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The Rhine Valley Festival of Song 29 May–5 June 2014
Ian Bostridge, Andreas Scholl, Birgid Steinberger, Roderick Williams, Stephan Loges, Elizabeth Watts, Markus Schäfer, Clara Mouriz, Christoph Prégardien, Renata Pokupić. Imogen Cooper, Roger Vignoles, Julius Drake, Sebastian Wybrew, Tobias Koch, Tamar Halperin.
The Rhine Valley Festival of Song 29 May–5 June 2014 Ten exceptional Lieder singers, six of the finest pianist-accompanists, ten beautiful, historic and appropriate halls; seven days of recitals, lectures and discussion: there has only been one event like it, and that was the hugely successful Danube Festival of Song in 2011, also arranged by us. But there is only one audience, of maximum 140, consisting of those who take the package which includes not only all the recitals but also accommodation, transport, meals and nearly everything else. (A small number of tickets are being sold locally for one recital only.) Most live for the week on board a modern and comfortable river cruiser, travelling the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel without having to pack and unpack on the way. A smaller group mixes concert-going with country walking, staying in hotels – two of which are also venues for concerts.
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Most of the venues are small, creating the closeness between performers and audience which so enhances the experience of this most intimate and reflective of musical forms. The spoken word, analytical, historical and anecdotal, plays an important role in the festival. There are daily talks by Richard Stokes, who has an unsurpassed knowledge of German-language poetry and is a much sought-after lecturer and singing teacher.
‘In every respect it was a truly wonderful and faultless festival.’ R.J., Western Australia, who travelled on The Rhine Valley Music Festival in 2012.
Contents Festival Travel Options ....................... 4 Concerts & Itinerary .....................5–12 The Ship, Hotels (for walkers) ............13 Practicalities & Prices ........................14 Pre-festival tour: The Renewed Rijksmuseum, 25–28 May 2014 ..... 15–16 Making a booking..............................16
All this is a spectacularly alluring offer for the devotee of art song, but for the less dedicated listener, will it be too rich or too limited a diet? We maintain that this is a festival which will be enjoyed by all music lovers.
Booking form .............................. 17–18 Booking Conditions ..........................19
Front cover illustration (and this page): Pfalz Castle and the Town of Laub, lithograph c. 1820.
Voysey House, Barley Mow Passage, London, UK, W4 4GF Telephone 020 8742 3355 Fax 020 8742 7766 info@martinrandall.co.uk
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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
The Rhine Valley Festival of Song, 29 May–5 June 2014
Introduction
The comfort of a river cruiser To this exceptional artistic experience is added a further pleasure: the comfort and convenience of a first-class river cruiser, chartered exclusively for the festival audience. The MS Amadeus Princess is the most comfortable passenger ship of the capacity we require on the Rhine. As both hotel and principal means of transport, the ship enables passengers to attend the concerts and visit some fine cities of the region without having to change hotel or travel long distances. Like our other river festivals there is little regimentation, no obligatory seating plan, no onboard entertainment, no intrusive announcements and no piped music.
Richard Stokes, Artistic Director An inspiring and widely acclaimed lecturer, Richard Stokes plays a key role in the festival through daily lectures and discussions on poets, composers, comparative settings and social background. Few people in the world know as much about Lieder as Richard. A linguist and literature teacher as well as a musicologist, he taught at Westminster School for many years, is now Visiting Professor of Lieder at the Royal College of Music and helps many singers with interpretation and language. He gives
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lectures and master classes all over Britain including, in London, St John’s Smith Square, Wigmore Hall and the Royal Festival Hall. He has published many translations of songs (including The Fischer-Dieskau Book of Lieder, A French Song Companion and The Complete Bach Cantatas), has translated operas (by Wagner, Berg and Poulenc) and poetry and prose (by Kafka, Kleist, Jules Renard and Alfred Brendel).
The Walking Party The walking alternative mixes country walks with concerts. Eight of the recitals from the festival are included, and six or seven walks of two to three hours beside or close to the Rhine. Participants stay in hotels rather than on the ship, two of which are also concert venues. The size of this group is limited to twenty-two participants. The tour starts and finishes a day before the main festival (the dates are the 28 May–4 June). See the text in grey under each day of ‘Concerts & Itinerary’ (pages 5–12) for the walking programme. The lecturer for this group is Richard Wigmore, music writer, lecturer and broadcaster for BBC Radio 3. He writes for The Daily Telegraph, BBC Music Magazine and Gramophone and gives classes in Lied history and interpretation at Birkbeck College, London. 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.
‘An Old Song’, engraving from The Illustrated London News, 1872. This brochure was designed inhouse by Jo Murray. The text was written and edited by Martin Randall and Sophie Wright. With thanks also to Julia MacRae.
