2023 Music Bulletin | November 2022

MUSIC TOURS

Jean Duclos, after Augustin de Saint-Aubin, 1774. Public Domain via Rijksmuseum

Introduction 3

Music Tours Schedule 4 – 5

Musical Cruises - Vltava River Cruise 6 – 7

Musical Cruises - Danube River Cruise 8 – 9

UK Tours 10 – 27

Bath Bachfest 12 – 13

Buxton International Festival 14 – 15

International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival 16 – 17

Aldeburgh Festival (Register Interest) 18

York Early Music Festival (Register Interest) 19

East Neuk Festival (Register Interest) 20 – 21

St Magnus Festival on Orkney (Register Interest) 22 – 23

Gloucester Three Choirs Festival (Register Interest) 24

Glyndebourne (Register Interest) 25

Oxford College Chapels & Organs (Register Interest) 26

Bath Mozartfest (Register Interest) 27

European Tours 28 – 49

Opera in Berlin: Mozart & Beethoven 30 – 31

Richard Strauss Festival in Dresden 32 – 33

Mahler Festival in Leipzig (I & II) 34 – 35

Bach Festival in Leipzig 36 – 37

Verona Opera Festival: 100th Anniversary Tour 38 – 39 Schubert in Schwarzenberg 40 – 41

Lucca Puccini Festival 42 – 43 Festival de Pâques in Aix-en-Provence: 10th Anniversary Tour (Register Interest) 44

Bergen International Festival (Register Interest) 45

Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival (Register Interest) 46 – 47

Le Concert ,

Verdi Festival in Parma (Register Interest) 48

Music & Opera in Vienna (Register Interest) 49

Tour Directors 50 – 53

Stapleford Granary 54 – 55

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Introduction

ACE is delighted to present highlights from our collection of music tours taking place throughout 2023. The year promises a rich and varied array of festivals, concerts and recitals across the UK and Europe, for lovers of opera, chamber and orchestral music alike.

We look forward to returning to some of the world’s best venues and classical music festivals – from the Bach Festival in Leipzig to St Magnus Festival on Orkney, and Glyndebourne to York Early Music Festival – and are also pleased to feature some exciting brand new tours, including to the Richard Strauss Festival in Dresden and the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival.

In addition to tours to music festivals, we eagerly anticipate visits to cities of culture, including Vienna and Oxford, to discover their illustrious musical heritage and enjoy a selection of performances. Musical treats also await ACE travellers onboard two special cruises in 2023 – along the Vltava and Danube respectively – complemented by a variety of expert lectures and local cultural visits.

All tours are led by specialist musicologists, who will introduce and interpret the musical performances to augment our understanding and enjoyment.

Many departures are now available to book right away, while for those tours awaiting final programme and itinerary details, we invite you to register your interest in advance. Read on to discover more, and visit the ACE website or contact the office for further information or to book your place.

We look forward to welcoming you on tour in 2023.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Please note that the following tour descriptions and itineraries provide a guide to what we hope to offer, and some elements – including the musical programmes – may be subject to change or confirmation nearer the time.

All tours involve some walking and standing for periods of time, including over occasionally uneven ground, cobbles and steps, particularly at historical venues. We strongly recommend consulting the fitness criteria outlined in our Booking Terms & Conditions, as well as the detailed information regarding Fitness and Practicalities specific to each tour, which is available on our website or by contacting the ACE office.

Music Tours Schedule

Discover our full range of music tours on offer for 2023. The majority are now open for booking, with a selection awaiting final programme details and dates to be released in the first half of 2023. Tours marked with an asterisk are currently fully booked - please contact us to be added to the waiting list.

January

Mozart Festival in Salzburg * 27/01/2023 - 02/02/2023

Wagner’s Ring Cycle in Dresden * 27/01/2023 - 02/02/2023

February

Bath Bachfest 16/02/2023 - 19/02/2023

Cambridge College Chapels & Organs * 24/02/2023 - 27/02/2023

March

Opera in Berlin: Mozart & Beethoven 29/03/2023 - 03/04/2023

Festival de Pâques in Aix-en-Provence: 10th Anniversary Tour 30/03/2023 - 06/04/2023

April

Richard Strauss Festival in Dresden 12/04/2023 - 16/04/2023

May

Mahler Festival in Leipzig I 17/05/2023 - 23/05/2023

Mahler Festival in Leipzig II 23/05/2023 - 29/05/2023

Bergen International Festival

June

Vltava River Cruise 06/06/2023 - 12/06/2023

Bach Festival in Leipzig 07/06/2023 - 14/06/2023

Aldeburgh Festival

East Neuk Festival

St Magnus Festival on Orkney

of Fugue in A-flat major BWV 886/2, Book 2 of the Well Tempered Clavier. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

July

Buxton International Festival 07/07/2023 - 12/07/2023

Verona Opera Festival: 100th Anniversary Tour 12/07/2023 - 17/07/2023

Gloucester Three Choirs Festival I 22/07/2023 - 26/07/2023

Gloucester Three Choirs Festival II 26/07/2023 - 30/07/2023

York Early Music Festival August

International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival 08/08/2023 - 12/08/2023

Lucca Puccini Festival 22/08/2023 - 27/08/2023 Schubert in Schwarzenberg 25/08/2023 - 01/09/2023

September

Danube River Cruise 13/09/2023 - 21/09/2023 Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival

October Glyndebourne

Verdi Festival in Parma Chamber Music at Hintlesham Hall

November Bath Mozartfest Music & Opera in Vienna Oxford College Chapels & Organs

Vltava River Cruise

6 - 12 June, 2023

Following our voyages along the Seine, Rhône and Danube, we are pleased to present a new cultural cruise based on the Vltava River. Our progress in and around the Czech capital of Prague will afford illuminating glimpses into the country’s history, art, architecture and contributions to classical music – all while taking in the enchanting landscape of Central Bohemia during relaxed periods of cruising.

We begin by journeying south to the market town of Štěchovice before making an excursion to one of the country’s most important historical sites. Established at the end of the 13th century – and frequently remodelled by its ambitious aristocratic owners – Konopiště Castle evokes a sense of romance and luxury with its Frenchinspired symmetry, gateways, soaring towers and rose gardens. Yet the castle’s opulent interiors have borne witness to much more recent history: the castle was the final residence of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who made substantial modifications of his own and filled it with his extensive art collections. We plan to explore a part of this impressive estate during our visit.

Returning to Prague through the stunning natural landscape around Slapy and Štěchovice, we will disembark for a series of special visits in the Czech capital. In particular, we will pay homage to one of the city’s most famous musical connections – the operas of W A Mozart – by visiting the Estates Theatre, site of the premiere of Don Giovanni in 1787 and

the only surviving theatre where the composer performed. We also plan to visit the city’s castle district, home to St Vitus Cathedral, one of the most important Gothic cathedrals in Europe and the largest church in the Czech Republic. In the evening, we hope to attend a performance at Prague’s State Opera House, subject to performance schedules.

The final stage of our cruise takes us north to the picturesque town of Mělník where the Vltava and Elbe meet; from here, we will visit a number of sites including Litoměřice. Situated on the confluence of the Elbe and Ohře, in a landscape known particularly for its wine, the town boasts a characterful centre of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque buildings including several beautiful churches. It is also home to the North Bohemian Gallery of Fine Arts, which houses a special collection of mainly Czech works from the 13th century onwards behind its Baroque façade.

Throughout the tour we will explore, through lectures and recitals given by our on-board musicologists Paul Jackson and John Bryden, the music of well-known composers associated with Prague and its surroundings, including Dvořák, Smetana, Janáček, Mahler and Mozart. Art and architecture specialist Tom Abbott, meanwhile, will guide us at several of the sites and provide us with the background for understanding the historical and artistic treasures we will encounter.

Day 1 Depart London Heathrow 1320 on British Airways, arriving Prague 1620. Transfer to the MS Elbe Princess II for six nights. Welcome drink and introduction to the cruise. Overnight in Prague.

Day 2 Morning spent cruising towards Štěchovice with introductory lectures from Tour Directors. Afternoon visit to Konopiště Castle (established in the 13th century; final residence of Archduke Franz Ferdinand). Evening piano recital. Overnight in Slapy.

Day 3 Day spent cruising through the beautiful Bohemian landscape. Lecture with Tom Abbott and an afternoon piano recital. Early evening talk looking ahead to our performance in Prague. Overnight in Prague.

Day 4 Full day of visits in Prague, including Estates Theatre (built in the late 18th century; historical links with Mozart) and Castle District. Evening operatic performance in Prague (subject to final performance schedules). Overnight in Prague.

Day 5 Morning spent cruising towards Mělník (situated at the confluence of the Elbe and Vltava), with lecture: An Introduction to Antonín Dvořák. Afternoon visits in Mělník including wine tasting and evening piano recital. Overnight in Mělník.

Day 6 Excursion to Litoměřice: walking tour and North Bohemian Gallery of Fine Arts. Return to Prague. Evening: gala dinner and celebratory recital. Overnight in Prague.

Day 7 Morning visit to Antonín Dvořák Museum (time permitting). Depart Prague 1405, arriving Heathrow 1510.

Cost of £2995 includes: return airfare, accommodation based on sharing a main deck twin cabin, full board with unlimited wine, beer, soft drinks, tea & coffee, shore excursions & admissions, musical performance in Prague (subject to confirmation), all gratuities & all taxes.

Not included: travel insurance, main deck twin cabin for single use supplement £575. Upper deck supplements available on request.

Tour Code: VLTA-23 | Own flight reduction: £180

Danube River Cruise

13 - 21 September, 2023

Bubbling up in the Black Forest town of Donaueschingen where the Brigach meets the Breg, the mighty River Danube strides across a vast stretch of Europe. For centuries it has formed the borders of nations and empires, turning the tide of history and inspiring a myriad of writers, artists and musicians.

Europe’s second longest river, the Danube flows through or borders a multitude of modern nations before reaching the Black Sea; and its banks have borne witness to an equally diverse array of languages, religions, ethnicities and ruling powers. Often a symbol of division, the river’s glittering waters have also come to represent a kind of unity through difference, a common thread in the evolution of European culture and identity.

Our nine-day journey will illuminate this diverse yet shared cultural heritage. We will journey from the galleries and palaces of Vienna to Esztergom’s magnificent basilica and Budapest’s castle district, returning to explore the old streets of Bratislava and the breath-taking abbey at Melk. Visits to some of the river’s most beautiful and important sites – from Vienna’s Upper Belvedere to the soaring interiors of Budapest’s Great Synagogue –will combine to shed light on the Danube’s story.

To mirror this variety, several ACE Tour Directors will join us at different stages of our journey, supported by a variety of excellent local guides from the different sites and regions we will visit. Art historians Andrew Spira, Sarah Burles and Tom Abbott will prepare us for our

daytime visits with a series of on-board lectures, while also guiding at several sites.

Visits will be taken at a leisurely pace, with several opportunities to explore locations independently, and to appreciate the river’s magical surroundings during relaxed stretches of cruising.

A MUSICAL JOURNEY

In addition to immersing participants in the culture, art and architecture along our route, we have specially designed this tour to include a rich variety of musical experiences. Many of these will take place on board, allowing guests to enjoy piano, song and flute recitals a stone’s throw from their cabins. Pianist Emilie Capulet and guest pianist John Bryden will perform works by German, Austrian and Hungarian composers; while Director of acclaimed early music ensemble Florilegium, Ashley Solomon, will present a baroque flute recital.

