MOZART ALONG THE DANUBE AN INTRODUCTION

Eight private concerts in appropriate historic buildings, world-class artists, illuminating talks, a daily diet of beautiful landscape and picturesque streets, the comfort and convenience of a first-class river cruiser: this iteration of Music Along the Danube follows the winning formula that we first launched in 1994 – with, for the first time, a programme which is mainly Mozart.

Music And Place

The key feature is the combination of music and place. Concerts take place in buildings that are among the most beautiful in the Danube valley – palaces, monasteries, country houses and a historic theatre – and all date to the 18th century. Mozart would have known many of them and probably performed in some.

Exclusive Concerts

The performances are private, being exclusive to the participants who take the festival package (see details opposite). The small size of the audience and venues leads to an intimacy that engenders a rare intensity of musical communication. Musicians love playing for this festival. Not only are the venues an inspiring change from conventional concert halls, but the audiences are attentive and appreciative.

Travelling In Comfort

Chartered exclusively for the festival audience (122 maximum), the MS Riva was launched in 2023. Acting as both hotel and principal means of transport, it enables passengers to attend all the concerts and see some of the finest sights in the region without having to change hotel or drive long distances. In many ways, however, your experience will be far removed from the usual cruising routine. There is little regimentation, no obligatory seating plan, no on-board entertainment, no intrusive announcements – and absolutely no piped music.

The Spoken Word

Daily talks by music historians enlighten, stimulate, and inform. On board the ship the speaker is Nicholas Kenyon and Richard Wigmore accompanies the walking party – see opposite for their biographies.

For Your Eyes

The itinerary takes you through some of the most enchanting riverine landscape in Europe. This stretch of the Danube is largely flanked by rumpled hills, clad in woodland and pasture and striated by viticulture. We visit deliciously picturesque towns and villages and spend time in the incomparable city of Vienna, magnificent relic of a great empire. Art and architecture of the 18th century are major ingredients of the festival.

The Walking Alternative

Walking the Danube mixes the concerts with country walks. Five of the concerts are included, and there are five walks of around two hours beside or close to the Danube. Participants stay in hotels rather than on the ship, and have their own speaker and walks leader – the renowned musicologist Richard Wigmore. The group is limited to 22 participants.

Nicholas Kenyon

Critic, music historian and arts manager, Nicholas Kenyon is author of the Faber Pocket Guide to Mozart (2005). He was Managing Director of the Barbican Centre 2007–21, Controller of BBC Radio 3 from 1992 and Director of the BBC Proms 1996–2007. Currently he is opera critic of the Telegraph and a visiting scholar in the Faculty of Music at the University of Cambridge. Among his other writings are the Life of Music (Yale 2021), the Faber Pocket Guide to Bach (2011) and a biography of Simon Rattle. Twitter: @NickRKenyon

Richard Wigmore

Music writer, lecturer and broadcaster for BBC Radio 3. He writes for BBC Music Magazine and Gramophone and has taught classes in Lieder history and interpretation at the Guildhall, Trinity College of Music and Birkbeck College. He read French and German at Cambridge and later studied Music at the Guildhall. His publications include Schubert: The Complete Song Texts and Pocket Guide to Haydn . He has led the walking party for the Danube Festival since its inception many years ago. Website: wigmoresworld.co.uk

Martin Randall Festivals

The Festival Package

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

— Eight private concerts.

— Daily talks on the music.

This festival has been devised and planned by Martin Randall and Lizzie Watson. It follows the format that Martin Randall established 30 years ago with our first Danube Music Festival Since then we have organised festivals along the Rhine, Loire and Seine rivers, in Suffolk, York, Oxford, Lincoln, the Cotswolds and the West Country, to Seville, Toledo, Burgos, Santiago, Venice, Rome, Bologna, Sicily, the Veneto, to St Petersburg, Prague, through Thuringia, and the Alentejo.

— Accommodation on a first-class river cruiser for seven nights (or in hotels for the walking party).

— Return flights between the UK and Munich – reduced price if you choose to opt out of these. (See page 20 ).

— All meals, with wine and other drinks, interval drinks.

— Coach travel for airport transfers and to the concert venues when not within walking distance of the mooring.

— Tips, taxes and admission charges.

— Programme booklet with full details of the event.

— Assistance of an experienced team of German-speaking festival staff.

— Optional post-festival tour: King Ludwig II. Full details to be confirmed – please contact us to register your interest.

See page 18 for prices.