IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF BEETHOVEN BONN, DRESDEN, PRAGUE, VIENNA SEPTEMBER 6-20, 2021 TOUR LEADER: ROYNA MCNAMARA PRELIMINARY ITINERARY IN THE FOOTSTEPS Overview OF BEETHOVEN BONN, DRESDEN, PRAGUE, VIENNA Academy Travel is delighted to offer this tour “In the Footsteps of Beethoven.” Join us as we travel from Bonn to Dresden, Leipzig, Prague Tour dates: September 6-20, 2021 and Vienna, celebrating the life and music of this extraordinary composer. The touring program includes nine performances, and allows you to Tour leader: Royna McNamara immerse yourself in the cultural, artistic and musical world of each city. Tour Price: $10,190 per person, twin share The musical journey begins with the Beethoven Festival in Bonn. We continue to Dresden to enjoy world class opera performances. In Prague, Single Supplement: $1,800 for sole use of we attend the annual Dvorak Festival, which attracts performers from double room around the world. Vienna was the centre of one of Europe’s great empires and has an extraordinary cultural legacy, from the music of Mozart, Haydn Booking deposit: $3,000 per person and Beethoven, to the psychology of Freud and the art and architecture of Gustav Klimt and Otto Wagner. While there has always been great wealth for the cultural traveller in Vienna, the city will be alive with performances Recommended airline: Emirates and exhibitions honouring Beethoven’s outstanding musical legacy. Maximum places: 20 The itinerary features performances of opera and orchestral music in some of Europe’s leading music venues, such as the Vienna Staatsoper and Itinerary: Bonn (3 nights), Dresden (4 nights), Prague’s Rudolfinium The music of Beethoven forms the basis of the nine Prague (3 nights), Vienna (4 nights) scheduled performances we will attend and, although Beethoven is the inspiration for our tour, the musical palette is of broad appeal to those with Date published: July 21, 2020 a love of classical music from all periods. Centrally located four- and five-star hotels have been carefully selected for this tour. Best-available seating for performances, pre-performance talks, walking tours, excellent cuisine and, museum visits are all included. Like all Academy Travel tours, there will be a maximum of 20 people in our party. Your tour leader Royna McNamara is a musician, educator & conductor. She has a passion for travel and has spent extended periods of time working and travelling in Spain and Italy. Royna holds a B Mus Ed from the Conservatorium of Music, and a Masters of Education from the University of Sydney, where she was awarded a scholarship to study Music Performance Practices. For twenty years, Royna was Director of Music at Abbotsleigh and continues to use her expertise in Music Education for the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) and the NSW Association of Independent Schools, where she is currently the Convenor for Music Professional Learning. She has also worked as a session lecturer in Music at UNSW and the University of Sydney. Enquiries Royna also completed a conducting course with Jerry Nowak, where she and bookings expanded her repertoire by conducting school and semi-professional ensembles. She has conducted numerous concerti with some of Sydney’s For further information and to leading musicians, including Clemens Leske, Joshua Tsai and Simon secure a place on this tour Tedeschi. please contact Hannah Kleboe at Academy Travel on 9235 0023 or 1800 639 699 (outside Sydney) or email [email protected]. au PERFORMANCE PROGRAM Best available tickets to nine outstanding orchestral and opera performances are included. Final program details for all performances will be confirmed by April 2021. Bonn, Beethoven Festival Two orchestral performances: one piano concert and one symphony Dresden Two operas in the Semperoper, announced April 2021 A concert in the Kulturpalast, announced April 2021 Prague, Dvorák Festival Two concerts in the splendid Dvorák Hall, Rudolfinum Vienna An opera at the Vienna State Opera A concert at either the Golden Hall of the Musikverein or the Konzerthaus Above: Dvořák Hall, home of the Czech Philharmonic Above: the Vienna State Opera Detailed itinerary Included meals are shown with the symbols B, L and D. Tour start & finish time The tour begins at 6.00pm on Monday 6 September, in the Hilton Hotel, Bonn. The tour ends after breakfast on Monday 20 September, in the Hotel Intercontinental, Vienna. Monday 6 September Arrival Bonn This evening we meet in the hotel at 6pm, where we enjoy early drinks at canapés with your tour leader Royna McNamara. Overnight Bonn (C) Tuesday 7 September Beethoven in Bonn – Performance I Bonn is synonymous with Beethoven and the Beethoven House Museum has become a place of pilgrimage for music lovers across the globe. The museum houses the largest Beethoven collection in the world and was recently reopened in 2019 to Above: a large bronze statue of Ludwig van Beethoven that stands showcase its wonderful collection in time for 250th anniversary on the Münsterplatz