A Festival of Music in Bologna, 28 September–3 October 2014

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M A RT I N R A N D A L L T R AV E L

A Festival of Music in

Bologna 28 September–3 October 2014


M A RT I N R A N D A L L T R AV E L

Contents The programme...................... 4–8 Speakers.....................................8 The festival package....................9 Prices.........................................9 Hotels...................................... 10 Travel options........................... 11 Pre-festival tour: Parma & the Via Emilia............. 12 Booking form..................... 13–14 Making a booking..................... 15 Booking conditions.................. 15

• Seven concerts in beautiful historic buildings, some of which are rarely open to the public. • Music by composers who lived or worked in Bologna from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. • Bologna is one of the loveliest Italian cities, as well as one of the most important centres in the country’s musical history. • The participating musicians are among the finest in Britain and Italy, leading specialists in their repertoire.

• Admission to the concerts is exclusive to those who take the complete package of arrangements which includes accommodation, some meals, receptions, return flights from London (optional), coach transfers and much else besides. • Professor John Bryan gives daily lectures on the music, art historians Angus Haldane and Dr R. T. Cobianchi lead walks, and pianist William Howard gives a musicallyillustrated talk. • Suits independent-minded travellers as well as those who like the social aspect of these events.

Martin Randall Travel – who we are and what we do At Martin Randall Travel we aim to provide the best planned, best led and altogether the most fulfilling and enjoyable cultural tours available. Within Europe and the Middle East we offer an unsurpassed range of events focusing primarily on art, architecture and music, and also on archaeology, history and gastronomy.

MRT has for over two decades led the cultural tours market through incessant innovation and improvement, setting the benchmarks for itinerary planning, operational systems and service standards. There are two kinds of holiday, smallgroup tours and large-group events. Small-group tours, all accompanied by an expert lecturer, have 22 participants or fewer. There are now around two hundred a year in nearly forty countries.

Events for between 50 and 300 participants include our famous allinclusive music festivals, of which there have been about sixty since 1994, and chamber music and literary weekends in the UK.

Engraving c. 1750 after Samuel Bottschild.

M artin R andall T ravel

Voysey House, Barley Mow Passage, London, UK, W4 4GF Telephone +44 (0)20 8742 3355 Fax +44 (0)20 8742 7766 info@martinrandall.co.uk

www.martinrandall.com

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A Festival of Music in

Bologna 28 September–3 October 2014 Few Italian cities are more engaging than Bologna. The allure of aged red brick, great churches and memorial sculpture, magnificent palaces and civic buildings, first-rate galleries and frescoed halls and miles of arcaded streets are irresistible. As home of Europe’s oldest university, as a beacon of good civic governance and with a world-wide reputation for gastronomic excellence, one would think that a visit would be practically mandatory. But still the tourists stay away. Not so scholars, scientists, artists and musicians, who for hundreds of years were attracted in droves from far and wide to this centre of culture and learning. Patrician and commercial wealth nurtured a long tradition of music-making that drew performers and composers from all over Europe, from Dufay in the fifteenth century to Wagner in the nineteenth. Important and influential Bolognaborn composers include Jacopo da Bologna (fourteenth century), Adriano Banchieri (1568–1634), Giacomo Antonio Perti (1661–1756) and Ottorino Respighi (1879–1936). Among composers from elsewhere who spent significant amounts of time here are Giuseppe Torelli (1658–1709), famous for developing the concerto, and Gioachino Rossini

The Governor’s Palace, copper engraving c. 1709.

(1792–1868), in his lifetime the undisputed colossus of opera. W.A. Mozart spent several months at the Accademia Filarmonica in 1770 studying with ‘Padre’ Martini, whose other pupils included J.C. Bach and C.W. Gluck.

Australia: telephone 1300 55 95 95 (toll free) or 07 3377 0141 New Zealand: telephone 0800 877 622 (toll free) or +61 7 3377 0141 Fax +61 (0)7 3377 0142 anz@martinrandall.com.au

Bologna is an ideal setting for an MRT music festival: relatively small and walkable, partially pedestrianised, highly civilised and with a variety of magnificent venues, many of which are associated with the music which will be performed in them.

Canada: telephone 647 382 1644 canada@martinrandall.ca USA: telephone 1 800 988 6168


The Programme

A Festival of Music in Bologna, 28 September–3 October 2014

Left to right: Accademia degli Astrusi; Odhecaton.

Concert 1 Accademia degli Astrusi Federico Ferri director

Oratorio di San Filippo Neri

Bolognese Teachers & Students Composer, teacher and priest, Padre Giovanni Battista Martini (1706–84) is best known as a teacher of aspiring composers who traversed Europe to study with him, but he was also a prolific composer. The programme includes works by him and by two of his most illustrious pupils, J.C. Bach and W.A. Mozart. Also included is music by Giacomo Antonio Perti (1661–1756), Bologna’s Maestro di Cappella for 60 years; he was the teacher of Padre Martini.