Beyond the boat, the group will be surrounded by the complex and mesmerising sounds of the organs of Melk Abbey, Dürnstein Abbey and Passau Cathedral; while we also hope to programme a performance at Vienna’s State Opera House or another of its famous classical music venues, subject to final scheduling.

We build to a fitting climax with an on-board song recital from Judy Brown and Nicholas Wearne and a celebratory musical finale on our final night.

Day 1 Flight from London Heathrow to Vienna. Transfer to MS Douce France for eight nights. Welcome and crew introductions, with after dinner music.

Day 2 Esztergom ‘Bach before breakfast’ followed by short talk and morning walking tour of Esztergom, including visit to the basilica and treasury. Afternoon talk as MS Douce France cruises to Budapest, and evening piano recital.

Day 3 Budapest ‘Bach before breakfast’ followed by visits including Buda Hill Castle District and the Jewish Quarter (Great Synagogue). Evening piano recital.

Day 4 Budapest ‘Bach before breakfast’ followed by free morning to explore the city. Afternoon talk and evening piano recital as MS Douce France cruises to Bratislava.

Day 5 Bratislava Walking tour of Bratislava Old Town and historical centre before MS Douce France cruises to Vienna. Afternoon talk and evening recital.

Day 6 Vienna Visits including the Upper Belvedere Palace, followed by evening performance at Vienna State Opera or similar (details subject to final scheduling). MS Douce France cruises overnight to Dürnstein.

Day 7 Dürnstein Dürnstein Abbey (including organ recital) before MS Douce France cruises to Melk. Afternoon baroque flute recital.

Day 8 Melk Visits to Melk Abbey (including guided tour and organ recital) and Artstetten Castle (subject to confirmation). Evening song recital as MS Douce France cruises to Engelhartszell. Farewell gala dinner, with after dinner celebratory music.

Day 9 Passau Organ recital at Passau Cathedral (final flight times permitting) followed by transfer to Munich Airport for departure to Heathrow.

Cost of £3395 includes: return airfare, accommodation based on sharing a twin cabin (main deck), eight breakfasts, six lunches, eight dinners with unlimited wine, beer, soft drinks, tea & coffee, shore excursions & admissions, musical performance in Vienna (subject to confirmation), all gratuities & all taxes.

Not included: travel insurance, upper deck twin cabin supplement of £250 per person, twin cabin for single use supplement of £600 for a main deck cabin or £1000 for an upper deck cabin. Further supplements available on request.

Tour Code: DANC-23 | Own flight reduction: £170

UK TOURS

Hereford Three Choirs Festival, 2015 © Ash Mills

KIRKWALL

St Magnus Festival on Orkney

EAST NEUK East Neuk Festival

YORK York Early Music Festival

BUXTON

Buxton International Festival

International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival

GLOUCESTER

Gloucester Three Choirs Festival

BATH

Bath Bachfest

Bath Mozartfest

OXFORD

Oxford College Chapels & Organs

CAMBRIDGE Cambridge College Chapels & Organs

ALDEBURGH Aldeburgh Festival

SUFFOLK

Chamber Music At Hintlesham Hall

GLYNDEBOURNE Glyndebourne

Bath Bachfest

16 - 19 February, 2023 | with Sandy Burnett

Alongside its acclaimed and longestablished Mozartfest, the elegant Georgian city of Bath also hosts a second annual festival to celebrate one of Europe’s most eminent composers: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750).

Launched in 2012, the festival has become a firm favourite in the city’s cultural calendar, and performances take place in some of Bath’s most iconic surroundings, including St Mary’s Bathwick, the historical Guildhall and the Abbey.

The Bachfest attracts some of the world’s finest musicians, and the 2023 edition will feature an array of distinguished performers from soloists to chamber ensembles. Our tour – which takes in the full festival line-up – begins with a performance with pianist Angela Hewitt, best known for her interpretations of Bach and the recipient of an OBE and Companion of the Order of Canada; she will present Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier as well as his Overture in the French Style.

We will then enjoy a particularly delightful afternoon recital by the Onyx Brass Quintet, described by BBC Music Magazine as “the classiest brass ensemble in Britain”. Celebrating their 30th anniversary in 2023, the quintet will bring us Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine (1610) and Deus in adjutorium, in addition to a selection of Bach Fugues and his Advent cantata Nun Komm Der Heiden Heiland.

Further 2023 highlights will include a concert of Vivaldi concertos courtesy

of the acclaimed early music ensemble La Serenissima, and a performance of works by Bach, Purcell, Handel and others featuring the award-winning Fretwork Viol Consort alongside soprano Ruby Hughes, who has been praised by The Guardian for combining “superb style, security, virtuosity and taste”.

Our tour concludes with an evening at Bath’s magnificent Abbey, where baroque orchestra The English Concert will come together with the much praised young director and harpsichordist Jean Rondeau to bring us a programme featuring Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos 1, 3 and 6.

Alongside the musical treats, we will take the opportunity to explore the charming city of Bath. Its early history will be the subject of a visit to the worldfamous Roman Baths, and we also look forward to a visit to the fascinating Herschel Museum of Astronomy. This small house-museum is dedicated to the life and work of the Herschel family of musicians and astronomers, including William (1738–1822), who discovered the planet Uranus in 1781 from the house itself.

A visit to the Holburne Museum will offer an opportunity to explore the collection of decorative arts housed at this Grade I listed building, Bath’s first public art gallery.

We will stay at the four-star Francis Hotel, located within Grade I listed Georgian townhouses on Queen Square, in the heart of the city.

Day 1 Tour assembles 1500 at the Francis Hotel, Bath, for three nights. Afternoon lecture: Soli Deo Gloria – A Survey of Bach’s Life & Achievements followed by evening festival performance at St Mary’s Bathwick featuring Angela Hewitt (piano): J S Bach The Well-Tempered Clavier Book II, Overture in the French Style, BWV 831.

Day 2 Morning lecture: Venetian Brilliance & its Impact on Bach followed by visit to the Holburne Museum. Early afternoon festival performance at the Guildhall featuring Onyx Brass Quintet: works by Monteverdi, Couperin, Rameau, Handel, Purcell, Scarlatti and J S Bach. Some free time. Evening festival performance at St Mary’s Bathwick featuring La Serenissima: Vivaldi Concertos.

Day 3 Morning lecture: Purcell’s Fantasias & Bach’s Brandenburg followed by late morning festival performance at St Mary’s Bathwick featuring Fretwork, Ruby Hughes (soprano) and viols: works by J S Bach, Purcell, Handel, J P Rameau and Telemann. Afternoon visit to the Roman Baths (guided tour). Evening festival performance at Bath Abbey featuring The English Concert with Jean Rondeau (director/harpsichord): J S Bach – programme to include Brandenburg Concertos Nos 1, 3 and 6.

Day 4 Morning visit to the Herschel Museum of Astronomy followed by tour dispersal.

Cost of £1345 includes: accomodation based on sharing a classic twin or double bedded room, performances as described (subject to final programme details), three breakfasts, three light dinners with water & coffee, excursions & admissions, gratuities & all taxes.

Not included: travel insurance, comfort double room for single use supplement £220.

Tour Code: BABF-23

Buxton International Festival

7 - 12 July, 2023 | with Russell Keable

Every summer the Derbyshire spa town of Buxton, surrounded by the glorious hills of the Peak District, presents a feast of opera, literature and music. The combination of established and promising up-and-coming performers makes for one of the UK’s most stimulating arts festivals, and over the years it has become both nationally and internationally acclaimed.

The festival is beloved for its mix of familiar and less familiar works, and our 2023 tour offers examples of each. We begin with Bellini’s pastoral La Sonnambula (The Sleepwalker), which premiered in 1831 and has since enjoyed regular performances all over the world. Several famous sopranos have tackled the challenging principal role of Amina – whose sleepwalking almost derails her future happiness – and this Buxton Festival production will include a lineup of talented singers under the baton of conductor Adrian Kelly.

Our third full day will bring us an “intimate chamber arrangement” of Handel’s three-act masterpiece Orlando, with Music Director Adrian Butterfield at the helm alongside a range of excellent soloists and young artists. The innovative performance will make use of Baroque Gesture in its narration of this mythical yet powerfully human tale of love and heroism, obsession and madness.

Our final evening whisks us to a very different time. At the heart of The Land of Might-Have-Been – a “story of love, war and remembrance” – are the lives of Vera Brittain and her brother Captain Edward Brittain, whose experiences come to life through the music of Ivor Novello and lyrics of Michael Williams, one of the creative minds behind

the award-winning Georgiana (Buxton, 2019).

In addition to the principal operas, we are delighted that our tour will include the festival’s single performance with acclaimed violinist, multi-award-winning Nicola Benedetti. Celebrated not only for her outstanding musicianship but also her championing of classical music more widely, Benedetti has recently been appointed Director of the Edinburgh International Festival.

Making the most of our time in Buxton, we look forward to visiting the Grade I listed Buxton Crescent. Built in the 1780s, it was amongst the first purpose built hotels in the country, and established Buxton as a fashionable Georgian spa destination. A major £50m renovation project recently transformed the Crescent and returned it to its former glory. We will also make an excursion to the magnificent Chatsworth estate, to enjoy a guided tour of the spectacular house and to peruse its gardens.

We will stay throughout at the four-star Best Western Plus Buxton Lee Wood Hotel, a comfortable hotel located in a Georgian building set in its own mature gardens.

We plan to include a selection of festival fringe events – both literary and musical – in addition to the main operas. Details of these will be published on the ACE website once more festival information is released in early 2023. Please note there may be some further itinerary adjustments at this time.

Exterior of Buxton Opera House

Day 1 Tour assembles 1330 at Best Western Plus Buxton Lee Wood Hotel, Buxton, for five nights. Welcome and introduction followed by afternoon festival fringe event (subject to scheduling).

Day 2 Morning lecture followed by visit to Buxton Crescent (renovated Grade I listed Georgian building) including Pump Room, Assembly Room and Heritage Experience. Afternoon festival fringe event (subject to scheduling). Evening festival opera at Buxton Opera House featuring Adrian Kelly (conductor): Vincenzo Bellini (music) and Felice Romani (libretto) La Sonnambula (Buxton International Festival production).

Day 3 Morning excursion to Chatsworth House (magnificent stately home, owned by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, with elegant gardens). Afternoon: festival fringe event (subject to scheduling).

Day 4 Morning lecture followed by matinee festival opera at the Pavilion Arts Centre: Handel Orlando (Liberta Collective & Ensemble Hesperi production). Evening festival performance at Buxton Opera House featuring Nicola Benedetti (violin) – final programme to be confirmed.

Day 5 Morning lecture followed by festival fringe event (subject to scheduling). Evening festival performance at Buxton Opera House featuring Iwan Davies (conductor): Ivor Novello (music), Iain Farrington (arrangement / additional composition) and Michael Williams (lyrics) The Land of Might-Have-Been (Buxton International Festival production).

Day 6 Tour disperses after breakfast.

Cost of £1695 includes: accommodation based on sharing a twin or double bedded room, performances as described, a selection of festival fringe events (to be confirmed in spring 2023), five breakfasts, five dinners with water & coffee, excursions & admissions, gratuities & all taxes.

Not included: travel insurance, twin/double room for single use supplement £200.