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Festival Travel Options
Option 3: make your own arrangements
Please note that each outbound flight is tied to a particular inbound flight. You cannot mix flights from different options.
You can choose not to take any of these flights and to make your own arrangements for joining at Amsterdam and leaving in Basel. You are welcome to join one of the group transfers from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport on Day 1, or to Basel airport on Day 8, but please let us know in advance.
Option 1 Fly from London Heathrow to Amsterdam at 11.55am (BA 434, departing Heathrow 11.55, arriving Amsterdam Schiphol 14.05). Return to London Heathrow at 1.05pm (BA 753, departing Basel at 12.20, arriving London Heathrow at 13.05).
Option 2 Fly from London Heathrow to Amsterdam at 1.15pm (BA 438, departing Heathrow 13.15, arriving Amsterdam Schiphol 15.35). Return to London Heathrow at 6.40pm (BA 755, departing Basel 18.05, arriving Heathrow at 18.40). There is time for independent exploration of Basel before departing for London. It may be possible to arrange connecting flights with British Airways from Edinburgh, Manchester, Glasgow, Aberdeen or Belfast.
The festival team Martin Randall, Festival Director Martin Randall pioneered this model of allinclusive music festivals twenty years ago, and was largely responsible for the selection of artists and venues and for the overall design of the Festival.
There is a price reduction for this no-flights option of £190 per person.
By rail? We suggest you take Option 3 and book these yourselves (there is a price reduction of £190 per person). Currently it is possible to leave London St. Pancras at c. 9.00am and arrive at Amsterdam c. 4.00pm, changing in Brussels. For the return journey, leaving Basel at 12.30pm enables arrival at London St Pancras at 6.30pm, changing in Paris.
Map of the Rhine c. 1850.
Travel to and from the festival
Sophie Wright, Festival Manager One of the most experienced people at Martin Randall Travel, Sophie has worked on many of our music festivals and other events, in Spain, France and Germany, and was manager of our Rhine Valley Festival in 2012. She heads a team that set up and administered this Festival of Song, most of whom will accompany the event as well.
The Walking Party Wednesday 28th May: fly at c. 10.45am from London Gatwick to Amsterdam. Wednesday 4th June: fly from Frankfurt to London Heathrow, arriving at c. 6.00pm.
Pre-festival tour, The Renewed Rijksmuseum
Photos ©Bill Knight 2012.
Sunday 25th May: fly from London Gatwick to Amsterdam at c. 11.00am Thursday 5th June: return to London Heathrow at 1.05pm (Option 1). (see pages 15–16 for full details of this tour).
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Concerts & Itinerary
Wednesday 28 May (Walking Party only) Fly at c. 10.45am from London Gatwick to Amsterdam. Drive to the city centre and visit the newly reopened Rijksmuseum before continuing to Utrecht. First of two nights at the Grand Hotel Karel V in Utrecht.
Day 1, Thursday 29 May Amsterdam Amsterdam is as distinctive as it is beautiful. It grew rapidly in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries from a small and precarious sea port to become the greatest trading emporium in Europe. With its concentric canals and close-set brick merchant houses, soaring churches and picturesque alleys, the inner city has hardly changed since its heyday. The ship, MS Amadeus Princess, is ready for boarding from 4.00pm. Afternoon tea is served. After an introductory talk and an early dinner, leave by coach for the recital at the Concertgebouw. Opened in 1888, it is regarded as one of the finest concert halls in the world, and both halls are renowned for their acoustics. While the Great Hall seats c. 2000, our concert takes place in the more intimate setting of the Recital Hall. The Walking Party: there is a morning walk in Dutch countryside, followed by free time in Utrecht before returning to Amsterdam for dinner. Attend concert 1: Ian Bostridge and Sebastian Wybrew at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Overnight Utrecht.
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Left: Amsterdam, De Heere Gragt, aquatint c. 1790. Above: Ian Bostridge (©Ben Ealovega).
both in the UK and abroad. He regularly accompanies Dame Felicity Lott, Christopher Maltman and Sophie Bevan, with whom he made a critically acclaimed Wigmore Hall début in 2011.
Concert 1: Bostridge & Schubert Amsterdam, Concertgebouw Ian Bostridge, tenor Sebastian Wybrew, piano Ian Bostridge is one of Britain’s most distinguished and distinctive tenors, with an international recital career as well as regular operatic performances at Covent Garden, English National Opera and the Bavarian State Opera. His recordings have won major international prizes and have been nominated for twelve Grammys.