The Bologna-based Accademia degli Astrusi has become one of the most significant ensembles of the international Baroque scene, giving concerts in many countries in Europe (including London’s Wigmore Hall) as well as at the major festivals in Italy. They have recently completed a project to edit and publicise the operas of Padre Martini. The ensemble is directed today by its founder, Federico Ferri. A significant example of Bolognese late Baroque, the Philippine oratory dates to c. 1730. Subsequent vicissitudes include use as barracks in the 19th century and bomb damage in 1944, but it was restored and opened as a cultural centre in 1999.

Basilica di San Petronio, engraving 1883.

Concert 2 Odhecaton, Paolo da Col director Basilica di San Petronio

The Coronation of Charles V Before Charles of Habsburg was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1519 he had already inherited the Burgundian territories in the Netherlands, the newly united kingdom of Spain with all its New World colonies and the Habsburg lands in Central Europe. Thus it was as the most powerful ruler in Europe since 3rdcentury Roman emperors that Charles descended into Italy to be crowned by the pope in a ceremony that echoed its instigation by his namesake Charlemagne 730 years before. However, by the 16th century the imperial title – which was to continue through his heirs to 1806 – conferred more prestige than power, and this was the last imperial coronation presided over by a pope. Nicolas Gombert (c. 1495–c. 1560) was engaged by Charles V as singer and composer in 1526 and accompanied him in his travels, thus becoming one of the most influential composers of the century by furthering the cause of FrancoFlemish polyphony in Spain and Italy. This imaginative reconstruction of the 1530 coronation is built around a Gombert Mass for five and six voices with interpolations by other composers including Josquin Desprez and several Italians. The thirteen singers and twelve instrumentalists will be accommodated with and above the audience in the 16thcentury choirs stalls and organ loft.

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The Programme

A Festival of Music in Bologna, 28 September–3 October 2014

Left to right: Church of St Francis from The Four Stones of Italy; Jonathan Manson (©Girogia Bertazzi); Elizabeth Kenny (©Benjamin Ealovega).

The vocal group Odhecaton is dedicated to music of the Renaissance and preClassical period. Their prize-winning CD The Coronation Mass of Charles V was released in 2000 and has been followed by a steady stream of acclaimed recordings and tours. Musician and musicologist Paolo Da Col leads the ensemble.

Concert 3 Jonathan Manson cello Elizabeth Kenny lute

Oratorio di San Giovanni Battista dei Fiorentini Baroque Cello & Lute

Among the works performed are a cello sonata by Domenico Gabrielli, J.S. Bach’s C minor cello suite and pieces for lute by Piccinini. Gabrielli (1659–1690) was the most prominent of cellist composers in Bologna, and helped advance the emergence of the cello as a solo instrument. His sonata is connected to the Bach suite by a particular tuning characteristic of Bologna that produces a freer and more resonant sound and makes certain double stops possible. Alessandro Piccinini (1566–1638) was a native of Bologna and one of the most important composers for the lute in the 17th century. info@martinrandall.co.uk

Jonathan Manson is one of the most internationally sought-after period cellists and performs as principal with leading early music ensembles including the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. He is also a leading exponent of the viol da gamba. As a lute player Elizabeth Kenny is equally in demand for solo, chamber and opera house assignments. Her own group, Theatre of the Ayre, creates imaginative and original performances of the early music repertoire.

Fountain in the Palazzo Bevilacqua, engraving from The Story of Bologna, 1923.

The brick-built Basilica of San Petronio is one of the largest Gothic churches in Europe (in Italy it is exceeded only by Milan cathedral). It was the centre of civic as well as of church life (it was only transferred from the city to the diocese in 1929), and in the 16th and 17th centuries it was renowned for its music.

Now the property of a bank and very rarely accessible, the Oratorio di S.G. Battista dei Fiorentini was built in the later 16th century as a chapel and meeting place for the Florentine community, and was redecorated a hundred years later. Lavish, exuberant, High Baroque illusionistic frescoes cover every surface.

Independent or group travel?

For the independent traveller or a group tour? The answer is both. It’s up to you to choose the degree of independence you wish to maintain during the festival.

can have group dinners every evening, sign up for some art-historical walks and visits and take advantage of any assistance offered for getting to the venues.

If you are uneasy about travelling as part of a group, you can avoid the optional extras and participate in the festival merely by turning up to the concerts (we tell you where, when, how to get there). The rest of the time is your own.

Though there will be up to 200 participants, you will frequently find yourself in much smaller units.

But if you prefer to have some guidance and assistance and opportunity for social interaction you 5

Participants are spread through three hotels, and numbers at each restaurant and on the optional walks and visits are limited. Special attention will be paid by festival staff to participants travelling on their own.

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The Programme

A Festival of Music in Bologna, 28 September–3 October 2014 The Schubert Ensemble (©John Clark).

Ian Page of Classical Opera Company.

Concert 4

Palazzo Montanari

from the opera (the whole would be over three hours), interspersed with music composed by Mozart in Italy during his sojourns there between 1770 and 1773, which included a few months in Bologna.