Tour Code: BUXF-23

H. M. Brock’s illustration for the first revival of Ruddigore, 1921. Restored by Adam Cuerden / Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival

8 - 12 August, 2023 | with Donald Maxwell

Gilbert and Sullivan represent quintessential Victorian England. The brilliant, witty lyrics of W S Gilbert dazzle alongside the attractive melodies of Arthur Sullivan. In 2023, we look forward to another memorable programme of operas presented by the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival. The 2023 festival will be exclusively based in Buxton, its “spiritual home”, surrounded by the glorious hills of the Peak District, and performances will take place in the delightful Opera House and the adjoining Pavilion Arts Centre.

Our tour will feature three main works performed by the professional National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company: The Yeomen of the Guard, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. Our expert Tour Director, operatic baritone Donald Maxwell, has long had a close relationship with the festival, and we will enjoy his insightful introductions to each opera across a series of dedicated lectures.

The main operas will be complemented by a selection of fringe performances, including Ruddigore with Savoynet Performing Group and Iolanthe with the Brussels Light Opera Company (subject to final arrangements). As in previous years, we also hope to include an opportunity to meet members of the cast, a guest talk with academic, writer and Gilbert & Sullivan expert Ian Bradley, and a discussion with one of the festival’s trustees.

We will stay throughout at the fourstar Best Western Plus Buxton Lee Wood Hotel, a comfortable hotel located in a Georgian building set in its own mature gardens.

Please note the itinerary outlines the main events of the tour, however the fringe events, guest talks and visits will be detailed at a later stage once the final festival programme is confirmed.

Donald writes: “Buxton’s ‘theatre in the hills’ is the ideal venue for the works of Gilbert and Sullivan. The beautiful Matcham building has just the right intimacy for these comic masterpieces, and both theatre and town possess an Edwardian charm. The operas aren’t, however, historical souvenirs, and I’m sure the 29th festival (a remarkable success story) will prove that ‘laughing song and merry dance’ will ‘leave you with feelings of pleasure’ from your trip to the Peak District!”

Day 1 Tour assembles from 1500 at the Best Western Plus Buxton Lee Wood Hotel, Buxton, for four nights. Welcome and introduction to the tour. Evening festival performance featuring Brussels Light Opera Company: Iolanthe (subject to final arrangements).

Day 2 Morning lecture: Introduction to The Yeomen of the Guard, followed by daytime fringe events and/ or visits. Evening festival performance featuring the National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company: The Yeomen of the Guard. Day 3 Morning lecture: Introduction to Ruddigore, followed by daytime fringe events and/or visits. Evening festival performance featuring Savoynet Performing Group: Ruddigore.

Day 4 Morning lecture: Introduction to The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. Afternoon matinee performance featuring the National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company: The Pirates of Penzance. Evening festival performance featuring the National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company: The Mikado. Day 5 Tour disperses approx 1030 at the hotel.

Cost of £1525 includes: accommodation based on sharing a twin or double bedded room, performances as described, four breakfasts, four dinners with water & coffee, excursions & admissions, gratuities & all taxes.

Not included: travel insurance, twin/double room for single use supplement £160.

Tour Code: IGSB-23

Aldeburgh Festival

June 2023 | with Nicholas Wearne

In June each year, artists such as Thomas Adès, Andrew Watts, Tamsin Waley-Cohen and Ian Bostridge have assembled alongside the likes of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the London Sinfonietta and the BBC Symphony Orchestra to bring us the Aldeburgh Festival.

Stirred by the vast skies and moody seas of Suffolk, Benjamin Britten was inspired to launch the festival that has blossomed into a yearround concert venue at Snape Maltings. Today, internationally acclaimed artists perform alongside up-and-coming musicians at the world-famous Concert Hall and the venue’s newer buildings.

Previous ACE tours to the festival have included some of the very best performances the festival has to offer, from Britten’s Winter Words and

Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress to appearances from acclaimed musicians such as cellist Alisa Weilerstein and tenor Mark Padmore. Our 2022 tour was no exception, and featured a range of superb concerts from the BBC Singers, Nicola Benedetti and Víkingur Ólafsson amongst others, and we hope to provide an equally varied and stimulating programme in 2023.

In addition to the musical content, we will also take the opportunity to discover the cultural highlights of the surrounding area. Previous departures have included a visit to the Red House, once home to Britten, to learn about his life and legacy, as well as an excursion to Sutton Hoo – site of the famous Anglo Saxon ship burial, the discovery of which was recently dramatized in British film The Dig.

Full details will be released in early 2023 - please contact us on 01223 841055 or at sales@aceculturaltours.co.uk to register your interest.

CBSO performing at the Aldeburgh Festival 2019 © Matt Jolly

York Early Music Festival

July 2023 | with Ashley Solomon

It is a wonderful thing to experience the music of the past within spaces that could have witnessed their early performances; and this is what York Early Music Festival offers every summer to those lucky enough to attend.

Established in 1977, the festival has been delighting audiences now for several decades and is considered the ‘jewel in the crown’ of its organisers, the National Centre for Early Music (NCEM). Every July a line-up of worldrenowned instrumentalists, vocal groups and artists –previous years have featured Ex Cathedra, Rachel Podger, the Gonzaga Band and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment – present an array of classical works from the 18th century and before.

There is perhaps no better environment to discover

this music than York, with its assemblage of historical buildings from St Margaret’s Walmgate, where the NCEM is based, to St Lawrence’s Church, the second largest religious building in York, whose old church tower dating back to the 12th century still sits within the churchyard. York Minster, often used as a venue for festival concerts, dates back to the 7th century and is home to an awe-inspiring collection of medieval stained glass among its many treasures.

In addition to, and complementing the musical highlights, our tour will also feature a selection of local cultural visits. Previous tours have featured an exploration of York’s medieval history and a visit to the beautifully reconstructed Barley Hall, as well as an excursion to nearby Castle Howard.

Full details will be released in early 2023 - please contact us on 01223 841055 or at sales@aceculturaltours.co.uk to register your interest.

East Neuk Festival

June 2023 | with Michael Downes

Following a break of several years, ACE is delighted to be returning to this spectacular music and arts festival. Founded in 2004 on a strong belief “in the joy and power of live music and its potential to transform lives and life”, the event has taken place annually to broad critical acclaim and growing audiences, who appreciate its dedication to high quality performances alongside community projects and support for young artists. Attendees particularly enjoy the festival’s eclectic range of venues, including parish churches set in a landscape that is both historical and naturally stunning, from charming fishing villages to a beautiful coastline.

2023 – the festival’s 18th year – will undoubtedly build on the success of previous occasions: earlier festivals have featured performances with pianists Christian Zacharias and Elisabeth Leonskaja, the Scottish

Chamber Orchestra, and the Belcea, Pavel Haas and Castalian string quartets.

While music will be at the heart of the tour, select daytime excursions will allow us to explore local history and culture in more depth. We hope to visit romantic Kellie Castle with its 14th century foundations, Victorian interiors and fragrant Arts & Crafts garden; as well as Falkland Palace and Garden, one of Scotland’s most impressive Renaissance estates and home to a 16th century tennis court.

The calibre of the artists involved, together with the richness of the musical offering and surrounding cultural treasures, will undoubtedly make for a memorable, stimulating and immersive week in one of Scotland’s most beautiful regions.

Michael writes: “The coastline south of St Andrews is studded with some of Scotland’s most beautiful villages and small towns: Crail, St Monans, Anstruther and Pittenweem all have picturesque harbours, quirky high streets full of art galleries and restaurants, and historical, well-preserved churches. It was the genius of the East Neuk Festival when it began in 2004 to recognise the potential of these churches as venues for chamber music: many have outstanding acoustics, and all offer audiences the chance to interact with performers and with each other in an intimate and inspiring setting. Since then the festival has succeeded in attracting many of the world’s leading chamber musicians to perform in this remote corner of Fife, often with combinations of instruments and repertoire only presented here. I have lived in several of the East Neuk villages since moving to Scotland in 2008, and I now live right on the coastal path in Cellardyke. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to share both my adopted home and some extraordinary music with visitors from ACE Cultural Tours.”

Pittenweem, East Neuk

Full details will be released in early 2023 - please contact us on 01223 841055 or at sales@aceculturaltours.co.uk to register your interest.

St Magnus Festival on Orkney

June 2023 | with Paul Jackson

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, one of the foremost British composers of our time, moved to Orkney in the early 1970s and immersed himself in the culture of the islands. The vast majority of his subsequent compositions, including the witty An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise, have been imbued with the spirit of this remote archipelago of Neolithic monuments, sweeping beaches and rolling countryside.

Soon after arriving in Orkney, Max (as he is universally known) established the St Magnus Festival, now one of Britain’s liveliest music events. The wide-ranging programme features musicians of international repute alongside members of the local community, with the festival chorus – which numbers over 100 singers – drawn from all parts of Orkney.

Past festivals have included prestigious line-ups, among them the BBC Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Corsican contemporary vocal ensemble A Filetta

and two of the world’s finest string quartets, the Čiurlionis Quartet and the Engegård Quartet. In addition to the main performances, the festival programme features folk music, poetry readings and late night jazz. We plan to take in a selection of highlights across the range of events, alongside some of Orkney’s most fascinating and evocative natural and archaeological sites.

Orkney is famed for its sparkling light and wealth of bird and sea life, offering many delights from secluded fishing villages to isolated crofting settlements. Midsummer is a particularly special time to visit, when the landscape and seascape are illuminated by long hours of daylight. Against this magical backdrop, we hope to take in some of the islands’ archaeological wonders, from standing stones and chambered tombs to the Neolithic village of Skara Brae.

Paul says: “I am thrilled to be leading next year’s tour to the St Magnus Festival in Orkney, which takes place in the summer months when the sun barely sets in this magical landscape. The festival brings together an exciting array of orchestras, choirs and musicians from around the world in an environment that both celebrates the long tradition of the islands whilst looking to the future. You can expect a unique meeting of music, culture and landscape in this very special tour.”

Full details will be released in spring 2023 - please contact us on 01223 841055 or at sales@aceculturaltours.co.uk to register your interest.

Gloucester Three Choirs Festival

22 - 26 July, 2023 | with Richard Wigmore

26 - 30 July, 2023 | with Russell Keable

For nearly 300 years the cathedral cities of Hereford, Gloucester and Worcester have taken turns to host a renowned annual music celebration. In 2023 the Three Choirs Festival will take place in Gloucester, where we will experience a programme of concerts performed among the pillars of its mighty cathedral – a place of prayer and pilgrimage for over 900 years – and in surrounding locations.

The 2023 festival will honour Ralph Vaughan Williams – born in Gloucestershire in 1872 – with performances of some of his finest works, including the less frequently heard The Pilgrim’s Progress as well as Sancta Civitas and Flos campi. Other musical delights will include Edward Elgar’s Violin Concerto in B minor and oratorio The Apostles, as well as Gottfried Stözel’s Passion, described by the festival’s Artistic Director,

Adrian Partington, as “a work of extraordinary beauty, which deserves to be as well-known as the works of his great contemporary [J S Bach]”.

Among the musicians set to feature are two of the UK’s most prestigious orchestras, the Philharmonia and BBC National Orchestra of Wales; while soloists will include acclaimed baritone Roderick Williams and award-winning mezzo-soprano Marta Fontanals-Simmons.

Conductor Martyn Brabbins and German-Hungarian violinist Zsolt-Tihamér Visontay will also perform.

We hope to run two tours to the 2023 festival, each taking in half of the musical programme including several highlights; more details will be released in early 2023 once final concert details have been confirmed.