Schubert’s settings of the poetry of unrequited love by Ernst Schulze inspired such masterpieces as ‘Im Frühling’ and ‘Auf der Brücke’. The programme continues with some of Schubert’s best-loved songs, including ‘Sei mir gegrüßt!’, ‘Daß sie hier gewesen!’, ‘Die Forelle’ and ‘Fischerweise’. Return to the ship afterwards. Sail through the night along the Rhine Canal and the Waal, joining the Rhine upstream of Arnhem.
Since attending the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme at Aldeburgh Sebastian Wybrew has given recitals at festivals
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Day 2, Friday 30 May Schloss Lembeck Leave the Netherlands and enter Germany shortly after daybreak, and sail along the Lower Rhine through the rest of the morning. There is a lecture, and lunch, but otherwise the time is free until the early afternoon. Moor at Wesel and drive to the Schloss Lembeck near Dorsten, a delightful moated Wasserschloss (‘water castle’) situated in a park. It dates from the seventeenth century and retains its historic character though it is now a hotel (the walkers stay here – see page 13). The concert takes place in a small hall hung with ancestral portraits.
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Concerts & Itinerary
Attention to detail was unparalleled and no stone left unturned to ensure that one’s experience of the festival was as good as it could be.’
Concert 2: Songs of the Rhine Schloss Lembeck Stephan Loges, baritone Birgid Steinberger, soprano Roger Vignoles, piano
R.L., Perthshire, who travelled on The Rhine Valley Music Festival in 2012.
Bavarian soprano Birgid Steinberger has earned an international reputation as a recitalist and has performed regularly as a soloist at Vienna’s Staatsoper and Volksoper. Born in Dresden, and subsequently resident in London and now the Netherlands, Stephan Loges was an early winner of the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition and has given concert performances and recitals worldwide. Roger Vignoles is recognised as one of the world’s most distinguished piano accompanists. He regularly partners the finest singers in major venues around the world and is regarded as a leading authority on the song repertoire. He performs at four of the concerts on this festival.
Together the artists perform a programme of songs that are connected with the Rhine. Composers include Brahms, Cornelius, Liszt, Loewe, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Clara and Robert Schumann, Silcher and Wolf. Return to the ship in the evening and sail overnight from Wesel to Bonn. The Walking Party: leave Utrecht by coach, enjoy a walk in the vicinity of the Lower Rhine and arrive at the hotel in Lembeck in the early afternoon. Attend concert 2: details above. Overnight Schloss Lembeck.
Day 3, Saturday 31 May Bonn Famously disparaged as a village by the diplomatic corps when it was capital, Bonn had in fact been a significant centre of culture while seat of the Elector Archbishops of Cologne in the early modern period. In the eighteenth century a second-rate tenor inclined to drink, named Johann van Beethoven, was employed at the
Left: Schloss Lembeck, 20th-century linocut. Below (left to right): Stephan Loges (©Ana Alvarez Prada); Birgid Steinberger; Roger Vignoles (©Ben Ealovega).
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Concerts & Itinerary archiepiscopal court. His son was a better musician. The morning recital is in the Kammermusiksaal, a handsome modern chamber music hall attached to the Beethoven family home within walking distance of the mooring.
Concert 3: Piano by Beethoven & the Schumanns, Robert & Clara Bonn, Beethoven Haus, Kammermusiksaal Imogen Cooper piano Imogen Cooper is recognised worldwide as one of the finest interpreters of the classical repertoire, renowned for her virtuosity and poetic poise. She has made around 30 recordings as a soloist, accompanist, concerto and chamber pianist. This recital opens with one of Beethoven’s early sonatas, the third of Op.10, designated ‘Grande’ by the composer. Robert Schumann’s Sonata in F sharp minor quotes one of Clara Wieck’s ‘Four Characteristic Pieces’, and Clara’s own Romance in B minor, composed a few months after the death of Robert, is juxtaposed with his Romance in F sharp. There is some time for independent exploration of Bonn, perhaps to return to the Beethoven Haus with its remarkable collection of memorabilia, or to visit Bonn Minster, one of the most impressive monuments of the transitional period between Romanesque and Gothic. The afternoon recital takes place in the Schumann Haus, formerly the psychiatric
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hospital where Robert worked as music director before falling ill himself and dying there in 1856. The music library is the principal venue of the annual Schumann Festival. Being too small for all our audience, the concert is performed twice and we share one concert with the Festival and therefore with Bonn residents.
Concert 4: Settings of Heinrich Heine Bonn, Schumann Haus, Musikbibliothek Markus Schäfer, tenor Tobias Koch, piano Markus Schäfer is as renowned for his interpretations of Lieder as for his performances of Mozart’s great tenor roles and in Baroque opera. His accompanist Tobias Koch regularly appears both as a soloist and as a chamber musician at festivals throughout Europe. He is particularly known for his interpretation of works by Schumann.