2014 is the tercentenary of the birth of Christoph Willibald Gluck, and Bologna was the site of the première of his 1762 opera Il Trionfo di Clelia. This full-length concert consists of a selection of pieces

Classical Opera brings to life the music of Mozart and his contemporaries, combining musical flair and excellence with a vibrant spirit of discovery. With a commitment to quality and authenticity, the company has an

Classical Opera Ian Page director Gluck & Mozart

Christophe Gluck, steel engraving 1869 after a painting by JosephSiffrède Duplessis (1725–1802).

outstanding reputation for the freshness of its performances, its imaginative programming and its nurturing of exceptional young artists. Performing with its own period-instrument orchestra, the company visits such prestigious venues as Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, Sadler’s Wells and the Barbican, and recently embarked on an ambitious project to record all of Mozart’s stage works. The setting is the splendid Rococo hall of the Palazzo Montanari, a palace which remains with the family who acquired it in 1860. It was built in the 16th century for the noble Aldrovandi family but its current appearance dates to the refurbishment finished in 1752. The architect was Alfonso Torreggiani and the frescoes are by Vittorio Bigari and Stefano Orlandi.

Concert 5 The Schubert Ensemble

Sala Mozart, Accademia Filarmonica Chamber Music in the Accademia

The Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna was founded in 1666 as a society for professional musicians, among whom were some of the most accomplished in Italy, but it was as a teaching institution that it acquired international fame. During the early Classical period in particular, the didactic skills of Padre Martini attracted Grétry from Belgium, Mysliveček from Bohemia, Berezovsky from Ukraine, J.C. Bach from Leipzig and, most famously, in 1770 Mozart from Salzburg. M A RT I N R A N D A L L T R AV E L

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The Programme

A Festival of Music in Bologna, 28 September–3 October 2014

Among the composers who were associated with the academy in later centuries were Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Arrigo Boito, Richard Wagner, Jules Massenet, Camille SaintSaëns, Giacomo Puccini, John Field, Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms, Anton Rubinstein, Ferruccio Busoni and Ottorino Respighi. In this programme dedicated to composers associated with the Accademia, the central place is given to the Piano Quintet (1902) by Ottorino Respighi (1879–1936), a native of Bologna, who was one of the few Italian composers to make significant contributions to the chamber repertoire in the Romantic era. Brahms, represented here by his much loved First Piano Quartet, was one of many important composers who received honorary fellowships of the Accademia in the late 19th century, at a time when it became an important centre of chamber and orchestral performance. The Schubert Ensemble is among the world’s leading exponents of music for piano and strings. Formed in 1983, it has performed in over 40 countries, has recorded over 30 CDs and appears regularly in major London concert halls and on BBC Radio 3. In 1998 it won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Best Chamber Ensemble Award, for which it was shortlisted again in 2010.

Concert 6 The Dufay Collective

Basilica di Santo Stefano

Faith & Devotion in the Middle Ages

Above: Basilica di Santo Stefano, wood engraving c. 1880.

Dufay Collective present the music of procession, saints days, private devotion and public ceremony as practiced in latemediaeval Italian towns. The range is broad, including the subtle eloquence of the motets of Guillaume Dufay, who worked in Bologna between 1426 and 1428, the finely

Santo Stefano is a fascinating cluster of churches, chapels, cloisters and conventual buildings. Much is 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque, but parts of the fabric are earlier, some perhaps dating to its 5th-century foundation by St Petronius, and there is clear re-use of ancient Roman material. The complex continued to undergo change later in the Middle Ages and beyond. Bologna was a thriving medieval urban centre, and the musical life of its many churches and religious fraternities was particularly rich. In this concert The info@martinrandall.co.uk

wrought frottole of Josquin de Prez and the robust processional laude associated with the festive processions for local saints. Instruments and voices combine to create a vibrant and varied musical representation of religious faith, an essential and ever-present aspect of mediaeval culture. Formed in 1987, the Dufay Collective has remained at the forefront of mediaeval and Renaissance music interpretation. The group has toured the world, and critical acclaim has greeted all their recordings. Thorough musicological research, inspired programming, virtuosic performances and entertaining presentation turn their performances into uplifting occasions. The Dufay Collective

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The Programme, Speakers

A Festival of Music in Bologna, 28 September–3 October 2014

Engraving c. 1880. Accademia Bizantina.

Concert 7 Accademia Bizantina Ottavio Dantone director

Palazzo Albergati, Sala Grande

Concerti Grossi for Trumpet & Strings Situated on the agricultural plain outside Bologna, rising high and sheer from a superannuated arboretum, the imposing bulk of the Palazzo Albergati is a startling sight. External austerity masks interior sumptuousness, 1660s Baroque with vigorous sculpture and abundant frescoes – martial symbols, mythologies and pastorales – and suites of rooms cocooning a three-storey, 37-metre hall. During the 18th century the palace was renowned as a lively centre for cultural and social activities, hosting popes, princes, musicians, men and women of letters and distinguished drones. This is the setting for the final concert and gala dinner. Accademia Bizantina, one of the world’s leading period ensembles, presents a programme of concerti grossi and other works by composers who were Bolognese by birth or by later association: Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713), Giuseppe Torelli (1658–1709), Antonio Montanari (1676– 1737) and Girolamo Niccolò Laurenti (1678–1751). Founded in 1983, the ensemble is celebrated for its colourful interpretation of 17th- and 18th-century Italian music. Since 2012 the artistic and musical direction of Accademia Bizantina has been entrusted to Ottavio Dantone, and with his discipline and refinement, M A RT I N R A N D A L L T R AV E L

together with the enthusiasm and complicity on the part of each instrumentalist, Accademia Bizantina is among the most refined and vivacious ensembles of early music present today on the international stage.