Full details will be released in early 2023 - please contact us on 01223 841055 or at sales@aceculturaltours.co.uk to register your interest.

Three Choirs Festival 2016 © Ed Gardner

Glyndebourne

October 2023 | with Nicholas Wearne

Every year, the Glyndebourne tour produces an exhilarating programme of world-class opera featuring young and promising singers. Many international careers –such as those of Thomas Allen, Felicity Lott and Willard White – began with Glyndebourne Touring Opera, as it was originally called. We look forward to returning in 2023 for another inspiring musical programme, based at the festival’s East Sussex home.

Previous ACE tours to Glyndebourne have included performances of some of the world’s most beloved operas, ranging from Verdi’s Rigoletto and Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro to Handel’s Rinaldo and Puccini’s La Bohème.

Glyndebourne balances tradition with innovation, and performances take place in its modern, world-class opera house.

Our tour will feature selected evening operas woven around daytime excursions to nearby cultural attractions. The county of Sussex features an array of cultural highlights, and previous tours have included visits to Charleston House, the home of artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant and a meeting place of the Bloomsbury Group, and to the Towner Art Gallery in Eastbourne, home to one of the most important collections of art in the south of England, as well as the remarkable Brighton Pavilion.

Full details will be released in spring 2023 - please contact us on 01223 841055 or at sales@aceculturaltours.co.uk to register your interest.

Glyndebourne

House © Nicholas Wearne

Oxford College Chapels & Organs

November 2023 | with Nicholas Wearne

& guest musician John Bryden

The city of dreaming spires is home to a remarkable number of organs, each defined by the personality that made them, the aesthetics of the time in which they were built, the space within which they resound, and the uses to which they are put. These instruments have become part of the very subtle alchemy that makes each college special.

Our tour will explore several of the organs and colleges of Oxford, with private recitals given on each organ. Previous ACE tours have featured visits to Corpus Christi College, with its 1880 Hill & Son organ; Lincoln College, which contains one of the best organs in Oxford, a magnificent 21st century homage to British organ building of the 17th century; and The Queen’s College, with its

distinguished 1965 Frobenius organ, resplendent amidst the chapel’s impressive acoustics and sparkling stained glass. Our 2023 tour will be expertly crafted to offer an equally rich and varied exploration of Oxford’s organs and college chapels.

Alongside the privileged visits within the city itself, past tours have also included local excursions into the surrounding Oxfordshire countryside, including to UNESCO-listed Blenheim Palace, one of England’s largest houses and the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. The Long Library organ at Blenheim was built by perhaps the most famous British builder, ‘Father’ Henry Willis, and we are likely to visit again in 2023 to hear a recital on this remarkable instrument.

Full details will be released in spring 2023 - please contact us on 01223 841055 or at sales@aceculturaltours.co.uk to register your interest.

Bath Mozartfest

November 2023 | with Sandy Burnett

Each year music pilgrims flock to the beautiful Georgian city of Bath to enjoy the classical festival that celebrates one of Europe’s favourite musical sons: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The festival – which has garnered critical acclaim for its high calibre performers – pays homage not only to the music composed by Mozart but also that of composers for whom he provided inspiration. Performances take place in the stunning surroundings of Bath’s historical buildings, including the elegant Assembly Rooms and the Guildhall.

Previous ACE tours to the festival have encompassed a wide range of concerts from solo recitals and chamber performances to grand orchestral works: highlights have included awardwinning and innovative

vocal ensemble The Cardinall’s Musick; the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; celebrated violinist Alina Ibragimova MBE; and internationally acclaimed pianist Sir András Schiff, playing a collection of music not only by Mozart but other composers including Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Brahms.

Alongside the musical treats, our tour will take in further cultural delights on offer in the city of Bath. We hope to include visits to the Holburne Museum – home to Sir William Holburne’s collection of fine and decorative arts – and to the city’s iconic abbey, as well as to the Herschel Museum of Astronomy. One of Bath’s most engrossing treasures, this small historic house museum is located in the former home of 18th century astronomers William Herschel and his sister Caroline.

Full details will be released in spring 2023 - please contact us on 01223 841055 or at sales@aceculturaltours.co.uk to register your interest.

Statue of Mozart in Bath

EUROPEAN TOURS

Performance of Carmen at the Verona Opera Festival © FotoEnnevi / Fondazione Arena di Verona

BERGEN

Bergen International Festival

BERLIN

Opera in Berlin: Mozart & Beethoven

LEIPZIG

Bach Festival in Leipzig Mahler Festival in Leipzig

BAYREUTH

Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival

SALZBURG

Mozart Festival in Salzburg

SCHWARZENBERG

Schubert in Schwarzenberg

DRESDEN

Wagner’s Ring Cycle in Dresden Richard Strauss Festival in Dresden

VIENNA Music & Opera in Vienna

VERONA

Verona Opera Festival

AIX-EN-PROVENCE Festival de Pâques in Aix-enProvence

PARMA Verdi Festival in Parma LUCCA Lucca Puccini Festival

Opera in berlin:

mozart & beethoven

29 March - 3 April, 2023 | with Paul Jackson

Our 2023 tour to Berlin provides the opportunity to experience world-class music and opera in one of Europe’s most important musical and cultural capitals.

We will take in three operas, Mozart’s Idomeneo – directed by Sir Simon Rattle – and The Magic Flute, both presented in Berlin’s premier opera house, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, and Verdi’s Aida, presented at Deutsche Oper Berlin. In addition, the tour includes a performance of Beethoven’s stunning Missa Solemnis, given by one of the world’s oldest orchestras, the Staatskapelle Berlin, under the direction of maestro Daniel Barenboim.

The 25 year-old Mozart’s first mature opera, Idomeneo, takes the audience into a world of kings, gods and difficult choices, in this production by acclaimed British director, David McVicar. Brimming with wonderful choral moments alongside impressive arias, the work is often considered to be one of the greatest operas ever written.

The Magic Flute, Mozart’s final and arguably most famous opera, introduces us to a more mysterious realm as the worlds of philosophy, Viennese theatre, singspiel and high opera combine to mesmerising effect. This production by Yuval Sharon features awardwinning costume design alongside an imaginative use of marionette theatre and Viennese machine comedy.

Verdi’s ever-popular Aida, whose heroine was described by the composer as the epitome of “love, docility and

tenderness”, presents a story of divided loyalties in the court of the king of ancient Egypt. In an inventive use of space under the direction of Benedikt von Peter, this production at Berlin’s Deutsche Oper takes in the entire auditorium with members of the orchestra and chorus positioned among the audience.

Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis (‘Solemn Mass’) presented a challenge not only to its composer, who drew on multiple influences in its creation, but to all those who have tackled its performance over the years. Today it is considered a pinnacle of Beethoven’s oeuvre and one of the most important Mass settings ever written, “a monolith in the history of Classical Romantic music”. This special performance under Daniel Barenboim will be presented by the Staatskapelle Berlin and the chorus of the State Opera House, alongside soloists including the award-winning operatic bass René Pape.

The operas and concerts will be complemented by a series of lectures given by our Tour Director, and we will also enjoy cultural excursions around Berlin, including visits to Museum Island and the Museum of Musical Instruments. Our city tour and visit to the Old National Gallery will both be guided by ACE Tour Director and Berlin resident Tom Abbott.

We will stay throughout at the four-star Maritim proArte Hotel Berlin, a stylish establishment located a short walk away from Unter den Linden.

Public Domain via Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Collection

Day 1 Depart London Heathrow 1050 on British Airways, arriving Berlin 1345. Transfer to Maritim proArte Hotel, Berlin, for five nights. Welcome and introduction.

Day 2 Morning: coach orientation and guided architectural tour of Berlin (exteriors), including Potsdamer Platz, Checkpoint Charlie, Friedrichstrasse, Nikolaiviertel, Unter den Linden, New Parliament buildings, Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag (subject to confirmation). Free time followed by afternoon lecture. Evening performance at Berlin State Opera: Mozart Idomeneo.

Day 3 Morning lecture followed by visit to Museum of Musical Instruments. Free afternoon followed by evening performance at Deutsche Oper Berlin: Verdi Aida.

Day 4 Morning lecture followed by visit to Museum Island for guided tour of the Alte Nationalgalerie and optional afternoon visit to the Pergamon Museum (altar under reconstruction so not currently accessible). Evening performance at Berlin State Opera: Mozart The Magic Flute.

Day 5 Morning excursion to the Kulturforum for a visit to the Gemäldegalerie. Free time followed by afternoon lecture. Evening performance at Berlin Philharmonie featuring Staatsopernchor and Staatskapelle Berlin with Elena Stikhina (soprano), Anna Kissjudit (alto), Saimir Pirgu (tenor), René Pape (bass) and Daniel Barenboim (conductor): Beethoven Missa Solemnis.

Day 6 Depart Berlin 1235, arriving Heathrow 1340.

Please note that productions at Berlin State Opera often adopt an imaginative, contemporary approach to their material.

Cost of £3095 includes: return airfare, accommodation based on sharing a twin or double bedded room, performances as described (all at category 1), five breakfasts, two lunches, three dinners with water & coffee, opera plates & drink at two performances, excursions & admissions, gratuities & all taxes.

Not included: travel insurance, double room for single use supplement £195.

Tour Code: MZBE-23 | Own flight reduction: £170

Richard strauss festival in dresden

12 - 16 April, 2023 | with

Richard Strauss maintained a close relationship with the Staatskapelle Dresden for most of his life; in the words of The New York Times, both composer and orchestra “weathered the forces of history” – from the devastating impact of World War II to huge shifts in musical sensibilities – and nine of Strauss’s operas had their premieres at the world renowned Semperoper. As our Tour Director describes, there is “no better place” to appreciate the work of this “fascinating, elusive, often controversial composer”.

In April 2023, for the first time in many years, Dresden will celebrate this bond with a spectacular series of performances presented by the orchestra’s principal conductor, Christian Thielemann. We are delighted to be attending a selection of these events on our specially crafted tour: structured in close consultation with Tour Director Michael Downes, we plan to offer as wide a variety of Strauss’s music as possible, from opera and song to orchestral tone poem and chamber music.

We will begin with a chamber concert, brought to us by an ensemble of excellent soloists, of two works by Strauss – his Serenade in E flat and his Metamorphosen for solo strings –alongside Mozart’s String Quintet No 6 in E flat.

Transporting us back to the fin de siècle, a highlight of our tour will be a concert performance of Strauss’s opera

Michael Downes

Ariadne auf Naxos. In this unusual but captivating work, ‘high’ and ‘low’ art collide when a serious opera company is forced to perform alongside a rival comedic troupe, with chaotic yet transformational results; and the work brings together comedy, tragedy and romance in glorious style.

Song will greet us on our penultimate morning as Armenian soprano Hrachuhi Bassénz performs a selection written between 1894 and 1901, composed originally for the operatic soprano Pauline de Ahna, Strauss’s wife from 1894 onwards. While the final programme is yet to be announced, the concert is likely to include the famous ‘Four Songs’ – including the much loved ‘Morgen!’ – lovingly composed as a wedding present for Pauline.

Our tour builds towards a stirring final programme featuring internationally acclaimed German soprano Diana Damrau alongside the Saxon State Opera Chorus: Strauss’s orchestral tone poem Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration) will feature alongside the beautiful and haunting transformation scene from Daphne, symphonic extracts from Die Liebe der Danae (The Love of the Danae) and the final scene from Capriccio.

