokofiev’s rapturous score. an actress who can command the stage. Here is an artist who is willing to explore.” At the esteemed English National Opera , we will www.npr.org, review of ‘Verdi’ CD enjoy Mozart’s multi-layered German Singspiel, The Anna Netrebko Magic Flute . To hear the familiar arias and the spo - or our overdue return to London’s vibrant musi - ken dialogue in English will enhance our understand - cal life, we have chosen a week during the early ing of the spiritual elements of Emanuel Schikan - spring weather of April instead of the busy sum - eder’s libretto. mer season when the crush of tourists can over - F whelm the city. With three evenings at Covent We also plan to attend a midday Chamber Con - Garden (two operas and a ballet), one at the English cert/Recital in the intimate ambience of London’s National Opera (ENO) , and a midday chamber con - Wigmore Hall . We are always gratified whenever our cert at Wigmore Hall , our program promises to offer schedule enables us to include a Wigmore Hall expe - an exciting variety of London’s superlative classical rience. On one of our evenings, we will enjoy a West performances. (Our hotel is within comfortable walk - End play to be chosen from the many new offerings ing distance of Covent Garden and the ENO.) Jonas Kaufmann to be announced in the fall. (Program TBA for Wig - more Hall and West End play.) We have planned our week around one of the hottest tickets of the entire European season – the joint Thursday, April 4th, departure from New York’s appearance of Anna Netrebko opposite Jonas Kauf - Kennedy Airport at 6:30 pm on British Airways flight mann in Verdi’s ‘middle period’ masterwork, La #112, arriving at London’s Heathrow Airport at 6:30 Forza del Destino , with Music Director Antonio am on the morning of the 5th. Or independent travel Pappano conducting. (We have been able to secure a to London. limited number of Premium-priced orchestra tickets for one of the very few dates when Netrebko and Kaufmann Accommodations for seven nights with full English are singing together.) Our second opera will be Antonio Pappano. breakfast at the Strand Palace Hotel , which has Gounod’s melodic French landmark, Faust , featur - Music Director recently completed a major renovation. Imposingly 21 Saturday afternoon, April 6th (following a free morning to recover from jet lag), we look forward to the 3:00 pm matinee of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Magic Flute (premiered in 1792) in the English National Opera (ENO) at the London Coliseum . One of Mozart’s supreme late achievements, it is widely considered the finest example of German ‘Singspiel’ operas in the entire repertoire. The predominantly Franz Hals’ The Laughing British cast will feature the radiant soprano Cavalier, in the Wallace Lucy Crowe as Pamina opposite lyric tenor Collection Rupert Charlesworth as Tamino, baritone Thomas Oliemans as Papageno, coloratura soprano Julia Bauer as the Queen of the Night, and bass Brindley Sherratt The Wallace Collection, State Room as Sarastro. The conductor is Ben Gernon , and Simon McBur - situated on the expansive Strand, this major property is a ten- ney is responsible for the production. All performances at the minute walk from Covent Garden and the ENO. All of our rooms ENO are sung in English with English titles. are in the upgraded Superior category. On-site dining facilities include the Carvery& Grill for leisurely meals, the Gin Palace On Sunday, and Lounge Bar for cocktails and light food, and the Sacred Café April 7th, a for coffee/tea & sandwiches/salads. There is also an on-site fit - mor n ing ness gym. We have chosen the Strand Palace for its advantageous excur sion will location and for the relatively low Single Supplement. Most London take us to the hotels charge an exorbitant Single Supplement. Wallace Col - lection of Old IMPORTANT: There WILL be a performance on our first Masters and evening. If you are not already in Europe, you may wish to arrive decorative a day early to adjust to the time change. We will be happy to arts in Hert - reserve your room for the additional night of April 4th, but you ford House should notify us NOW if you do want the early night. on Manches - ter Square. Early Friday evening, April 5th, a reception with aperitifs and This imposing London Coliseum hors d’oeuvres will be arranged in a private entertainment late-l8th cen - suite of the