The spoken word Professor John Bryan gives daily talks on the music. He is Professor of Music and Head of Music and Drama at the University of Huddersfield, and a member of the Rose Consort of Viols and Musica Antiqua, with whom he has toured and recorded extensively. He is artistic adviser to York Early Music Festival, and regular contributor on BBC Radio 3. John also founded the North East Early Music Forum. He regularly conducts the York Chamber Orchestra, and as Musical Director of York Opera has conducted Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Britten’s Albert Herring. Optional walks will also be led during the festival by art historians Dr R. T. Cobianchi and Angus Haldane, and pianist William Howard gives a musically-illustrated talk. Festival participants will be invited to book these at a later stage.

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More about the concerts

Exclusive access. All the concerts are planned and administered by Martin Randall Travel, and the audience consists exclusively of those who have taken the full festival package. The concerts are therefore effectively private. Seating. Specific seats are not reserved. You sit where you want. Some seating may not be very comfortable. Acoustics. This festival is more concerned with authenticity than with acoustical perfection. Some venues have idiosyncrasies or reverberations of the sort which are not found in modern purpose-built concert halls. Heating/air-conditioning. None of the venues have efficient heating or air-conditioning. Capacity. There will be about 200 participants on the festival. Some venues are too small to accommodate this number so here the audience is divided and the concerts repeated. Changes. Musicians may fall ill, venues may have to close for repairs, airlines may alter schedules: there are many circumstances which could necessitate changes to the programme. We ask you to be understanding should they occur.

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The Package, Prices

A Festival of Music in Bologna, 28 September–3 October 2014

The festival package

Access to the concerts is exclusive to those who take the festival package, the price for which includes:

All tips for restaurant staff, porters, drivers, etc. All state and airport taxes and obligatory charges.

Seven concerts. These are essentially private, and tickets to individual events will not be available.

During the festival there will be a team of Italian-speaking staff to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Every participant is provided with comprehensive information in a printed programme.

Accommodation for five nights in one of three carefully selected hotels within the historic centre of Bologna. Flights from Heathrow to Bologna or Gatwick to Venice, with British Airways (there is a price reduction for not taking these).

In addition, there are extra services which can be booked: The option of arriving a day early at your hotel in Bologna (see overleaf for details of what is included).

Coach transfers from Bologna and Venice airports to the hotels and vice versa. If you book your own flights, we can provide transfers provided your flights coincide with one of the festival flights.

An optional package of two extra dinners, which means each evening is spent in the company of other festival participants (details available at a later stage).

Meals: three dinners, all with wine, water and coffee, and all breakfasts. Two meals will be in selected restaurants close to the hotels or venues, and the third will be in Palazzo Albergati, the venue for the final concert of the festival.

A range of visits and short walks led by art historians and appropriate experts (details available at a later stage).

Lectures on the music of Bologna by experts.

Prices – See overleaf for hotel descriptions ARRIVING 28 SEPTEMBER Prices are per person

Single occupancy

Two people sharing

Single

Double

Superior double

Deluxe double

Double or twin

Hotel Commercianti

-

£2,800

-

£2,920

£2,590

-

Hotel Corona d’Oro

£2,700

£2,950

-

£3,020

£2,700

-

£3,300

£3,550

£3,920

£3,050

Grand Hotel Majestic

ARRIVING 27 SEPTEMBER Prices are per person

Superior Deluxe double/twin double/twin

Junior suite

Suite

£2,670

£2,770

£2,890

-

£2,770

-

£2,940

£3,180

£3,450

£3,840

£4,180

Single occupancy

Two people sharing

Single

Double

Superior double

Deluxe double

Double or twin

Hotel Commercianti

-

£2,920

-

£3,060

£2,670

-

Hotel Corona d’Oro

£2,810

£3,080

-

£3,160

£2,780

-

£3,510

£3,790

£4,240

£3,210

Grand Hotel Majestic

Superior Deluxe double/twin double/twin

Junior suite

Suite

£2,760

£2,870

£3,010

-

£2,860

-

£3,060

£3,350

£3,680

£4,130

£4,530

No flights

The price reduction for not taking one of the festival flight options is £160 per person. See overleaf for information about travelling to and from the festival.

info@martinrandall.co.uk

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Hotels

A Festival of Music in Bologna, 28 September–3 October 2014

Hotels

Participants are accommodated in three hotels. All are in the historic centre of Bologna.