in Bonn, Beethoven's birthplace of the composer’s death. After a pre-performance talk and our visit to the Beethoven Museum, we take a guided walking tour Below: Cologne Cathedral across the Rhine of Bonn, including Bonn Minster, the University and the Altes Rathaus, another of the city’s architectural jewels on the Bonn Marktplatz. At the conclusion of the guided tour, we enjoy a welcome lunch in a local restaurant. We return to the hotel for time at leisure before our evening concert. Overnight Bonn (B, L) Performance details Venue: To be announced Program: To be announced Performers: To be announced Wednesday 8 September Cologne – Performance II Beethoven’s first know public performance was held in Cologne. He was just seven years old, with his father advertising him as a six-year-old to draw comparison to child prodigy Mozart. This morning we explore the city’s heritage on our walking tour, including the spectacular Cathedral which houses priceless works of art, including the 12th-century Reliquary of the Magi by Nicholas of Verdun and stained-glass windows designed by Gerhard Richter. After a break for lunch, we visit the world-class Museum Ludwig, which has the third largest collection of paintings by Picasso in the world, the largest collection of Russian modernism outside of Russia, and an excellent collection of contemporary European art. We return to Bonn in the afternoon before our evening performance. Overnight Bonn (B) Performance details Venue: To be announced Program: To be announced Performers: To be announced Thursday 9 September FALKENLUST Hunting Lodge This morning we travel to the Falkenlust Hunting Lodge. Falkenlust is a small gem, whose somewhat severe classical exterior belies an exuberant Rococo interior. Its perfectly preserved rooms are lavishly appointed, with the sumptuously fashioned cabinets already admired by the young Mozart in 1763, who made note of the mirrored chamber in his diary. After our visit, we transfer to Dusseldorf Airport where we board our flight for Dresden. This evening we enjoy dinner in a local restaurant. Overnight Dresden (B, D) Friday 10 September Dresden History and Architecture – Performance III Above: the lavish mirrored chamber inside Falkenlust Hunting Lodge, Dresden boasts an astonishing musical history, stretching back in Brühl to Heinrich Shűtz, Weber and Wagner, offering one of the richest classical music landscapes in all of Germany. After our Below: the Frauenkirche, Church of Our Lady, is a Lutheran church talk in the hotel, we take a guided tour of Dresden’s Old Town, with a tradition of spiritual music on Sundays ending at the historic Grünes Gewölbe (Green Vault). Housing one of the world’s finest collections of treasures in Europe and, in keeping with the splendid Baroque architecture the Grünes Gewölbe displays some 3000 free-standing objects in rooms devoted to specific materials such as ivory and amber, and suites of gems classified by colour. After lunch you may wish to visit the Neues Grünes Gewölbe (New Green Vault), displaying individual exhibits with cutting-edge presentation. This evening we attend a performance. Overnight, Dresden. (B) Performance details Venue: To be announced Program: To be announced Performers: To be announced Saturday 11 September Leipzig – Performance IV Our tour of Leipzig today explores the cities exceptional musical heritage, from JS Bach, to Mendelsohn, who founded, the Leipzig Conservatorium, Wagner, Robert and Clara Schumann, Gustav Mahler, Hanns Eisler and Edvard Grieg. Following the tour, we enjoy lunch in the Auerbachs Keller, a historic restaurant, in the heart of Leipzig's Old Town, which was immortalised in a scene from Goethe’s Faust. Goethe’s writing inspired Beethoven not only by virtue of the content, but also by the rhythm of the language and, during 1809 and 1810, Beethoven composed both the overture and the incidental music to Goethe’s play Egmont. After lunch, we return to Dresden with time to relax before an evening concert. Overnight Dresden (B, L) Performance details Venue: Kulturpalast, Dresden or Semperoper Program: To be announced Performers: To be announced Sunday 12 September Dresden Fine Art – Performance V After breakfast, we enjoy a guided visit of the Dresden Semperoper and a visit to the superb Gallery of Old Masters. The Electors and Kings of Saxony amassed a breathtaking collection of masterpieces including works by Raphael, Giorgione, Titian, Van Eyck, Rubens, Rembrandt, and Vermeer. It is therefore not surprising that in 1768, Wolfgang von Goethe said: ‘I entered this shrine, and my amazement exceeded any preconceived idea!’. Tonight, we enjoy a performance together. Overnight Dresden (B) Performance details Venue: Kulturpalast, Dresden or Semperoper Program: To be announced Above: Dresden’s grand Semperoper Performers: To be announced Below: the bust of Richard Wagner stands in front of the new Wagner Museum in the renovated hunting lodge in Graupa Monday 13 September Wagner Museum Today we depart Dresden and travel by private coach to Prague.