hotel. This will be an opportunity to meet other mem - tury mansion contains a unique and bers of the Tour. priceless array of paintings and furnish - ings which was bequea thed to the British At 6:30 pm on Friday evening, we are among the fortunate ticket- Nation in 1897 by Lady Wallace. Among holders for the Royal Opera ’s production of Giuseppe Verdi’s the most promi nent works are Franz Lucy Crowe La Forza del Destino . Premiered in 1862 in St. Petersburg, Hals’ The Laughing Cavalier , Rem - ‘Forza’ ranks among the composer’s grandest and most demand - brandt’s Titus , Rubens’ The Rainbow , and ing scores, with two great tenor/baritone duets and fully- Fragonard’s The Swing . The furniture rounded characterizations for each of the principals. The tenor’s and porcelain include many fine French examples from the era of Louis XV. A Alvaro’s plangent ‘ Oh, tu che in seno agli angeli’, Carlo’s cantabile ‘Urna fatale’ and vengeance cabaletta, and Leonora’s complete renovation of the Wallace Col - final ‘Pace, pace, mio Dio!’ are vintage Verdi arias. Because of the lection and the House was completed casting challenges, it is far less often revived today than most of soon after the millennium, and it remains the Verdi canon. Under Covent Garden’s revered Music Director a jewel among London’s many great Brindley Sherratt Antonio Pappano , the sensational cast is headed by Russian museums. After leisure time on your diva Anna Netrebko as Leonora and German tenor Jonas own to visit the galleries, lunch is planned today in the Wallace Kaufmann as Don Alvaro (a role he has made Restaurant , a French-style brasserie in the his own in Munich). The brilliant international courtyard. ensemble will also include the French baritone Ludovic Tézier as Don Carlo, Italian mezzo- Monday, April 8th, is free during the day for you soprano Veronica Simeoni as Preziosilla, Italian to explore London independently. Of particular baritone Alessandro Corbelli as a ‘buffo’ Fra importance during your free time in the city are Melitone, and Italian bass Ferruccio Furlan - the National Gallery , with its priceless Sains - etto as Padre Guardiano. The co-production with bury Wing of Italian Renaissance masters; the the Dutch National Opera is new to London, Tate Gallery’s foremost collection of the British directed by Christof Loy with sets designed by school, especially Turner and Constable; and the Christian Schmidt . Sung in Italian with English Royal Academy on Piccadilly. Across the River titles. Thames not far from the Royal National Theatre Strand Palace Hotel complex is the Tate Modern , with an outstand - 22 ing café for neo-classical mansion designed by architect lunch or a Sir William Chambers in 1780. The Cour - break for cof fee tauld has an unusual gift shop and an attrac - or tea. Or you tive small café on the premises. may want to browse in the Late Thursday afternoon, a pre-opera stylish shops menu will be arranged at one of the restau - near Covent rants in the Covent Garden neighborhood. Gar den and Diana Damrau through out At 7:00 pm on Thursday evening, we will Mayfair. For return to Covent Garden for our final per - theatre enthu s - formance – the season premiere of Charles iasts, a number Gounod’s Faust . First performed in Paris in Wigmore Hall of nearby West 1859 and long admired as one of the world’s End theatres are within easy walking distance of our hotel . (Our masterful operas, Gounod’s setting of leisurely daytime schedule allows for plenty of free time to pursue Goethe’s German classic is filled with famil - your own inter ests in London.) iar arias, duets and choral ensembles. The final trio of Margeurite’s redemption and Erwin Schrott Monday evening, we will attend a West End play to be selected Faust’s capitulation to Mephistopheles’ bar - from the many new productions and revivals which justify Lon - gain for his soul is vintage French opera at don’s reputation as the leading theatre centre in the English- its best and never fails to ignite the audi - speaking world. ence. Tonight’s stellar international cast will include German soprano Diana Damrau Midday on Tuesday, April 9th, a concert of intimate Chamber at the peak of her versatile career as Music will take us to London’s Wigmore Hall , one of our Margeurite, the young American tenor favorite venues whenever our schedule fits with their imaginative Michael Fabiano in the title role, the programs.