Hotel Commercianti, 4-star

A traditional hotel, formerly a palazzo, situated next to the Basilica of San Petronio. The smallest of the three hotels on the festival (37 rooms), it has a wonderfully intimate atmosphere and will exclusively accommodate our group (if all rooms are booked). Rooms vary in size and decor and all are classically furnished and comfortable. The hotel has a small bar and no restaurant, but is only a few minutes on foot from good restaurants. www.bolognarthotels.it/hotelcommercianti.aspx

Hotel Corona d’Oro, 4-star

An elegant, well-maintained hotel, five minutes’ walk from the Two Towers and Piazza Maggiore. The 40-odd rooms are tastefully furnished in a modern Italian style and most are spacious. Singles have a French bed and are small but comfortable. The hotel has a small bar and no restaurant, but is only a few minutes on foot from good restaurants.

Double bedroom with terrace.

Foyer.

Suite.

www.bolognarthotels.it/hotel-corona-doro.aspx

Grand Hotel Majestic, 5-star

A luxurious hotel, the oldest and most prestigious in the city. It is conveniently situated on the Via Indipendenza, near Piazza Maggiore, and boasts an excellent restaurant with Caracci-school frescoes. There are just over 100 rooms, each of which is unique, richly decorated and lavishly furnished with heavy curtains. There is a small spa and gym, and a courtyard terrace.

Deluxe double room.

Junior suite.

http://grandhotelmajestic.duetorrihotels. com

Arriving a day early

We are offering the option of arriving at your chosen hotel in Bologna on 27 September, a day before the festival starts (see previous page for prices). Dinner is independent, though participants will be offered the opportunity to join the two ‘optional dinners’ in due course. M A RT I N R A N D A L L T R AV E L

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Engraving from The Story of Bologna, 1923.

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Travel Options

A Festival of Music in Bologna, 28 September–3 October 2014

Travel to and from the festival

Fountain of Neptune, wood engraving c. 1880.

Flights between London Heathrow and Bologna, or London Gatwick and Venice, are included in the package price. There is a price reduction if you make your own travel arrangements.

Option 1: Heathrow to Bologna, a day early

27 September: depart Heathrow 08.30, arrive Bologna 11.35 (BA 540). 3 October: depart Bologna 12.40, arrive Heathrow 13.55 (BA 541).

Option 2: Heathrow to Bologna, a day early

27 September: depart Heathrow 14.55, arrive Bologna 18.00 (BA 542). 3 October: depart Bologna 18.50, arrive Heathrow 19.55 (BA 545).

Option 3: Gatwick to Venice, a day early

27 September: depart Gatwick 13.30, arrive Venice Marco Polo 16.30 (BA 2584). 3 October: depart Venice Marco Polo 16.10, arrive Gatwick 17.15 (BA 2585).

Option 4: Heathrow to Bologna, day 1 of the festival

28 September: depart Heathrow 08.30, arrive Bologna 11.35 (BA 540). 3 October: depart Bologna 12.40, arrive Heathrow 13.55 (BA 541).

Option 5: Heathrow to Bologna, day 1 of the festival

28 September: depart Heathrow 14.55, arrive Bologna 18.00 (BA 542). 3 October: depart Bologna 18.50, arrive Heathrow 19.55 (BA 545). Please note that if taking this flight dinner is late on the first day of the festival.

EasyJet

EasyJet fly from London Gatwick to Bologna. As we are not able to make a group booking with them, we suggest that you choose the ‘No flights’ option above and make the booking yourself. We will provide coach transfers between the airport and centre of Bologna to link with the following flights: 28 September: depart Gatwick 09.15, arrive Bologna 12.20 (EZY 8989). 3 October: depart Bologna 12.30, arrive Gatwick 13.40 (EZY 8990).

No flights

You can take the package without flights and make your own arrangements for joining and leaving the festival. The price reduction for this is £160. You are welcome to join a coach transfer to your hotel in Bologna should you decide to meet at one of the airports above at a time which coincides with one of our flight arrivals. info@martinrandall.co.uk

This brochure was designed inhouse by Jo Murray. The text was written and edited chiefly by Lizzie Howard and Martin Randall.

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Fitness for the festival

To be able to participate in this festival, you should have no difficulties with everyday walking and stair climbing. You should be able to walk unaided for at least thirty minutes. Pavements are often uneven, traffic can be unpredictable, many of the venues have steps and few have lifts. Festival staff will not be able to assist individuals with walking difficulties or disabilities. All of the concerts within Bologna are less than thirty minutes on foot from each of the hotels, though most are much closer. Although there is no age limit for this festival, we stress the need for agility and ability to walk at a reasonable pace. If at any stage, including the airport, you would like the use of a wheelchair then this festival is unlikely to be suitable for you.