Our four musical performances will be expertly introduced and interpreted throughout during a series of lectures from our Tour Director, who will also accompany us on a range of cultural and artistic visits.

Christian Thielemann conducting the Staat skapelle Dresden at the Semperoper, 2018 / Matthias Creut ziger

Day 1 Depart London Heathrow 1050, arriving Berlin 1345. Transfer to Hyperion Dresden am Schloss for four nights. Welcome and introduction to the tour.

Day 2 Morning lecture followed by walking tour of Dresden including a short visit to the New Synagogue (modernist structure built on the site of the original Semper Synagogue) – subject to final confirmation. Optional afternoon visit to the Albertinum (showcasing art from the Romantic era to the present). Evening chamber performance at Semper Opera House: R Strauss Serenade in E flat major, Op 7; Mozart String Quintet No 6 in E flat major, K 614; R Strauss Metamorphosen (reconstruction of the original version for septet).

Day 3 Short morning lecture followed by excursion to Meissen for visits to cathedral and modern Meissen Factory (including exhibition of wares and shop). Evening performance at Semper Opera House: R Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (concert performance). Please note our concert performance of Ariadne auf Naxos will be sung in German with German and English surtitles.

Day 4 Morning lecture followed by performance at Semper Opera House featuring Hrachuhí Bassénz (soprano): selection of songs by R Strauss. Short afternoon lecture followed by evening orchestral performance at Semper Opera House featuring Diana Damrau (soprano), Christian Thielemann (conductor) and the Saxon State Opera Chorus: R Strauss Tod und Verklärung, Op 24, transformation scene from Daphne, Op 82, symphonic extracts from Die Liebe der Danae, ‘Besinnung’ for choir and orchestra, final scene from Capriccio, Op 85.

Day 5 Depart Berlin 1425, arriving Heathrow 1525.

Cost of £2895 includes: return airfare, accommodation based on sharing a twin or double bedded room, performances as described (category 1), four breakfasts, three lunches (one light), four dinners (three light) with water & coffee, excursions & admissions, gratuities & all taxes.

Not included: travel insurance, double room for single use supplement £255.

Tour Code: RISF-23 | Own flight reduction: £175

Mahler festival in Leipzig

17 - 23 May, 2023 | with John Bryden

23 - 29 May, 2023 | with Richard Wigmore

Each year Leipzig - the city of Bach and Mendelssohn - offers a near-unrivalled selection of festivals, operas and concerts featuring a wide range of composers. 2023 is, however, a particularly special year as the city prepares to perform all of Mahler’s symphonies, celebrating the years the composer spent in Leipzig and his special relationship with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.

ACE is offering consecutive tours covering the two halves of the festival, each featuring a selection of eminent orchestras, ranging from Leipzig’s own Gewandhaus Orchestra to the Royal Concertgebouw. These are presided over by superb conductors including Andris Nelsons, MyungWhun Chung, Semyon Bychkov, Daniel Harding, Iván Fischer and Christian Thielemann.

Players and conductors will be joined by awardwinning soloists, from Chinese operatic soprano Ying Fang and Austrian tenor Andreas Schager, to German mezzo-sopranos Gerhild Romberger and Christa Mayer.

Several concerts will also feature prestigious German choirs. In particular, during Mahler’s

Tour One – Cost of £3045 includes: return airfare, accommodation based on sharing a twin or double bedded room, performances as described, six breakfasts, two lunches, four dinners with water & coffee, excursions & admissions, gratuities & all taxes.

Not included: travel insurance, small double room for single use supplement £230.

Tour Code: MAH1-23 | Own flight reduction: £175

colossal eighth symphony – or ‘Symphony of a Thousand’ – no fewer than four will take to the stage; and we will also hear from women of the Saxon State Opera Choir alongside the children’s choir of Dresden’s Semperoper for Symphony No 3.

Beyond the symphonies, the musicians will add variety to our concerts with several of Mahler’s other works including orchestral cycle Das Lied von der Erde – described by Leonard Bernstein as Mahler’s ‘greatest symphony’ – and his much earlier work Das klagende Lied.

Our musical programme will be supplemented with introductory lectures given by our Tour Directors, as well as daytime excursions taking in the best of Leipzig’s musical and wider cultural heritage – from a city walking tour to Leipzig’s fascinating musical instruments collection.

We will stay throughout at the Seaside Park Hotel, a four-star Art Deco residence situated within easy walking distance of the Gewandhaus where the performances take place.

Tour Two – Cost of £3245 includes: return airfare, accommodation based on sharing a twin or double bedded room, performances as described, six breakfasts, two lunches, five dinners with water & coffee, excursions & admissions, gratuities & all taxes.

Not included: travel insurance, small double room for single use supplement £230.

Tour Code: MAH2-23 | Own flight reduction: £175

Leipzig Gewandhaus

TOUR ONE

Day 1 Depart London Heathrow 1110 on British Airways, arriving Berlin 1405. Transfer to Seaside Park Hotel, Leipzig, for six nights. Welcome and introduction.

Day 2 Morning: walking tour of Leipzig including the Renaissance Altes Rathaus and Baroque Barthels Hof (exteriors). Free afternoon and independent dinner. Evening performance featuring the Gewandhaus Orchestra with Ying Fang (soprano), Gerhild Romberger (mezzosoprano) and Andris Nelsons (conductor): Mahler Symphony No 2.

Day 3 Morning visit to the Museum of Musical Instruments followed by some free time. Afternoon lecture. Evening performance featuring the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra with Christiane Karg (soprano), Ekaterina Gubanova (alto), Andreas Schager (tenor) and Tugan Sohkiev (conductor): Mahler Symphony No 4, Das Lied von der Erde.

Day 4 Morning lecture followed by some free time. Afternoon visit to the Schumann House Museum. Evening performance featuring the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with Myung-Whun Chung (conductor): Mahler Symphony No 5.

Day 5 Short morning lecture followed by optional church service at the Nikolaikirche. Afternoon visit to the Bach Archive Museum followed by free time and independent dinner. Evening performance featuring the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla (conductor): Mahler Symphony No 10.

Day 6 Morning lecture followed by some free time. Afternoon visit to the Mendelssohn House Museum. Evening performance featuring the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra with Daniel Harding (conductor): Mahler Symphony No 7.

Day 7 Köthen Castle (where Bach served as Kapellmeister for Prince Leopold). Continue to Berlin for 1635 flight, arriving Heathrow 1730.

TOUR TWO

Day 1 Depart London Heathrow 0840 on British Airways, arriving Berlin 1135. Transfer to Seaside Park Hotel, Leipzig, for six nights. Welcome and introduction. Evening performance featuring the Budapest Festival Orchestra with Iván Fischer (conductor): Mahler Symphony No 9.

Day 2 Morning walking tour of Leipzig including the Renaissance Altes Rathaus and Baroque Barthels Hof (exteriors). Afternoon: some free time followed by lecture and independent dinner. Evening performance featuring the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester with Daniele Gatti (conductor): Mahler Symphony No 1.

Day 3 Morning lecture followed by visit to the Mendelssohn House Museum. Free afternoon. Evening performance featuring the Staatskapelle Dresden, women of the Saxon State Opera Choir Dresden and children’s choir of Dresden Semperoper with Christa Mayer (alto) and Christian Thielemann (conductor): Mahler Symphony No 3.

Day 4 Morning visit to the Museum of Musical Instruments. Afternoon lecture followed by free time. Evening performance featuring the Gewandhaus Orchestra, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Choir, Thomanerchor Leipzig, Gewandhaus Choir and Gewandhaus Children’s Choir with soloists and Andris Nelsons (conductor): Mahler Symphony No 8 ‘Symphony of a Thousand’.

Day 5 Morning lecture followed by visit to the Schumann House Museum. Free afternoon. Evening performance featuring the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra and choir with Chen Reiss (soprano), Sophie Harmsen (alto), Attilio Glaser (tenor) and Dennis Russell Davies (conductor): Mahler Todtenfeier, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Das klagende Lied.

Day 6 Morning lecture followed by performance featuring the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra with Semyon Bychkov (conductor): Mahler Symphony No 6. Afternoon visit to the Bach Archive Museum followed by free time and independent dinner.

Day 7 Köthen Castle (where Bach served as Kapellmeister for Prince Leopold). Continue to Berlin for 1635 flight, arriving Heathrow 1730.

Bach festival in Leipzig

7 - 14 June, 2023 | with Richard Wigmore

Leipzig lies at the heart of the classical music tradition: Wagner was born here, Mendelssohn died here and Bach spent nearly three decades as Kapellmeister at the Thomaskirche. It is fitting, therefore, that Leipzig plays host to a magnificent annual festival centred on Bach and the composers he inspired.

It was in the summer of 1723 that J S Bach famously took up his post, and we are pleased that our tour will incorporate the same day 300 years later. The festival are using this important occasion – and the year in which Bach created a “rich and complex musical cosmos” of works that have stood the test of time – as a springboard to explore the significance of the works for future generations: “Written at the rate of one a week they may have been, but the quality of the music is simply breathtaking” (Bach Festival 2023).

We begin with the festival’s opening concert at the Thomaskirche, featuring the Thomanerchor boys’ choir – which Bach himself would have conducted – alongside the Gewandhaus Choir. We then move to a cycle of concerts specially selected by some of the most celebrated Bach ensembles and conductors in the world. Performers will include Gaechinger Cantorey (of the Internationale

Bachakademie Stuttgart), formed of a baroque orchestra and handpicked choir specialising in early music; Collegium Vocale Gent, whose performances take on board an innovative, historically sensitive approach; and Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir under their esteemed conductor Ton Koopman.

British collective Solomon’s Knot has become renowned for its innovative approach to staging and performance – particularly the artists’ ability to sing by heart without a conductor, “known as much for vigour and risk-taking as for historical authenticity” (Financial Times) – and their St Matthew Passion will undoubtedly be a very special experience. We also look forward to experiencing Handel’s magnificent opera Giulio Cesare at Leipzig’s Opera House, and a joyful final concert featuring Musica Fiata and La Capella Ducale, who will bring us Bach’s Magnificat in E flat major, written in 1723, alongside earlier magnificats by Johann Schelle and Johann Kuhnau.

We will stay throughout the tour in the centre of Leipzig at the Seaside Park Hotel, a four-star Art Deco residence situated within easy walking distance of the Thomaskirche.

Statue of Bach in Leipzig

Day 1 Depart London Heathrow 1050 on British Airways, arriving Berlin 1345. Transfer to Seaside Park Hotel, Leipzig, for seven nights. Welcome and introduction.

Day 2 Morning lecture followed by walking tour of Leipzig including Altes Rathaus and Baroque Barthels Hof (exteriors). Afternoon: some free time followed by festival opening concert at the Thomaskirche featuring Thomanerchor Leipzig and Leipzig Gewandhaus Choir with Johannes Lang (organist), soloists and Andreas Reize (conductor): J S Bach Prelude & Fugue in E flat, BWV 552, Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 225, Die Elenden sollen essen, BWV 75; J Widmann new work (premiere).

Day 3 Morning lecture followed by visits to Schoenefeld Memorial Church (where Clara and Robert Schumann were married) and Schumann House Museum. Evening festival performance at the Nikolaikirche featuring Gaechinger Cantorey with soloists and Hans-Christoph Rademann (conductor): J S Bach highlights from first cantata cycle including Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft, BWV 50, Christus, der ist mein Leben, BWV 95, Ich elender Mensch, wer wird mich erlösen, BWV 48, O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 60, Es Reisset euch ein schrecklich Ende, BWV 90.

