From $17,995 AUD Single $18,995 AUD Twin share $17,995 AUD 23 days Duration British Isles, Europe Destination Level 1 - Introductory to Moderate Activity Theatre-Opera-Ballet and Classical Music Small group tours 29 Dec 19 to 20 Jan 20 Classical Music small group tours 2019/20 tour program will be published in September. A short version of this tour will also be available then. This is the 2018/19 program for illustrative purposes only The 16-Jan-2019 1/14
offered by Odyssey Travellers Australia is unique. This Theatre-Opera-Ballet and Classical Music Small group tour is a 23 day extravaganza across 5 leading European cities. We have chosen to use the high speed rail network once in Europe to travel around on, to reach each city centre. Each year Odyssey Travellers Australia seeks to put together the very best of the performing arts into one program to celebrate the start of the new year. Going into 2018/19 the program will not be any different. This year the tour spends 23 days in these 5 great locations. Hamburg (5 nights) including NYE Berlin (5 nights) Dresden (1 night) Paris (5 nights) London (6 nights) This tour from Odyssey Traveller Australia includes tickets to at least 11 performances during the 23 days as well as guided city tours to the main museums and art galleries in most locations. The group is limited to a maximum of 10 people. The following list is a sample of concerts, operas & performances that the group attends in each city. Hamburg, Where the group is based for NYE, enjoys a performance at the new Elbphilharmonie. Die Fledermaus is regarded as the music for an effervescent New Year s celebration! This year, the classic operetta about the 16-Jan-2019 2/14
champagne-fuelled festivities at Prinz Orlofsky s palace comes to the Elbphilharmonie for the first time. The NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra is conducted by Manfred Honeck A performance of Beethoven s 9th under the direction of Eivind Gullberg Jensen. Dresden We attend a performance of Cristopher Isherwood s Cabaret. Berlin Watch Rinaldo Alessandrini and his Italian Concerto perform the works of Claudio Monteverdi and of a number of rediscoveries of Italian composers of the 17th and 18th centuries. Paris Nadine Sierra sings soprano with Orchestra of the Limoges Opera. Robert Tuohy is the conductor. The American Nadine Sierra has everything required to be a great opera singer and proved recently that she was one of the most beautiful Gilda s of her generation. Pianist Yuja Wang joins Michael Tilson Thomas to bring to life three Romantic gems by Berlioz, Schumann, and Brahms. London Attend the Royal Opera House Covent Garden to see La traviata, Richard Eyre s stunning production of Verdi s best-loved opera returns with star sopranos Ermonela Jaho and Angel Blue as Violetta; the casts also includes Plácido Domingo and Charles Castronovo. We attend a concert of Brahms at the Barbican, conducted by Sir Mark Elder with the LSO. At London s South bank Festival hall the group attends a concert 16-Jan-2019 3/14
by the acclaimed Russian pianist Pavel Kolesnikov who plays pieces from Brahms, Tchaikovsky & Couperin. It is a great program of diversity that reflects the best of the performing arts in these cities attending some 12 concerts from late December to mid January. Odyssey Traveller Australia secures good to better than average seats on this program and will typically provides taxis back to the hotels after evening performances. These classical music small group tours travels mostly by high speed rail from Hamburg to Berlin to Dresden, return, then Berlin to Paris and Paris to London. The cost for this classical music small group tour of 23 days including at least 11 concerts is priced from AUD $16,995 per person for a twin share excluding international flights to and from Europe. For a single traveller the price $19,495, excluding flights. For more details about these classical music small group tours, click the Top 5 or Itinerary buttons above! If you re keen to experience this tour, please call or send an email. Or, to book, simply fill in the form on the right hand side of this page. Check out the blog post in which we profiled some new recently opened European concert halls here! This tour is featured as Winter Odyssey with a Twist in Odyssey Travellers Australia brochure. Tour Notes 16-Jan-2019 4/14
Once performances have been finalised the itinerary will be updated and forwarded to registered participants. Group size is limited to 10 participants. Top 5 1. Attend a performance at the new Concert hall in Hamburg. 2. Attend an opera the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. 3. Travel to Dresden to see Cristopher Isherwood's "Cabaret" at Semperoper. 4. Back stage tours of major theartes, including The National in London and the Paris Opera. 5. Visit major art museums in Berlin, Paris & London including current special exhibitions. Itinerary Day 1 Locations: Hamburg Overview: After arriving in Hamburg, make your own way to the hotel. In the evening we come together for a welcome dinner and program orientation. Accommodation: 5 nights at Steigenberger Hamburg Hotel, centrally located and close to the Elbphilharmonie. https://www.steigenberger.com/en/hotels/allhotels/germany/hamburg/steigenberger-hotel-hamburg Day 2 Locations: Hamburg Overview: Today, we start with a city tour in the morning of Hamburg, its history and place in German musical culture. This 16-Jan-2019 5/14