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Pre-festival tour

A Festival of Music in Bologna, 28 September–3 October 2014

Parma & the Via Emilia Churches, Cathedrals & Castles in Emilia-Romagna 22–27 September 2014 (mb 125) 6 days • £1,860 Lecturer: Dr R. T. Cobianchi Bound by the River Po to the north and the Apennines to the south, this wedge of Italy is replete with fascinating cities and great works of art, yet is still undeservedly neglected by cultural travellers. With probably not one hundredth of the visitors which Florence and Venice receive and many fewer than, say, Verona or Siena, one can view great architecture and worldclass artworks without the dispiriting intrusions of a large-scale tourist industry. Across this undulating plain, one of the most fertile in Italy, the Romans founded a large number of prosperous towns and linked them by the Via Emilia which ran from Milan to the Adriatic coast. In the Middle Ages the region fragmented into a number of independent city states which, whether under a communal or despotic form of government, constructed mighty town halls, vast churches and splendid palaces, and caused great works of art to be created. At the beginning of the modern era, they were parcelled out between a motley collection of usually foreign and invariably unenlightened rulers, and they slumped into a torpor from which they did not recover until the Risorgimento. Nevertheless, a succession of great artists continued to appear, particularly in sixteenth-century Parma, while the relative lack of prosperity resulted in the preservation of the city centres. One aspect of the allure of the towns here is that they successfully reconcile the often incompatible features of economic well-being and ancient, unspoilt and enchantingly picturesque streetscape. The cities now enjoy an envied reputation within Italy for quality of life and gastronomic excellence. Parma, one of the loveliest of the smaller cities in Italy, has been chosen as the base for this tour.

Romanesque cathedrals in the region, with marvellous 12th-century sculpture by Wiligelmo. Fly from Bologna to Heathrow arriving at c. 8.00pm, or continue to Bologna for A Festival of Music in Bologna.

Parma, Duomo, from Illustrations to Hope’s Essay on Architecture, 1835.

Final day of the festival, 3 October. Fly from Bologna, arriving London Heathrow at c. 2.00pm.

Lecturer

Itinerary

Day 1: Lodi. Fly at c. 10.30am from London Heathrow to Milan. Drive to the attractive town of Lodi, with a Romanesque cathedral and L’Incoronata, a richly decorated Renaissance church. Continue to Parma. Day 2: Parma. Parma is of great importance for its High Renaissance school of painting. The cathedral and baptistery are outstanding for their Romanesque architecture and sculpture. See the astonishingly vital and illusionistic frescoes by Correggio in the cathedral, as well as the church of S. Giovanni and the exquisite Camera di S. Paolo. In the Palazzo della Pilotta is a good art collection and a rare Renaissance theatre. Day 3: Cremona. Once a major Lombard city state, Cremona has one of the handsomest squares in Italy, composed of the magnificent Romanesque cathedral, Italy’s tallest mediaeval campanile, baptistery and Gothic civic buildings. Visit S. Sigismondo, a basilica built to commemorate a Sforza marriage. Other visits include S. Agostino where there is a Perugino, and the civic museum. Day 4: Piacenza, Fidenza. Piacenza has many mediaeval buildings on its Roman grid plan, among them an outstanding town hall and Romanesque cathedral. The statue of Alessandro Farnese is a masterpiece of Baroque sculpture. Visit the Romanesque basilica of S. Savino and the Palazzo Farnese museum which houses Botticelli’s Madonna Adoring Child with Little St. John. Fidenza has a beautiful Romanesque cathedral, with excellent sculpture. Day 5: Parma, Soragna, Fontanellato. A free morning in Parma. In the afternoon, visit the splendidly decorated castle in Soragna. Fontanellato is a little town with an enchanting moated castle containing wonderful frescoes by Parmigianino. Day 6: Torrechiara, Modena. The castle in Torrechiara has 15th-century frescoes. Modena, capital since the 16th century of the Este dukedom, has one of the finest

M A RT I N R A N D A L L T R AV E L

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Dr R. T. Cobianchi. Art historian and lecturer. He completed his PhD at Warwick University and was a Rome Scholar at The British School in Rome and fellow of the Biblioteca Hertziana, Rome, and Villa I Tatti, Florence­. His research includes iconography and patronage of the late Middle Ages to the Baroque.

Practicalities

Price: £1,860 (deposit £200). This includes: flights (Euro Traveller) with British Airways (Airbus 319/320); private coach; accommodation; breakfasts; 3 dinners with wine, water, coffee; admissions; tips; taxes; the services of the lecturer. Single supplement £230. Price without flights £1,640. If combining this tour with the festival and taking our flights, we charge you the full price (with flights) for this tour, and the reduced (‘no flights’) price for the festival. Hotel: Hotel Stendhal, a quiet and tasteful 4-star hotel, excellently located in the historic centre. How strenuous? There is a lot of walking on this tour, and it would not be suitable for anyone who has difficulties with everyday walking or stair-climbing. Average distance by coach per day: 62 miles. Small group: 10–22 participants. Please tick to arrive on the 27 September (‘Arrive a day early’) on the festival booking form, unless you are making your own arrangements in Bologna for the night of 27–28 September. Te l e p h o n e 0 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5


Booking form

A Festival of Music in Bologna, 28 September–3 October 2014

A Festival of Music in Bologna 28 September–3 October 2014 TRAVELLERS’ NAMES. Give your name(s) as you would like it/ them to appear on documents issued to other participants. 1.

2.

ADDRESS for correspondence. Mobile Fax Postcode

E-mail Please tick if you do NOT want to receive regular email updates on our range of cultural tours and music festivals.

