Classical Music Holidays
Classical Music Holidays - Escorted Tours & Independent Opera Breaks.
escape2luxury are able to offer both escorted tours and independent itineraries for people to experience Opera in some of the finest cities in the world. Our programme includes tours to leading music festivals and opportunities to visit Europe's most magnificent opera houses. We can create a holiday for you, incorporating no-frills flights from your local airport, transfer and accommodation and top class category seats to the opera of your choice.
Please call on 01481 244 243, or complete our enquiry page - one of our travel consultants will be happy to assist you.
INDEPENDENT OPERA HOLIDAYS
If you would like to visit any of Europe’s leading opera houses and prefer to travel independently, we can obtain tickets for virtually any opera in any city. You will find a selection of our most popular opera destinations below together with our escape2luxury recommended hotels.
Milan
The very words La Scala immediately create an exciting image of glamour and drama - they represent the Holy Grail of Italian Opera. Renowned for its beauty, history, high musical standards and real life dramas, everyone who has even a passing interest in the art form must visit La Scala. The repertoire includes classic Italian operas by Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi and Puccini as well as bel-canto gems hardly every performed.
The Principe de Savoia Hotel - This landmark building is located on the Piazza della Repubblica and is one of the city’s top traditional luxury hotels. Elegant public rooms include the Galleria’s restaurant, the Café Doney and the atmospheric Jardin d’Hiver bar. The 404 bedrooms are decorated in 19th century Lombard style and there is a health spa on the top floor with an indoor pool. Three night price including flights, transfers, three nights accommodation with breakfast and one stalls ticket for a performance at La Scala from £1324.
Verona
During the summer months, the vast Arena de Verona welcomes hundreds of thousands of people for the annual Opera Festival. There is really nowhere quite like it, a heady combination of spectacle, anticipation, colour and music. Different operas are performed each season but Verdi’s Aida is always in the programme, the sheer scale of the performing space being perfect for this most spectacular of all grand opera.
The Accademia Hotel - Located in a 17th century building facing the pedestrian via Mazzini, a few minutes walk from the Arena. Pleasantly furnished throughout, the hotel combines modern furnishings in the 91 bedrooms with antique furniture and tapestries in the public areas. There is an elegant lounge, a bar and a good restaurant. Three night price including flights, transfers, three nights accommodation with breakfast and one stalls ticket for a performance at the festival from £865.
Berlin
Berlin is one of the greatest cultural cities in the world and has no less than three major opera houses; the great Daniel Barenboim presides over the Staatsoper on Unter den Linden - this is the capital’s original and most historic house. At the Deutsche Oper an enormous number of operas are presented each season and at the Komische Opera, visitors can see modern and thought provoking productions from all periods.
Brandenburger Hof is a Member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World and occupies a palatial turn of the century Wilhelminian residence just a five minute walk from the Kurfurstendamm. This is a very attractive, privately owned hotel with 72 luxuriously appointed rooms in the Bauhaus style. Innovative French dishes are served in Die Quadriga gastronomic Michelin-starred restaurant. Three night price including flights, transfers, three nights accommodation with breakfast and one stalls ticket for a performance at the Staatsoper from £845.
Vienna
Vienna offers rich rewards to anyone with an interest in the arts. The Old Master collection at the Kunsthistorishes Museum, the Leopold Museum, the recently opened Liechtenstein Palais with its Baroque collection are all superb. Add to this the splendour of the Hapsburg palaces, the Hofburg and Schonbrunn and the impressive selection of opera performances at the wonderful Vienna State Opera.
Sacher Hotel - Privately owned, this wonderful hotel is located opposite the Opera House in the heart of the old city. Opened in 1876, it is luxurious and is decorated in the grand style with a wealth of splendid antiques and over 1000 original paintings, making it the largest private picture gallery in Austrla. There are 108 beautifully furnished rooms and a brand new spa. Three night price including flights, three nights accommodation with breakfast and one stalls ticket for an opera performance from £995.
Prague
Built on a stately bend of the River Vltava, Prague creates one of Europe’s most harmonious and beautiful cityscapes. It has three first rate Opera Houses, the ornate and stately National Theatre which places emphasis on works by native Czech composers, the more intimate State Theatre and the historic Estates Theatre where the premiere of Mozart’s Don Giovanni was given.
Aria Hotel - This wonderful boutique hotel lies in the city’s atmospheric Mala Strana district. It overlooks the beautiful Vrtbovska Gardens and is just two minutes walk from Charles Bridge. The Aria is a celebration of music and this theme resonates throughout the hotel with each floor dedicated to either jazz, opera, classical or contemporary music and each room dedicated to a particular artist or composer. The hotel has a music library where a Musical Director is on hand to assist guests with their choice from over 1000 books, 2000 cds, 500 dvds. Three night price including flights, transfers, three nights accommodation with breakfast and one stalls ticket for an opera performance from £815.
Zurich
Under the direction of Franz Welser-Most, the Zurich Opera is now universally recognised as one of the world’s most important houses. Its added charm is that, despite its importance in the opera world, it is small and intimate. Many of the top artists sing roles that they might not attempt elsewhere and this makes for exciting programming each season.