evening we are attending Die Fledermaus, regarded as the music for an effervescent New Year s celebration! This year, the classic operetta about the champagne-fuelled festivities at Prinz Orlofsky s palace comes to the Elbphilharmonie for the first time. The NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra is conducted by someone who knows Viennese operetta like the back of his hand: Manfred Honeck made his debut at Vienna s Volksoper with Die Fledermaus. Accommodation: Steigenberger Hamburg Hotel Day 3 Locations: Hamburg Overview: A late start day touring around Hamburg with local guides. Visiting museums galleries and relevant historic locations. Tonight we return to the Elbphilharmonie for Beethoven's 9th. At the turn of the year, there is truly joy: there is hardly another work that is more suitable for a successful start to the New Year than Beethoven's sparkling Ninth Symphony. It conveys in a psychological symphony journey "through night to the light" a valuable and deeply humanitarian message. A musical plea, together with the setting of Schiller's "Ode to Joy", which evokes with exuberant pathos the ideal of a society of equals. The Symphoniker Hamburg under the direction of Eivind Gullberg Jensen get support from a prominent soloist ensemble and a choir, which comes together especially for this project. Accommodation: Steigenberger Hamburg Hotel Day 4 Locations: Hamburg Overview: Today is a free day at your leisure. There is a group meal 16-Jan-2019 6/14
this evening. Accommodation: Steigenberger Hamburg Hotel Day 5 Locations: Hamburg Overview: Today we continue to explore with our guide the city of Hamburg. In the early evening we return for the third time to the Elbphilharmonie for Blechschaden: Regarded as Bavaria s best export product alongside beer and football club Bayern München. The 11 brass players and one percussionist originally hail from six different countries and also go by the Foreign Legion of the Munich Philharmonic. They are virtuoso musicians, who can deliver showpieces and are always ready for a lark. Blechschaden: a mix between Last Night of the Proms and Vienna New Year s Concert. Accommodation: Steigenberger Hamburg Hotel Day 6 Locations: Hamburg to Berlin Overview: We take a morning train to Berlin. The afternoon is free time with a group dinner scheduled this evening. A day touring around Berlin with local guides. Visiting museums galleries and relevant historic locations. Accommodation: 2 nights at Gat Point Charlie Hotel, a modern centrally located hotel, close to the opera house. https://hotelgatpointcharlie.com/en/hotel 16-Jan-2019 7/14
Day 7 Locations: Berlin Overview: We spend the day exploring Berlin. Tonight we enjoy a group dinner. Accommodation: Gat Point Charlie Hotel Day 8 Locations: Berlin to Dresden Overview: The group leaves Berlin morning for the short journey to Dresden where we take a guided tour followed by an early group meal allowing us time to prepare for tonight's performance. Tonight we will are fortunate to see Cabaret by Joe Masteroff on the piece "I'm a Camera" by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood Opera Semper Zwei in Dresden. Accommodation: 1 nights at Steigenberger Hotel de Saxe, located near the main square. https://www.steigenberger.com/en/hotels/allhotels/germany/dresden/steigenberger-hotel-de-saxe Day 9 Locations: Dresden to Berlin Overview: Today we return to Berlin by train in the morning. This afternoon we attend a performance by Rinaldo Alessandrini and his Italian Concerto who have won an international acclaim for their performances of the works of Claudio Monteverdi and of a number of rediscoveries of Italian composers of the 17th and 18th centuries. For their concert in Berlin, the program includes an intimate lineup of six singers and two instrumentalists - a selection of madrigals by 16-Jan-2019 8/14
Monteverdi and some of his lesser known contemporaries. Accommodation: 3 nights at Gat Point Charlie Hotel, a modern centrally located hotel, close to the opera house. https://hotelgatpointcharlie.com/en/hotel Day 10 Locations: Berlin Overview: Today is a free day to explore Berlin at your leisure. Accommodation: Gat Point Charlie Hotel Day 11 Locations: Berlin Overview: For our last day in Berlin take in the current exhibitions with a guide and attend one of Germanys famous Cabaret locations influenced by who is performing where in our selection. Accommodation: Gat Point Charlie Hotel Day 12 Locations: Berlin - Paris Overview: Today we travel to Paris and enjoy some free time before dinner together. Accommodation: 5 nights at Hotel Relais Monceau. Day 13 Locations: Paris Overview: Today local guides assist the group in exploring Paris fro the return visitor beyond the typical sights of the city. Tonight we attend Grande salle Pierre Boulez where Michael Tilson Thomas is 16-Jan-2019 9/14