Day 4 Whole day excursion to Weimar including visits to Goethe’s House and Bauhaus Museum. Evening festival performance at the Thomaskirche featuring Collegium Vocale Gent with soloists and Philippe Herreweghe (conductor, subject to confirmation): J S Bach further highlights from first cantata cycle.

Day 5 Morning lecture or option to attend service at the Thomaskirche followed by visit to the Bach Archive Museum. Optional afternoon visit to Leipzig Fine Arts Museum followed by evening festival performance at the Thomaskirche featuring Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir with soloists and Ton Koopman (conductor): J S Bach further highlights from first cantata cycle including Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4, Erfreut euch, ihr Herzen, BWV 66, Wer da gläubet und getauft wird, BWV 37, Du Hirte Israel, höre, BWV 104.

Day 6 Morning visit to the Mendelssohn House Museum followed by free afternoon. Evening festival performance at the Nikolaikirche featuring Solomon’s Knot with Chad Kelly (organ): J S Bach Prelude & Fugue in C minor, BWV 546, St Matthew Passion, BWV 244.

Day 7 Morning lecture followed by optional visit to the Musical Instruments Museum (guided tour). Afternoon festival performance at Leipzig Opera House: G F Handel Giulio Cesare. Evening festival performance at the Thomaskirche featuring Musica Fiata and La Capella Ducale with soloists and Roland Wilson (conductor): J Schelle Magnificat in D; J Kuhnau Magnificat in C; J S Bach Magnificat in E flat, BWV 243a.

Day 8 Köthen Castle (where Bach served as Kapellmeister for Prince Leopold). Continue to Berlin for 1645 departure, arriving Heathrow 1740.

Cost of £3245 includes: return airfare, accommodation based on sharing a twin or double bedded room, performances as described, seven breakfasts, three lunches, five dinners (one light) with water & coffee, excursions & admissions, gratuities & all taxes.

Not included: travel insurance, small double room for single use supplement £235.

Tour Code: BACH-23 | Own flight reduction: £170

Verona Opera Festival: 100th anniversary tour

12 - 17 July, 2023 | with Paul Jackson

“In the late evening warmth, as operagoers gather around Verona’s Arena, there is anticipation in the air. Inside is the magic of two thousand years of history, the glamour of the audience, the beauty of the opera”

- ACE Tour Manager Holly Streader, who accompanied the 2022 tour

Celebrating its centenary year in 2023, Verona’s internationally renowned opera festival – which began in 1913 but was interrupted by the two world wars – ranks as one of the most outstanding in the world. Staged in the monumental Roman amphitheatre known as the Arena di Verona – “the true home of open-air performances” – the festival has hosted many of the world’s greatest opera singers and some of the most awe-inspiring sets in the classical music world. As dusk falls and the candles are lit, we will take our seats for three operatic masterpieces.

The 2023 festival promises to be a particularly memorable occasion as the Arena welcomes seven of its most popular works from across the century, complemented by a longawaited new production of Aida. Our tour begins with Rossini’s comic masterpiece, The Barber of Seville, directed by Hugo de Ana, which transforms the stage into a garden replete with gigantic red roses. Next we will experience perhaps Verdi’s best-known opera, La Traviata. Based

on Alexandre Dumas’ play, The Lady of the Camellias, this deservedly famous work explores themes of forbidden love, personal sacrifice and doomed youth. Overflowing with memorable melodies, Verona’s 2023 production boasts luxurious sets by Zeffirelli and beautiful costume design by Maurizio Millenotti.

Appropriately, on our final evening, we will be among the first to see a brand-new production of Verdi’s Aida, one of the festival’s defining operas since its inaugural festival performance in 1913. With its dramatic public scenes and moments of private intimacy, a performance of this beloved work becomes an experience of a lifetime in the superb surroundings of the Arena.

In ‘fair Verona’, the city of Romeo and Juliet, we will explore captivating streets and splendid medieval churches. An excursion will take us to the shores of Lake Garda, which has enchanted writers and travellers from Catullus to Tennyson. In Vicenza we will admire the architectural genius of Palladio, whose articulated classicism graces both private and public buildings in the city, earning it UNESCO World Heritage status.

We will stay throughout at the comfortable Hotel San Luca, located a five-minute stroll away from Verona’s Arena.

Day 1 Depart London Gatwick 1230 on Easyjet, arriving Venice 1540. Transfer to Hotel San Luca, Verona, for five nights. Evening introductory talk.

Day 2 Morning walking tour of Verona: Arena (exterior), Castelvecchio, Basilica di San Zeno Maggiore and cloister. Free afternoon followed by early evening lecture and performance at the Arena: Rossini The Barber of Seville

Day 3 Further visits in Verona: Duomo, Ponte Pietra, Church of Sant’ Anastasia (exterior) and Casa di Giulietta. Free afternoon followed by early evening lecture and independent dinner. Evening performance at the Arena: Verdi La Traviata.

Day 4 Free morning. Afternoon excursion by coach to Lake Garda including a visit to Limone on the north-western side of the lake, before crossing to Malcesine for dinner.

Day 5 Excursion by coach to Vigardolo for Villa Valmarana (Palladian Villa ‘La Rotonda’) and Vicenza. Free afternoon followed by early evening lecture and performance at the Arena: Verdi Aida.

Day 6 Depart Verona 1345, arriving London Gatwick 1450.

Please note that all performances are scheduled to begin at 2100.

Cost of £3395 includes: return airfare, accommodation based on sharing a twin or double bedded room, performances as described, five breakfasts, four dinners with wine, water & coffee, excursions & admissions, gratuities & all taxes.

Not included: travel insurance, single room supplement £235, double room for single use supplement £465.

Tour Code: VROP-23 | Own flight reduction: £175

Schubert in Schwarzenberg

25 August - 1 September, 2023

With Nicholas Wearne

There are few more idyllic settings to appreciate the world’s best song, chamber and piano concerts than the Vorarlberg region in Austria, where the village of Schwarzenberg commands panoramic views across lush meadows to the soaring Alps. Each summer, amidst the tranquil mountain scenery of the Bregenz Forest, a select group of musicians – from well-known performers to up-and-coming artists – gather to present a dynamic selection of Schubert’s music alongside complementary works by other composers.

Our venue is the Angelika Kauffmann Hall, named after the 18th century Swiss-born painter and founding member of the Royal Academy in London. Kauffmann spent her early years in Schwarzenberg, where, aged 16, she composed medallions of the apostles in the village church –returning 44 years later to paint the picture above the high altar.

Our tour to the 2023 festival will take in a mixture of daytime and evening concerts ranging from intimate piano works to lively song recitals and string quartets. A particular highlight will be Schubert’s masterpiece Winterreise featuring tenor Ian Bostridge; celebrated as one of the finest performers of the work, Bostridge also penned the award-winning book Schubert’s Winter Journey: Anatomy of an Obsession, described in The Sunday Times as a “rewarding, intelligently written companion to the piece”.

The Schumann Quartet alongside clarinettist Sharon Kam will bring us Schubert’s String Quartet in A minor, ‘Rosamunde’, and Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A, whilst a concert of works by Beethoven and Brahms featuring Sol Gabetta on the violoncello and Francesco Piemontesi on the piano is sure to delight. Meanwhile, the Elias String Quartet will join forces with award-winning clarinettist Daniel Ottensamer to perform Schubert’s revered String Quartet in D minor, ‘Death and the Maiden’.

We also look forward to lieder recitals featuring lyric tenor Christoph Prégardien – who will bring us songs by Schubert, Liszt and Beethoven – mezzo-soprano Sophie Rennert, baritone Konstantin Krimmel, pianists Julius Drake and Joseph Middleton, and violoncellist Mathias Johansen.

Alongside the music, we will enjoy a guided tour of Schwarzenberg as well a selection of cultural excursions to sites including the splendid Rieger Orgelbau workshop, Hohenems and the charming town of Lindau in the Lake Constance area.

We will stay at the four-star Hotel Die Wälderin, a high quality modern hotel situated in the scenic surroundings of Mellau in the Bregenz Forest. Rooms are of a premium standard with balconies, and include access to swimming pools and sauna facilities. The hotel is a short drive from Schwarzenberg.

The Austrian Alps

Day 1 Depart London Heathrow 0840 on Swiss Air, arriving Zurich 1135. Transfer to Mellau for seven nights at Hotel Die Wälderin. Welcome and introduction.

Day 2 Free morning to relax or explore Mellau. Afternoon lecture followed by guided walking tour of Schwarzenberg with visits to the Angelika Kauffmann Museum and church. Evening song recital at the Angelika Kauffmann Hall featuring Christoph Prégardien (tenor) and Julius Drake (piano): Schubert lieder including Gesänge des Harfners I-III, D 478-480, Rastlose Liebe, D 13 and Erlkönig, D 328; Liszt Freudvoll und leidvoll (2nd version), Der du von dem Himmel bist (1st version); Loewe Lynceus, der Türmer; Beethoven Wonne der Wehmut, Op 83/1, Neue Liebe, neues Leben, Op 75/2; Hugo Wolf Phänomen, Blumengruss, Ganymed; Grieg Zur Rosenzeit, Op 48/5.

Day 3 Morning lecture followed by chamber concert at the Angelika Kauffmann Hall featuring Schumann Quartet and Sharon Kam (clarinet): Schubert String Quartet in A minor, D 804 ‘Rosamunde’; Mozart Clarinet Quintet in A, KV 581. Free afternoon. Evening song recital at the Angelika Kauffmann Hall featuring Sophie Rennert (mezzo-soprano) and Joseph Middleton (piano): Schumann Liederkreis, Op 35; Schubert lieder including Im Frühling (Schulze), D 882 and Du bist die Ruh (Rückert), D 776.

Day 4 Relaxing excursion by coach to the Lake Constance area, including a visit to the picturesque town of Lindau. Afternoon song recital at the Angelika Kauffmann Hall featuring Konstantin Krimmel (baritone), Julius Drake (piano) and Mathias Johansen (violoncello): Schubert lieder including Der Wanderer (Schmidt), D 489, Am bach im Frühlinge (Schober), Des Fischers Liebesglück (Leitner), D 933, Auf dem Strom (Rellstab) and Der Pilgrim (Schiller).

Day 5 Morning visit to Rieger Orgelbau workshop. Afternoon lecture followed by chamber concert at the Angelika Kauffmann Hall featuring Sol Gabetta (violoncello) and Francesco Piemontesi (piano): works by Beethoven (final programme to be confirmed); Brahms Sonata for piano and violoncello in F, Op 99. Evening song recital featuring Ian Bostridge (tenor) and Saskia Giorgini (piano): Schubert Winterreise, Op 89.

Day 6 Morning: excursion by coach to Hohenems for guided tour of the Jewish Museum. Afternoon chamber concert at the Angelika Kauffmann Hall featuring Elias String Quartet and Daniel Ottensamer (clarinet): Brahms Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op 115; Schubert String Quartet in D minor, D 810 ‘Death and the Maiden’. Evening song recital at the Angelika Kauffmann Hall featuring Nikola Hillebrand (soprano), Sophie Rennert (mezzo-soprano), Stuart Jackson (tenor), Manuel Walser (baritone), Malcolm Martineau (piano) and Joseph Middleton (piano): Schumann Sehnsucht (Geibel), Op 51/1, Drei Gedichte von Emanuel Geibel, Op 30, Spanisches Liederspiel, Op 74, Op 138, Minnespiel, Op 101.

