ARIAS ON THE HIGH SEAS Two Unique Cruises for Opera Lovers Schubert & Schumann: Piano & Lieder in Japan Aboard Le Soléal ■ May 15-25, 2019 Opera in the Eastern Mediterranean Aboard Le Bougainville ■ November 13-29, 2019 Korakuen Garden, Okayama, Japan ARIAS ON THE HIGH SEAS Two Unique Cruises for Opera Lovers Schubert & Schumann: Piano & Lieder in Japan Aboard Le Soléal ■ May 15-25, 2019 Dear Traveler, The Metropolitan Opera Guild is delighted to announce the 2019 offerings for our Members Travel Program. Opera in the Eastern Mediterranean This year, we journey beyond the Mediterranean, exploring the history and cultures of two ancient worlds, on Aboard Le Bougainville ■ November 13-29, 2019 two very special cruises—one along the southern shores of Japan, from Maizuru to Osaka in the spring; the other tracing the footsteps of ancient history through Greece, Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan in November. Both voyages feature intimate musical programs performed exclusively for our guests, paired with excursions to iconic destinations ashore. Piano & Lieder in Japan will examine the rich array of Eastern tradition while immersing our travelers in the sublime music of Shubert and Schumann; while on Opera in the Eastern Mediterranean, we join the renowned bass-bartione José van Dam on the brand new small ship Le Bougainville, and enjoy one of our opera recitals in front of the ancient library at Ephesus. Friends of the Metropolitan Opera Guild will comprise a small and congenial group aboard these cruises— all of our shore arrangements are private, and we will enjoy our own seating in the ship’s dining room. The remaining travelers onboard will include both international opera enthusiasts and members from other leading cultural institutions. The quality and variety of sites to be visited along these historic shores make each of these itineraries truly one-of-a-kind. We hope you will join our fellow opera lovers for an unparalleled artistic voyage you won’t soon forget! Sincerely, Richard J. Miller, Jr. President, The Metropolitan Opera Guild Back cover: Hiroshima, Japan (left); Patmos, Greece (center); Luxor, Egypt (right) Guest Performing Artists Schubert & Schumann: Piano & Lieder in Japan Opera in the Eastern Mediterranean May 15-25, 2019 aboard Le Soléal November 13-29, 2019 aboard Le Bougainville A Masters graduate in Musicology from the A Brussels native, bass barito ne JOSÉ VAN DAM Sorbonne, Soprano DELPHINE HAIDAN trained is one of today’s leading opera performers. Since at the Paris National Opera’s school. She has his debut in Paris, in Les Troyens, he has been the performed in productions such as Les contes regular guest at the world’s most important opera d’Hoffmann (the Muse Nicklausse) in Paris and houses and festivals (the Metropolitan Opera, Zurich, La damnation de Faust (Marguerite) in Moscow, and more Paris, Covent Garden, La Scala of Milan, Wiener Staatsoper, etc.). recently L’Enfant et les sortilèges (Cat and Squirrel) at La Scala. Her His most famous roles include Falstaff, Simon Boccanegra, Philip career has taken her international, including the Konzerthaus in II (Don Carlos), Don Giovanni, and many others. Van Dam also Vienna and London’s Royal Albert Hall. developed a career in the oratorio and lied fields; his repertoire is just as wide. He received the rank of Knight in the order of the Pianist MAURIZIO BAGLINI boasts a brilliant Legion of Honor, and in 1998 was ennobled by King Albert II. career as soloist, chamber player, music teacher and artistic director. As soloist he performs on ISABELLE KABATU, Belgian soprano of African international stages such as the Accademia origins, won first prize at the prestigious Viotti Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Teatro alla Scala competition in Varallo, Italy, in 1994. In the same of Milan, the Kennedy Center of Performing Arts, and is guest year, she made her career debut in the title role of of prestigious festivals including Yokohama Piano Festival and La Traviata in Lisbon. Her repertoire covers Italian, Australian Chamber Music Festival. Maurizio’s record production German, and French operas. Isabelle has taken on dramatic includes works by Schumann, Liszt, Brahms, Schubert, roles with Norma, Abigaïlle (Nabucco), Lady Macbeth, Gioconda, Domenico Scarlatti, and Mussorgsky. Didon (The Trojans) and Brünnhilde in Wagner’s Ring Cycle. GENEVIÈVE LAURENCEAU began playing violin Baritone LIONEL LHOTE graduated from Brussels’ at the age of three. After several international Conservatoire Royal de Musique. His career successes, she was invited to perform as a soloist started at Opéra Royal de Wallonie, and since with major international orchestras under the his international breakthrough, he has appeared direction of conductors such as Michel Plasson. as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Faninal in From 2007 until 2017, Geneviève was first violin and super soloist Rosenkavalier, Don Alfonso in Nozze di Figaro, and many others. with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. In 2009, He distinguished himself in the role of