Telephone (home)

HOTEL & ROOM TYPE (see page 10). Please tick. Single occupancy

Hotel Commercianti

Single

ARRIVE A DAY EARLY

Double for single occupancy

-

Tick to arrive in your hotel on 27 September (see pages 9–10 for details and prices).

Deluxe double

-

Hotel Corona d’Oro

-

Grand Hotel Majestic

Double occupancy

Superior double

-

Double

Twin

Superior double

Superior twin

Hotel Commercianti

-

-

Hotel Corona d’Oro

-

-

Deluxe double

Deluxe twin

Junior suite (double)

Junior suite (twin)

-

-

Suite (double)

Suite (twin)

Grand Hotel Majestic PRE-FESTIVAL TOUR. Tick to add to your booking.

Parma & the Via Emilia, 22–27 September 2014 (mb 125) Room type: Double room for single occupancy Twin room (two sharing) Double room (two sharing)

FESTIVAL FLIGHTS (see page 11). Please tick. Arriving a day early (27 September): Option 1. Heathrow–Bologna, dep. 08.30, rtn 13.55 Option 2. Heathrow–Bologna, dep. 14.55, rtn 19.55 Option 3. Gatwick–Venice, dep. 13.30, rtn 17.15 Arriving on the first day of the festival (28 September):

Flights:

Option 4. Heathrow–Bologna, dep. 08.30, rtn 13.55

With flights

Option 5. Heathrow–Bologna, dep. 14.55, rtn 19.55

No flights (making your own travel arrangements for both this tour and the festival) You do not need to select a ‘festival flight’ option if booking this tour.

No flights: Tick if you will make your own travel arrangements.


Booking form

A Festival of Music in Bologna, 28 September–3 October 2014

SPECIAL REQUESTS including dietary needs:

PASSPORT DETAILS. In block capitals please. Essential for airlines and in case of emergency during the festival: Traveller 1

Traveller 2

Title

Title

Surname

Surname

Forename(s)

Forename(s)

Date of birth (dd/mm/yy)

Date of birth (dd/mm/yy)

Passport number

Passport number

Place of birth

Place of birth

Place of issue

Place of issue

Nationality

Nationality

Relation to you

Date of issue (dd/mm/yy)

Date of issue (dd/mm/yy)

Telephone

Date of expiry (dd/mm/yy)

Date of expiry (dd/mm/yy)

NEXT OF KIN or contact in case of emergency. Name

PAYMENT EITHER Deposit(s) at £300 per person for the festival plus £200 per person if booking the pre-festival tour: Total:

£

OR Full payment which is required within ten weeks of departure: Total:

£

EITHER by cheque. Please make cheques payable to Martin Randall Travel Ltd and write the festival code (mb 142) on the back. OR by credit or debit card. Visa/ Mastercard/ Amex: Card number Start date

Expiry date

M artin R andall T ravel 5085

OR by bank transfer. Please use your surname and the festival code (mb 142) as a reference and please allow for all bank charges. Tick if you have paid by bank transfer: Account name: Martin Randall Travel Ltd. Royal Bank of Scotland, Drummonds, 49 Charing Cross, London SW1A 2DX. Account number: 0019 6050. Sort code: 16-00-38 IBAN: GB71 RBOS 1600 3800 1960 50. Swift/BIC: RBOS GB2L I have read and agree to the Booking Conditions on behalf of all listed on this form. Signed Date

Voysey House, Barley Mow Passage, London, UK, W4 4GF Telephone +44 (0)20 8742 3355 Fax +44 (0)20 8742 7766 info@martinrandall.co.uk

www.martinrandall.com

Australia: telephone 1300 55 95 95 New Zealand: telephone 0800 877 622 anz@martinrandall.com.au Canada: telephone 647 382 1644 canada@martinrandall.ca USA: telephone 1 800 988 6168


Booking details

Making a Booking 1. Provisional booking

We recommend that you contact us first to ascertain that your preferred hotel and room type is still available. Then you can make a provisional booking which we will hold for one week (longer if necessary) pending receipt of your completed booking form and deposit.

2. Definite booking

Fill in the booking form and send it to us with the deposit (£300 for the festival; more if taking a pre-festival tour). It is important that you read the Booking Conditions at this stage, and that you sign the booking form. Full payment is required if you are booking within ten weeks of the festival.

3. Our confirmation

Upon receipt of your booking form and deposit we shall send you confirmation of your booking. After this your deposit is nonreturnable except in the special circumstances mentioned in the Booking Conditions. Further details of the festival will also be sent at this stage.

Booking Conditions Please read these

You need to sign your assent to these booking conditions on the booking form.

Our promises to you

We aim to be fair, reasonable and sympathetic in all our dealings with clients, and to act always with integrity. We will meet all our legal and regulatory responsibilities, often going beyond the minimum obligations. We aim to provide full and accurate information about our tours and festivals. If there are changes, we will tell you promptly. If something does go wrong, we will try to put it right. Our overriding aim is to ensure that every client is satisfied with our services.

All we ask of you

We ask that you read the information we send to you.