Day 7 Morning: optional gentle guided Alpine walk (weather permitting). Afternoon recital at Mellau Church with the Tour Director. Evening piano recital at the Angelika Kauffmann Hall featuring David Fray (piano): Schubert Four Impromptus D 935; Schumann Kreisleriana, Op 16.

Day 8 Morning visit to Sammlung Oskar Reinhart. Continue to Zurich for 1530 departure, arriving London Heathrow 1620.

Cost of £3695 includes: return airfare, accommodation based on sharing a premium double or twin bedded room, performances as described, seven breakfasts, three lunches (one light), seven dinners with water & coffee, excursions & admissions, gratuities & all taxes.

Not included: travel insurance, premium double room for single use supplement £195.

Tour Code: SCSC-23 | Own flight reduction: £185

Lucca Puccini Festival

22 - 27 August, 2023 | with Sandy Burnett

“Inspiration is an awakening, a quickening of all man’s faculties, and it is manifested in all high artistic achievements”

– Giacomo Puccini

Born in 1858 in Lucca – “the most fly-in-amber little town in the world” according to Hilaire Belloc – it was in the nearby lakeside village of Torre del Lago that Giacomo Puccini composed Madama Butterfly, La Bohème and Tosca, among other famous works. Today, the picturesque Tuscan village lies at the heart of the annual Puccini Opera Festival, one of the most famous classical music events in the world.

Even before the birth of Puccini, Lucca had enjoyed a vibrant musical history: the 18th century composers Francesco Geminiani and Luigi Boccherini were born within the famous city walls. Puccini was a choirboy in the cathedral, played the organ in the Church of San Michele and studied at the Pacini School of Music. Yet it was only when he ventured to nearby Torre del Lago, a quiet Tuscan hamlet sandwiched between the Apuan Alps and the Tyrrhenian Sea, that he declared “This is paradise!” The composer settled in Torre in 1891 and bought a country estate there at the turn of the century – now the Villa Museo Puccini.

Close by is Torre’s grand open-air theatre, inaugurated in 2008 and the perfect setting for an opera festival dedicated to Puccini’s life

and works. It is here, on the banks of Lake Massaciuccoli, that we will attend three festival performances. La Bohème and Madama Butterfly remain firm favourites among the composer’s repertoire, while our final night offers an unusual opportunity to experience two shorter works: Puccini’s Il Tabarro (The Cloak) and Bartók’s Il Castello di Barbablù (Bluebeard’s Castle).

Evoking the daily life of 1900s Paris, Il Tabarro is the first – and arguably darkest – installation of the composer’s Triptych, incorporating strong elements of realism into its devastating story of passion, frustration and betrayal. Bartók’s only opera, meanwhile, draws on fairytale imagery while challenging us to question our own secret worlds as it lures us, with Judith, through seven chambers and into the darkness of her husband’s true nature.

Alongside the music, our tour will immerse us in the area’s captivating architecture and engaging history. We will visit the Villa Guinigi, a rare survivor among 15th century Gothic villas, and the beautiful house and gardens of Villa Reale di Marlia, home to Napoleon’s sister in the 19th century; as well as Lucca’s wonderful Puccini Museum, where the composer was born.

The Albergo Celide, overlooking Lucca’s Renaissance walls, offers fourstar accommodation just a short stroll from the historical centre.

Day 1 Depart London Heathrow 0835 on British Airways, arriving Pisa 1150. Transfer to Lucca for five nights at Albergo Celide. Welcome and introduction.

Day 2 Morning lecture followed by visits in Lucca including Romanesque Cathedral of San Martino (where Puccini played the organ; Tintoretto’s Last Supper) and museum. Afternoon: visit to Giacomo Puccini Museum.

Day 3 Morning visits including Museo Nazionale (housed in 15th century Villa Guinigi). Afternoon lecture followed by visit to Villa Museo Puccini (subject to final confirmation). Evening festival opera in Gran Teatro Puccini, Torre del Lago: Madama Butterfly.

Day 4 Morning: Chiesa di San Michele in Foro, Palazzo Pfanner and Piazza dell’Anfiteatro. Afternoon: free time followed by early evening lecture and festival opera in Gran Teatro Puccini, Torre del Lago: La Bohème.

Day 5 Morning excursion to house and gardens of Villa Reale di Marlia (elegant architecture and world-renowned grounds). Some free time. Early evening lecture followed by festival opera in Gran Teatro Puccini, Torre del Lago: Puccini Il Tabarro and Bartók Il Castello di Barbablù.

Day 6 Depart Pisa 1240, arriving Heathrow 1400.

Please note that all performances are scheduled to begin at 2115.

Cost of £2595 includes: return airfare, accommodation based on sharing a classic twin or double bedded room, performances as described, five breakfasts, five dinners with wine, water & coffee, excursions & admissions, gratuities & all taxes.

Not included: travel insurance, single room supplement (French bed) £165, classic double room for single use supplement £295.

Tour Code: PUCC-23 | Own flight reduction: £175

Festival de Pâques in Aix-en-

Provence: 10th Anniversary Tour

30 March - 6 April, 2023 | with Emilie Capulet

In 2013, a creative collaboration between violinist Renaud Capuçon and Dominique Bluzet, Director of the Grand Théâtre de Provence, led to the foundation of a magnificent Easter festival in the picturesque and sunlit town of Aix-en-Provence.

Today there are few better environments in which to enjoy such a rich array of high quality music, and we are delighted to be attending the festival on the occasion of its 10th anniversary.

Led by Head of Classical Performance at the London College of Music, awardwinning pianist Emilie Capulet, we will delve into the 2023 programming, which is sure to offer as exceptional a musical

standard as we have come to expect from this acclaimed event: highlight performances have, for example, featured Les Musiciens du Louvre, Renaud Capuçon, Martha Argerich, Anne-Sophie Mutter and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Concerts will take place in the stunning surroundings of the Grand Théâtre de Provence, and the festival line-up will be complemented by a private recital given by our Tour Director. Excursions, meanwhile, will allow us to explore the artistic heritage of Provence, including a visit to Aix’s Caumont Centre d’Art and a scenic drive along the ‘Route Cézanne’ to see his former studio.

Emilie writes: “The Festival de Pâques is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2023 and it will be a very special event this year. At past festivals, we have seen, amongst others, Rudolf Buchbinder, Ian Bostridge, Nelson Freire, Lucas Debargue, the Hagen Quartet, Veronika Eberle, John Eliot Gardiner and Sir András Schiff. Orchestras have included the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris. What makes this festival so attractive is the diverse and often surprising repertoire it showcases, often juxtaposing well known and much loved works with original and unusual compositions. There is always something to talk about, to discover or rediscover at the Festival de Pâques. Alongside such a wonderful programme of music, we are immersed on this tour in the art, landscapes and architecture of Provence in one of the most beautiful cities in France. Not to be missed!”

Full details will be released in early 2023 - please contact us on 01223 841055 or at sales@aceculturaltours.co.uk to register your interest.

ques © Caroline Doutre

Bergen International Festival

May 2023 | with Nicholas Wearne

Surrounded by majestic mountains and fjords, home to colourful wooden houses and once a trading centre for the Hanseatic League, the Norwegian city of Bergen is also notable for hosting a spectacular annual music and cultural festival since 1953.

ACE is delighted to be running a tour to the Bergen International Festival in 2023, offering participants the opportunity to experience this renowned celebration of music and the arts and to explore Bergen’s fascinating history and surrounding landscape.

Composer and curator Lars Petter Hagen, winner of the Arne Nordheim’s Composer’s prize and two Norwegian Grammy awards, was appointed Director of the Bergen International Festival in 2022 – in his words, “a beacon among the festivals of the world”.

The imaginative and innovative programming typically includes prominent international artists as well as renowned Norwegian musicians. Highlight concerts in previous years have featured the Arctic Philharmonic Sinfonietta, world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, awardwinning Norwegian violinist Miriam Helms Ålien and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.

Bergen is, of course, notable as the birthplace of leading Romantic composer and pianist Edvard Grieg. The house in Troldhaugen where he lived and composed many of his best-known works is now a museum, which we hope to visit during our tour; while other excursions will allow us to delve more deeply into Bergen’s wider cultural history and the stunning natural landscape of this part of Norway.

Full details will be released in early 2023 - please contact us on 01223 841055 or at sales@aceculturaltours.co.uk to register your interest.

Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival

September 2023 | with Sandy Burnett

Nestled between mountains and Bavarian upland, the verdant town of Bayreuth is perhaps most famous for its association with Richard Wagner, who lived in Bayreuth for over ten years; its 19th century Festspielhaus – which witnessed the premieres of both Siegfried and Götterdämmerung – continues to host the world famous Richard Wagner Festival each summer.

Yet Bayreuth’s cultural and musical riches stretch far beyond its Wagnerian connection. Long before Wagner founded the Festspielhaus, 18th century audiences arrived in their ornate carriages for performances at the Margravial Opera House, established in 1748 under the advocacy of Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia, who herself composed and took part in productions.

Celebrated by UNESCO as an exceptional monument to Baroque architecture and one of the few surviving theatres of its kind, the opera house’s luminous interiors must have enchanted early visitors, and yet for much of its later existence the stage and horseshoe tiers remained empty. Fortunately, having undergone substantial refurbishment in the 21st century, the jewel-like auditorium has recently welcomed back audiences for a revival of its Baroque

Opera Festival under Artistic Director and countertenor Max Emanuel Cencic.

In September 2023 we are delighted to be launching a brand new tour to the festival, which stages at least one operatic production in the Margravial Opera House alongside a range of high calibre concerts from leading international artists – both acclaimed soloists and specialist ensembles – across several nearby churches and historical venues. In addition to the main opera, we hope to include a dinner concert in the Sun Temple of the Orangery of the Hermitage as well as a selection of complementary musical highlights chosen by our expert Tour Director.

Bayreuth is, of course, home to a wide variety of cultural attractions. While the performances will be at the heart of our tour, we also hope to include visits to the Festspielhaus, Villa Wahnfried (now a museum) and the nearby medieval town of Bamberg, recognised by UNESCO for its history and beauty. Wagner enjoyed a close personal and creative relationship with Franz Liszt, marrying his daughter Cosima in 1870, and the traces of Liszt’s own connection with Bayreuth can be explored at the Franz Liszt Museum next to Wagner’s former home. Full details will be released in spring 2023 - please contact us on 01223 841055 or at sales@aceculturaltours.co.uk to register your interest.

Verdi Festival in Parma

October 2023 | with Sandy Burnett

We are delighted to announce the return of this popular ACE tour – which combines wonderful music with cultural highlights and tastes of the region’s gastronomy – in autumn 2023.

Almost twenty years ago, the city of Parma inaugurated an annual festival to honour its most famous local son, Giuseppe Verdi. The festival, which takes place throughout October (the month of Verdi’s birth), features a range of the composer’s operatic works, both well known and less commonly encountered; it has since become one of the most important showcases of the composer’s music in the world.

Our tour will incorporate several specially selected performances from the 2023 programme, providing an opportunity to experience both the diversity of the composer’s repertoire in the

surroundings he knew so well, and his musical development over time. Performances usually take place in the beautiful Teatro Regio di Parma, designed by Nicola Bettoli, and the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Busseto, not far from Verdi’s former villa in Sant’Agata.