Somarone in two different she founded the “Festival de Musique d’Obernai” of which she is productions of Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédictone. artistic director. Pianist ANTOINE PALLOC has worked with singers Clarinetist PIERRE GÉNISSON is one of the such as Béatrice Uria-Monzon and Frederica von leading wind instrumentalists of his generation. Stade. Recent engagements have taken him to At the age of 21, he was appointed principal San Francisco, Berlin, Nice, Toulouse, Strasbourg, clarinet of the Orchestre Symphonique de Rio, as well as Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, and Bretagne. He has regularly performed as a guest the Kennedy Center. soloist with major European and international orchestras. Belgian tenor MARC LAHO studied voice and Pierre splits his time between France and the U.S., performing trumpet at Académie Royale de Beaux-Arts in as a soloist in New York, Los Angeles, Austin, San Francisco, Liège. He made his debut at Opéra de Monte Carlo Philadelphia, and Seattle. in the role of the Officer inJ . Massenet Thérese. Cellist SILVIA CHIESA boasts a brilliant solo His repertoire includes the roles of Don Ottavio in career, touring regularly in Europe, China, the Don Giovanni, Fernando in Donizetti La Favorita, and Nemorino U.S., Australia, and Russia. In 2005 she founded in L’elisir d’amore. Recently he has been heard in The Damnation a Duo with pianist Maurizio Baglini, which has of Faust at Bolshoi Moscow and at the Colmar Festival. been applauded on international stages such STEFANO MAZZONIS DI PRALAFERA, director of the Royal Opera as Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Salle Gaveau of Wallonia, will join our performers onboard for lectuers and in Paris, and Oriental Art Center in Shanghai. She is artist in discussion. residence for the Amiata Piano Festival. Schubert & Schumann: Piano & Lieder in Japan aboard Le Soléal Opera in the Eastern Mediterranean aboard Le Bougainville Tuesday, May 21 GREECE KAGOSHIMA | CHIRAN | KAGOSHIMA ATHENS TURKEY Drive through picturesque tea plantations to Nafplion Kusadasi Sea of Japan reach Chiran, a small town that is renowned Patmos Rhodes for its collection of samurai houses. Several of JAPAN SOUTH the residences are still being used by samurai KOREA Sakaiminato MAIZURU descendants. The gardens display a unique Mediterranean Sea Busan Tamano th th Hiroshima OSAKA style and date from the 18 -19 century. (B,L,D) Wednesday, May 22 JORDAN Uwajima Suez Canal AQABA Nagasaki UWAJIMA | UCHIKO EGYPT Pacific Ocean Uchiko’s picturesque old street of Yokaichi is Kagoshima lined with old buildings dating from the last Safaga Luxor years of the Edo period and the early years following the Meiji Restoration. Walk past Itinerary the old sake brewery, the Amazake Chaya Itinerary Wednesday, May 15, 2019 Teahouse, the Uchiko-za Theater and the Kami Wednesday, November 13, 2019 FLY FROM THE USA Hagi-tei, the former home and workshop of one FLY FROM THE USA of Uchiko’s most influential families. (B,L,D) Thursday, May 16 Thursday, November 14 OSAKA, JAPAN Thursday, May 23 ATHENS, GREECE Arrive in Osaka and transfer to the Imperial HIROSHIMA | ITSUKUSHIMA SHRINE Arrive in Athens and transfer to the Hotel Hotel. In the evening gather with fellow travelers Visit Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park and Grande Bretagne. Join fellow travelers for a for a welcome dinner. (D) Museum and the Atomic Bomb Dome. In festive welcome reception in the hotel. (R) the afternoon, our excursion takes us to the Friday, May 17 Itsukushima Shrine, a holy place of Shintoism Friday, November 15 OSAKA | MAIZURU | EMBARK since the earliest times. These structures ATHENS | PIRAEUS | EMBARK Join an excursion that includes Osaka Castle provide an exquisite example of the Japanese Explore the stunning architectural marvel of the and Shitennoji Temple, one of Japan’s oldest habit of turning art to worship. Itsukushima’s Parthenon, built in the 5th-century b.c. We also temples. After lunch at a local restaurant, balance of the sea, the buildings, and the forest tour the Acropolis Museum, an award-winning transfer to Maizuru to embark Le Soléal. (B,L,D) on Mt. Misen are recognized as the standard of collection of artefacts from excavations of the Acropolis. In the afternoon, view the Olympia Saturday, May 18 beauty in this tradition. (B,L,D) Theater where Maria Callas made her debut SAKAIMINATO | MATSUE CASTLE | SAKAIMINATO Friday, May 24 and the new Stavros Niarchos Foundation Made entirely out of pine, Matsue Castle was TAMANO | OKAYAMA | KURASHIKI | TAMANO Cultural Center, designed by Renzo Piano, built in 1611, and, with a partial reconstruction Our first stop in Okayama is the Korakuen before embarking Le Bougainville. (B,D) in 1692, never having been ransacked or burned, Garden, considered one of the three best remains as it was in the 17th century. Explore the landscape gardens in Japan. With an area of Saturday, November 16 five-story façade, which offers views of the city, 133,000 square miles, the garden was built in NAFPLION Lake Shinji, and the distant mountains.