Accademia Hotel - This stylish boutique hotel is located a few steps from the Opera House, the lake and the city’s best shopping street. It is family run and has a great reputation for high levels of personal service and an atmosphere of tranquillity. The hotel’s award winning fish restaurant serves exquisite dishes and is the perfect spot for a post opera dinner. Three night price including flights, transfers, three nights accommodation with breakfast and one stalls ticket for an opera performance from £887.
Please contact us to discuss your requirements…
Escorted Tours to Europe's Leading Music Festivals
The Schubertiade Music Festival, 20-26 June and 3-10 September 2010
The Schubertiade is considered by many to be the most important chamber music festival in the world, with an astonishing number of distinguished musicians gathering in the this beautiful setting in the Voralberg Mountains every summer. The Festival is an annual fixture in the diaries of music lovers from around the world. Accommodation is at the 4* Hotel Krone and excursions will include a tour to the lakeside resort of Lindau and a tour through the stunning scenery of the Bregenzerwald which will include a wine and cheese tasting.
- Return scheduled flights
- 6 or 7 nights accommodation with breakfast and dinner
- Excursions as described above
- Concert tickets
- Services of a tour leader
- A week’s pass valid for travel on all local buses
- From £1763 per person
The Metropolitan Opera New York City, 20-26 February & 18-24 April 2010, with Barry Cheeseman
Under the direction of Peter Gelb, the Metropolitan Opera is embarking on a new golden age with the world’s finest singers flocking to New York every season to perform on its distinguished stage. We have selected two wonderful periods for our two tours in February and April 2010. The high definition live broadcasts from the stage of the Met to cinemas around the world have brought new audiences to its productions but nothing, of course, can compare with the real thing. Three performances together with visits to the city’s major museums and galleries combine to create a perfect cultural experience.
- Return scheduled flights from London to New York
- 5 nights accommodation on a room only basis at the Affina 50 on East 50th Street
- Three tickets for the Metropolitan Opera (2nd category stalls – all seats have uninterrupted views of the stage)
- Two dinners (one at a local restaurant and one at the Met’s Grand Tier restaurant)
- All entrance fees and gratuities
- The services of tour leader
- From £1895.00 per person
Celebrating Frederic Chopin’s Bicentenary in Warsaw
24 February – 2 March 2010 with Professor Andrew Ball, Pianist and former Head of Keyboard at the Royal College of Music
25 – 31 August 2010 with Andrew Biggs, Pianist
Frederic Chopin was born in Zelazowa on 1 March 1810 and throughout 2010 the musical world will be celebrating Chopin’s works with the grandest and most expensive celebrations taking place in his native Poland. The world’s leading pianists will play in Warsaw at a splendid series of Anniversary Concerts in February and in the Chopin & His Europe Festival in August.
- Return scheduled flights to Warsaw
- 6 nights accommodation & breakfast at the 4 star deluxe Hotel Le Regina in Warsaw
- 2 dinners and 2 lunches
- Tickets for all the concerts, as itinerary
- All entrance fees and gratuities
- First class return rail travel between Warsaw & Krakow
- The services of a tour lecturer and a local guide
- From £1766.00 per person
Wagner’s Ring Cycle in Budapest, 8 – 14 June 2010, a six night holiday with Declan Hamilton
Hungarian conductor, Adam Fischer with the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra will once again perform Wagner’s epic Ring Cycle over four consecutive evenings in the stunning 1800 seat Palace of Arts on the banks of the Danube. Opportunities to see the Ring over such a short period are rare and almost everyone who has enjoyed this intense experience is of the opinion that it brings greater dramatic tension. The Budapest Ring is presented as a staged production on the concert platform and combines the use of puppets, dancers and original lighting techniques to great dramatic effect. Declan Hamilton trained as a singer at the Royal Welsh College of Music and worked at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden.
- Return scheduled flights to Budapest
- 6 nights accommodation in the 4 star K&K Opera Hotel
- 1 lunch and 5 dinners (pre-opera dinners will be taken in the restaurant at the concert hall)
- All entrance fees and gratuities
- First category tickets for all four performances of The Ring
- The services of a tour lecturer and a local guide
- From £1628.00 per person
The 11th Sibelius Festival, Finland
8 – 12 September 2010, a 6 nights holiday with Susan Sharpe
Jean Sibelius (1863-1957) is an icon in Finland, a man not only hailed as the nation’s most famous composer but also for his crucial role in achieving Finland’s independence from Russia. His most famous piece ‘Finlandia’ set the nationalist movement aflame, inspiring the Finns in their quest for freedom. The Festival is held in the splendid lakeside concert hall in Lahti. All the concerts will be given by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste. As well as enjoying three concerts, there will be a programme of excursions following the life of Sibelius from his birthplace to his grave at Ainola.
- Return scheduled flights to Helsinki
- 4 nights accommodation with breakfast on a 4 star hotel
- First category tickets for three performances
- All sightseeing, as itinerary
- 4 dinners and 3 lunches
- The services of a tour leader
- From £1392.00 per person
Please contact us for further information, prices and availability.