the conductor of the Orchestre de Paris. Electrically charismatic and unparalleled pianist Yuja Wang joins Michael Tilson Thomas to bring to life three Romantic gems by Berlioz, Schumann, and Brahms. Hector Berlioz - Ouverture du Carnaval romain Robert Schumann Concerto pour piano Johannes Brahms Symphonie n 2 Accommodation: Hotel Relais Monceau Day 14 Locations: Paris Overview: Today we spend the day exploring Paris. Visits include entrances to galleries beyond the regular tourist locations. Accommodation: Hotel Relais Monceau Day 15 Locations: Paris Overview: Today the is at leisure. This evening we attend a performance of Nadine Sierra soprano with Orchestra of the Limoges Opera under Robert Tuohy's direction in Paris. The American Nadine Sierra is up there with the greats and recently proved that she is one of the finest Gilda s of her generation. Parisian audiences have seen her at the Opéra de Paris in Don Giovanni, Eliogabalo, The Magic Flute and recently in Rigoletto. For her first major Parisian recital, she has chosen to perform a bel canto programme. This performance should be one of the highlights of our program. The program for the evening is: Nicolaï Les Joyeuses commères de Windsor, overture Gounod «Je veux vivre», aria from Roméo et Juliette Massenet Gavotte from Manon Puccini Intermezzo from Manon Lescaut Donizetti «Quel guardo il cavaliere», aria from Don Pasquale 16-Jan-2019 10/14
«Regnava nel silenzio» aria from Lucia di Lammermoor Bernstein West side story, overture (arrangement Peress) «A Julia de Burgos», aria from Songfest Gimenez «Me llaman la primerosa» Verdi La Forza del destino, overture Donizetti «Scena di pazzia», aria from Lucia di Lammermoor Accommodation: Hotel Relais Monceau Day 16 Locations: Paris Overview: Today the is at leisure. Accommodation: Hotel Relais Monceau Day 17 Locations: Paris to London Overview: Today we travel by train to London. This evening we attend La traviata at the Covent garden Opera house. Richard Eyre's stunning production of Verdi's best-loved opera returns with star sopranos Ermonela Jaho and Angel Blue as Violetta; the casts also include Plácido Domingo and Charles Castronovo. Accommodation: Stay five nights in London. London CourtHouse, a 5* hotel with an excellent location in the city centre. http://www.courthouse-hotel.com/ Day 18 Locations: London Overview: 16-Jan-2019 11/14
Today we visit London's museums and galleries. Accommodation: 6 nights at CourtHouse Hotel, 5* hotel with an excellent location in the city centre. http://www.courthousehotel.com/ Day 19 Locations: London Overview: The day is free to explore at your leisure. Tonight's we attend a piano recital by the leading Russian pianist, Pavel Kolesnikov who plays pieces from Brahms, Tchaikovsky & Couperin at the Festival hall South Bank. Accommodation: CourtHouse Hotel Day 20 Locations: London Overview: Today we visit with local guides relevant museums and art gallery exhibitions. Tonight we attend a concert by Sir Mark Elder who conducts Brahms s radiant and bucolic 2nd symphony, in the second year of an acclaimed four-year symphony cycle. The cycle borrows from the spirit of early performances of the works by performing them with the musical forces that Brahms intended, to exhilarating effect (The Times). The concert also traces a poetic line from Brahms s symphonic Romanticism to more intimate evocations of poetry, love and nature in Mahler s emotionally charged Songs for a Wayfarer, and Britten s Suite on English Folk Tunes, the composer s last completed orchestral work. Programme Britten Suite on English Folk Tunes Mahler Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen Brahms Symphony No 2 Performers Britten Sinfonia Sir Mark Elder 16-Jan-2019 12/14
conductor Anna Stéphany mezzo-soprano Accommodation: CourtHouse Hotel Day 21 Locations: London Overview: Today is a free day to explore the city at your own pace. Accommodation: CourtHouse Hotel Day 22 Locations: London Overview: Today we explore London with our local guide. In the evening we enjoy our farewell dinner with a concert or show. Accommodation: CourtHouse Hotel Day 23 Locations: London Overview: Our tour concludes today after breakfast. Accommodation: Inclusions / Exclusions What's included in our Tour 22 nights hotel accommodation in Europe and the UK. Breakfast daily and 7 dinners. Tickets to selected performances. Transport Passes in London. Transport, field trips, concerts and excursions as indicated. Touring by comfortable and modern coach as well as public transport. 16-Jan-2019 13/14
Rail services and internal flight in economy class. Applicable entry fees and services of local guides. Detailed Tour Information Booklet. Services of a study / group leader. Gratuities and necessary tips. What's not included in our Tour Comprehensive travel insurance. Items of a personal nature, such as telephone calls and laundry. International airfares and departure taxes. Meals not specified in the itinerary. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any requests for further information about this tour or any others offered by Odyssey Travel. 16-Jan-2019 14/14