Our days, meanwhile, will be spent exploring the musical and cultural treasures of the region, interspersed with free time to reflect on the operas. At Verdi’s villa in Sant’Agata, the ground floor rooms have been preserved as they were in the composer’s time. A day excursion to Cremona will give us the opportunity to discover the town’s famous tradition of violin making, and we also hope to experience the production of one of Parma’s most famous exports at a traditional Culatello cellar.

Full details will be released in early 2023 - please contact us on 01223 841055 or at sales@aceculturaltours.co.uk to register your interest.

Giuse ppe Verdi conducting the Paris Opera premiere of Aida at the Palais Garnier on 22 March 1880, drawing by Adrien Marie.

Restored by Adam Cuerden

Music & Opera in Vienna

November 2023 | with Richard

Vienna has probably inspired more music than any other city. Rich in history, culture and romance, it was the capital of a vast multi-ethnic empire for several hundred years. Many of the world’s most celebrated composers lived and created works of musical genius among the city’s glorious surroundings.

Our winter tour to Vienna offers the opportunity to enjoy a series of operatic performances in the city’s pre-eminent music venues. Previous ACE tours have taken in Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece Eugene Onegin in the surroundings of the State Opera House, and Mahler’s sweeping Symphony No 5 at the Konzerthaus; while rarer works have included Spontini’s

Wigmore

influential La vestale at the Theater an der Wien. We also regularly include an evening at the glittering Musikverein, one of the most beloved concert halls in the world.

We look forward to a similarly rich breadth of musical content on our 2023 tour, as well as daytime visits taking in Vienna’s architectural beauty and artistic treasures – including the sweeping Ringstrasse and the Museum of Art History. There will also be an opportunity to experience the delights of Vienna’s celebrated Christmas markets, magical yet temporary wonderlands, whose presence in the city dates back to the Middle Ages.

Full details will be released in summer 2023 - please contact us on 01223 841055 or at sales@aceculturaltours.co.uk to register your interest.

Musikverein, Vienna / Bells Mayer via Unsplash

Meet our Tour Directors

All ACE tours are led by an expert in their field, selected for their specialist knowledge, passion for their subject and ability to communicate with clarity and enthusiasm, as well as to be a warm and welcoming host. We are delighted that our 2023 music tours will be led by the following musicians and musicologists.

Judy Brown is a Scottish mezzo-soprano who trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. A much sought-after recitalist, opera and consort singer, she works with the Monteverdi Choir under Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the Dunedin Consort, the Academy of Ancient Music and Scottish Opera.

Tours with Judy: Danube River Cruise

John Bryden, MA, ARCM, ARCO, has played across Britain and Europe as a soloist, accompanist and chamber musician. He has given concerts in venues ranging from California to Kathmandu via Wigmore Hall and was classical pianist on MS Saga Rose for eighteen cruises around much of the world. For many years John coached at the Dartington International Summer School, where he performed in master classes given by Jacqueline du Pré.

Tours with John: Danube River Cruise, Mahler Festival in Leipzig (I), Oxford College Chapels & Organs, Vltava River Cruise

Sandy Burnett, MA, is a musician and broadcaster who spent a decade as one of the core team of presenters on BBC Radio 3, with whom he presented live broadcasts from the Proms and interviewed many of the world’s finest musicians. Conducting credits have included a complete cycle of Bach cantatas as well as work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal National Theatre and in London’s West End where he spent many years as musical director. He is also the author of the Idler Guide to Classical Music.

Tours with Sandy: Bath Bachfest, Bath Mozartfest, Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival, Lucca Puccini Festival, Verdi Festival in Parma

Emilie Capulet, RSA, MMus, PhD, is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Head of Classical Performance at the London College of Music. Emilie studied piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and she regularly performs in international concert halls and at music festivals. Emilie has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, CBC’s Radio Canada, France Bleu Provence and Nicaraguan television and radio.

Tours with Emilie: Danube River Cruise, Festival de Pâques in Aix-en-Provence

Michael Downes, MA, MPhil, DPhil, is a conductor, writer and lecturer with a particular interest in opera. Following two years as Director of Music at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, Michael has occupied the same post at the University of St Andrews since 2008. The following year he became musical director of St Andrews Chorus, now Scotland’s largest choral society, and founded Byre Opera, with whom he has conducted operas by Britten, Janáček, Tchaikovsky, Handel and Debussy, among others.

Tours with Michael: East Neuk Festival, Richard Strauss Festival in Dresden

Paul Jackson, MA, PhD, is a conductor, pianist, musicologist and former Director of Music at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. Paul has enjoyed an extensive career as a conductor of opera and also as a chamber musician, performing widely in the UK, Europe and America.

Tours with Paul: Opera in Berlin: Mozart & Beethoven, St Magnus Festival on Orkney, Verona Opera Festival, Vltava River Cruise

Russell Keable, BA, MMus, trained at the universities of Nottingham and London and studied conducting with George Hurst and Norman Del Mar at London’s Royal College of Music. He currently teaches at the University of Surrey and is active as a composer, arranger, lecturer, broadcaster and performer.

Tours with Russell: Buxton Opera Festival, Gloucester Three Choirs Festival (II)

Donald Maxwell is an operatic baritone, director and lecturer. Donald has enjoyed a close relationship with the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival for many years, and has also been involved in Buxton Opera Festival as performer, artist in residence and artistic director. He continues to perform with opera companies worldwide, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where he featured in La Bohème in 2022.

Tours with Donald: International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival

Ashley Solomon, HonRCM, ARAM, is Director of early music ensemble Florilegium, Fellow of the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music, and Chair and Head of Historical Performance at the Royal College of Music. Florilegium frequently perform at the York Early Music Festival as well as at venues worldwide.

Tours with Ashley: Danube River Cruise, York Early Music Festival

Nicholas Wearne, BA, MPhil, is a tutor and Junior Fellow at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. His career as a solo organist has taken him all over the world and he was winner of the Poul Ruders Prize at the 2011 Odense International Organ Competition. Nicholas has held a number of prestigious positions as organist, most recently at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square.

Tours with Nicholas: Aldeburgh Festival, Bergen International Festival, Danube River Cruise, Glyndebourne, Oxford College Chapels & Organs, Schubert in Schwarzenberg

Richard Wigmore, MA, AGSM, is a writer, broadcaster, lecturer and former professional singer. Richard writes for Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine and other journals and he has lectured at Birkbeck College, the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music. His publications include Schubert: The Complete Song Texts and the Faber Pocket Guide to Haydn.

Tours with Richard: Bach Festival in Leipzig, Gloucester Three Choirs Festival (I), Mahler Festival in Leipzig (II), Music & Opera in Vienna

Stapleford Granary

the home of ace cultural tours

Set in a sweeping rural landscape, the converted farm buildings of the long derelict Bury Farm now provide a beautiful arts and music study centre in Stapleford, just south of Cambridge. Stapleford Granary is the permanent home of the ACE Foundation (The Association for Cultural Exchange), with whom the vision of Stapleford Granary began. Purchased by the ACE Foundation in 2009, the first phase of building works saw life brought to the beautiful 19th century farm buildings which have been lovingly restored to provide an inspirational place for shared educational and cultural pursuits, from the concert hall with its Steinway grand piano to the art studios

which host courses from book-binding to print-making.

In Spring 2018, Phase 2 of the building works was completed, providing further areas for music and art education, as well as increased capacity for the concert hall, new gallery spaces, a new foyer bar, and outside terrace. One of the old barns was specially converted to an office for ACE Cultural Tours, and in summer 2022 a new cafe was opened on site. As Stapleford Granary continues to grow, so does the range of activities, diversity of audiences, and the calibre of artists and musicians attracted to the Granary.

Stapleford Granary

© Calum Barlow

Breabach performing under the stretch tent at Stapleford Granary in summer 2022 © Calum Barlow

A transparent art

by kate romano

‘Chamber music is like watercolour painting and symphonic music is like oil painting’. I’ve been thinking that for so long I’m not sure if I read it somewhere or whether I made it up. My love for chamber music (playing and listening) and watercolour painting (looking, not doing) is founded on their shared transparency; it’s not possible to hide anything in either medium. Every brush or bow stroke matters. The pressure from hair, breath or fingers to create light and shade matters. Both art forms have a life of their own; a sound is made in the air, or a mark on the page and very soon it’s no longer your own. Paint sinks into paper, running, spreading, drying too quickly. The sounds you make – the shapes, the textures, the mis-intentions – seep through the ensemble, taken up by other players. Nothing stays put or remains stable and both art forms accommodate happy accidents and embrace unpredictability.

Watercolour and chamber music share common democratic roots. Before Joseph Haydn turned chamber music into the masterful form that would eventually rival the symphony, it was music for amateurs to be played at home by anyone who had an instrument. Watercolour painting used to be regarded (especially in France) as a minor form of artistic expression, inferior to oil painting. It was seen as an art of pleasant relaxation; cheap, portable and clean, it became the go-to art form for amateurs.

Watercolour painting and chamber music came of age in the late 18th and 19th century with Cozens, Turner, Ruskin and Sargent, Schubert, Schumann, Beethoven and Brahms; pioneering creatives, who were able to combine the intimacy of each medium with scale and gravitas, whilst losing none of the beguiling translucency. Beyond the standard narrative of watercolour – the association with illustration, botanicals, landscape and topography – its weightlessness is capable of intense darkness, like a shadow. Ruins or heavy machinery become a smudge. In the 20th century, Paul Nash’s strange and disturbing Mansions of the Dead (1932)

depicts bird-like souls flying through bookcaselike buildings. Eric Taylor’s A Young Boy From Belsen Concentration Camp, 1945 is a portrait of a skeletal boy sitting on a stool in a state of numb emotion.

Chamber music finds darkness through weightlessness too. When Pixels Ensemble play Galina Ustvolskaya’s Clarinet Trio (1949), I am struck by what feels like a ‘void’ within the music; the place where Ustvolskaya has forcibly attempted to remove all cultural influences in order to be free of the horrors and suffering of 20th century warfare. Austere and harrowing, the beauty and tragedy of the Trio lies in the shock realisation of what is missing. Erika Fox‘s chamber music contains broken threads and stark lines woven together. Her Café Warsaw 1944 (composed 2005) was inspired by a poem by the great Polish writer Czeslaw Milosz who reminisces about a café frequented by friends before the war, of whom he himself was the sole survivor. Fox’s lean orchestration for 6 instruments evokes fleeting ghosts of fanfares, rituals, the frenzied activity of the living and the stillness of the dead. It is painfully cold and transparent, as it must have been for Milosz who touches the ‘cold marble’ to trigger memories.

Across the centuries, these two unstable and ephemeral mediums have an uncanny ability to best express that which is hazy, diaphanous and remote. Storytelling, realism, drama and literalism, the dense and the heavy can be left to symphonic music and to oils. Abstract and suggestive by nature, chamber music and watercolour capture things that exist in the moment: transient, intangible and fragile, like our ritual gazing at the sea or the sky. Our desire to preserve these liminal moments as a social and shared experience is – I think – what makes these two art forms so uniquely compelling; they operate in the realm of fleeting spectacles and sounds that can really only be immortalised in our memory and imagination.

Kate Romano is CEO of Stapleford Granary, home of ACE Cultural Tours. Kate is also a BBC writer and clarinettist, who performs as part of Pixels Ensemble.

Musica (Melody), 1895-97, by Kate Elizabeth Bunce (1856 - 1927) Birmingham Museums Trust via Unsplash