Specific terms

Our contract with you. From the time we receive your signed booking form and initial payment, a contract exists between you and Martin Randall Travel Ltd. Eligibility. We reserve the right to refuse to accept a booking without necessarily giving a reason. It is essential to be able to cope with the walking and stair-climbing required to

A Festival of Music in Bologna, 28 September–3 October 2014 get to the concert venues. See ‘Fitness for the festival’. If for any stage, including the airport, you would like the use of a wheelchair, then this festival is unlikely to be suitable for you. While there is no age limit on the festival, unfortunately we do not accept bookings on the pre-festival tours from anyone who would be aged 81 or over. Insurance. It is a requirement of booking that you have adequate holiday insurance. Cover for medical treatment, repatriation, loss of property and cancellation charges must be included. Insurance can be obtained from most insurance companies, banks, travel agencies and (in the UK) many retail outlets including Post Offices. Passports and visas. Participants must have passports, valid for at least six months beyond the date of the festival. No visas are required for Italy for UK or other EU citizens, or for citizens of the USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand. Nationals of other countries should ascertain whether visas are required in their case, and obtain them if they are. If you cancel. If you have to cancel your participation in the festival or pre-festival tour, there would be a charge which varies according to the period of notice you give. Up to 57 days before departure the deposit only is forfeited. Thereafter a percentage of the total cost will be due: between 56 and 29 days: between 28 and 15 days: between 14 and 3 days (inclusive): within 48 hours:

40% 60% 80% 100%

We take as the day of cancellation that on which we receive written confirmation of cancellation. If we cancel the festival or tour. We might decide to cancel the festival or tour if at any time up to eight weeks before there were insufficient bookings for it to be viable. We would refund everything you had paid to us. We might also cancel if hostilities, civil unrest, natural disaster or other circumstances amounting to force majeure affect the region. Safety and security. If the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against travel to places visited on the festival or tour, we would cancel or adjust the itinerary to avoid the risky area. In the event of cancellation before the festival or tour commenced we would give you a full refund. Financial protection. We provide full financial protection for our package holidays, by way of our Air Travel Organiser’s Licence number 3622. When you buy an ATOL protected flight inclusive holiday from us you receive an ATOL Certificate. This lists what is financially protected, where you can get information on what this means for you and who to contact

if things go wrong. We will provide you with the services listed on the ATOL Certificate (or a suitable alternative). In some cases, where we aren’t able do so for reasons of insolvency, an alternative ATOL holder may provide you with the services you have bought or a suitable alternative (at no extra cost to you). You agree to accept that in those circumstances the alternative ATOL holder will perform those obligations and you agree to pay any money outstanding to be paid by you under your contract to that alternative ATOL holder. However, you also agree that in some cases it will not be possible to appoint an alternative ATOL holder, in which case you will be entitled to make a claim under the ATOL scheme (or your credit card issuer where applicable). If we, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL certificate, are unable to provide the services listed (or a suitable alternative, through an alternative ATOL holder or otherwise) for reasons of insolvency, the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust may make a payment to (or confer a benefit on) you under the ATOL scheme. You agree that in return for such a payment or benefit you assign absolutely to those Trustees any claims which you have or may have arising out of or relating to the non-provision of the services, including any claim against us (or your credit card issuer where applicable). You also agree that any such claims maybe re-assigned to another body, if that other body has paid sums you have claimed under the ATOL scheme. We provide full financial protection for our package holidays that do not include a flight, by way of a bond held by ABTA The Trade Association. The limits of our liabilities. As principal, we accept responsibility for all ingredients of the festival and pre-festival tours, except those in which the principle of force majeure prevails. Our obligations and responsibilities are also limited where international conventions apply in respect of air, sea or rail carriers, including the Warsaw Convention and its various updates. If we make changes. Circumstances might arise which prevent us from operating the festival exactly as advertised. We would try to devise a satisfactory alternative, but if the change represents a significant loss to the festival we would offer compensation. If you decide to cancel because the alternative we offer is not acceptable we would give a full refund. English Law. These conditions form part of your contract with Martin Randall Travel Ltd and are governed by English law. All proceedings shall be within the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.


M A RT I N R A N D A L L T R AV E L A RT • A R C H I T E C T U R E • G A S T R O N O M Y • A R C H A E O L O G Y • H I S T O R Y • M U S I C • L I T E R AT U R E

Voysey House, Barley Mow Passage, London, W4 4GF Telephone +44 (0)20 8742 3355 Fax +44 (0)20 8742 7766 info@martinrandall.co.uk Australia: Martin Randall Australasia, PO Box 537, Toowong, QLD 4066 Telephone 1300 55 95 95 (toll free) or 07 3377 0141 Fax 07 3377 0142 anz@martinrandall.com.au From New Zealand: telephone 0800 877 622 (toll free) Canada: telephone 647 382 1644 Fax 416 925 2670 canada@martinrandall.ca From the USA: telephone 1 800 988 6168

5085

www.martinrandall.com

‘It is above all the music which makes a Martin Randall festival the highlight of my year!’ Front cover: photograph of the ceiling of the Palazzo Albergati. Map (above) from The Story of Bologna, 1923.


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