Above left: Imogen Cooper (©Sussie Ahlburg). Above right: Markus Schäfer. Below: Bonn, steel engraving c. 1840 from Views of the Rhine by William Tombleson.
Heinrich Heine’s association with the Rhine is reflected in Robert Schumann’s first great song cycle, the Liederkreis Op.24. Vesque von Püttlingen, greatly prized by Schumann, set 88 songs from Heine’s Die Heimkehr, from which we hear a selection. The recital ends with three of Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder. The ship remains moored in Bonn overnight. The Walking Party: drive south for a walk in the hills around Bonn before arriving at the Steigenberger Grandhotel St Petersberg above Königswinter. Attend concert 4: Markus Schäfer and Tobias Koch at the Schumannhaus in Bonn. First of two nights in Königswinter. 7
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The Rhine Valley Festival of Song, 29 May–5 June 2014
Concerts & Itinerary Tower at Andernach, wood engraving c. 1880.
Roderick Williams (©Ben Ealovega).
Clara Mouriz (©J.M. Bielsa).
Day 4, Sunday 1 June Königswinter, Andernach
repertoire from Baroque to contemporary, in the opera house and on the concert platform. He is also a composer.
Drive the few miles to Königswinter and up a steep hillside to the Grandhotel St Petersberg, whose commanding position overlooking the Rhine is among the features which have attracted grandees and celebrities for over a hundred years. Here Hitler received Neville Chamberlain during the Munich crisis in 1938.
Concert 5: Die schöne Magelone Königswinter, Grandhotel Petersberg Roderick Williams, baritone Roger Vignoles, piano Julia Somerville, reader One of Britain’s most brilliant and versatile baritones, Roderick Williams performs M A RT I N R A N D A L L T R AV E L
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Brahms’s only song cycle sets fifteen poems from Ludwig Tieck’s 1812 version of the Magelone legend, originally a fourteenthcentury French chivalric tale of the adventures of Magelone, Princess of Naples and Peter, Count of Provence. Brahms’s beautiful songs are lyrical crystallisations of a complex emotional web and require a connecting narrative to explain the details of the drama, supplied in this performance by Julia Somerville, who recently received the OBE for services to journalism. Return to the ship for lunch and sail through the afternoon to Andernach. From here it is a short journey by coach to Burg Namedy, the property of Princess Heide von Te l e p h o n e 0 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
The Rhine Valley Festival of Song, 29 May–5 June 2014
Concerts & Itinerary
Julius Drake (©Marco Borggreve).
Christoph Prégardien (©Marco Borggreve).
Schloss Biebrich, engraving c. 1840.
Hohenzollern. Once a castle, it has evolved over the centuries into a stately residence. The ballroom, venue for the recital, dates to 1911.
recital and on disc. He won the 2013 BBC Music Magazine Vocal Award for a Liszt recording with Angelika Kirchschlager. This is the first of two appearances on this festival.
Day 5, Monday 2 June Schloss Biebrich
Concert 6: Canciones & Mélodies Andernach, Burg Namedy Clara Mouriz, mezzo-soprano Julius Drake, piano Spanish born Clara Mouriz is rapidly establishing herself as one of the most exciting mezzo-sopranos of her generation. She made her début at Wigmore Hall in 2007 and has returned every season. She has just released her first disc of Spanish songs and made her Proms début in 2013. An outstanding piano accompanist, Julius Drake works with many of the world’s leading artists, vocal and instrumental, in
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Today the ship passes through the Middle Rhine, the most dramatically picturesque stretch of the river. On both sides there are vine-clad hills with castles on many of the peaks, and charming little towns and villages at the water’s edge. Towards the end of the afternoon, moor at Biebrich a couple of hundred metres from the concert venue.
This is a beguiling programme of popular Spanish songs and French mélodies with a Spanish theme, featuring works by Obradors, Granados and Bizet. Remain moored at Andernach overnight so that participants can enjoy the next stretch of the Rhine in daylight.
Built at the river’s edge around 1700, Schloss Biebrich has a hall whose ample glazing looks out to the Rhine on one side and towards the park on the other.
The Walking Party: attend concert 5: Roderick Williams and Roger Vignoles at the Grandhotel St Petersberg. An afternoon walk finishes at the evening concert. Attend concert 6: details above. Overnight Königswinter.
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Concert 7: Schubert & Schumann with Prégardien Schloss Biebrich Christoph Prégardien, tenor Julius Drake, piano Christoph Prégardien is one of the today’s truly great Lieder singers. His highly distinguished career is also notable for his work in opera, oratorio and Baroque music and he has made 130 recordings. Three poets are represented in this recital of love songs: Ernst Schulze, Nikolaus Lenau and Heinrich Heine. Schulze, ignored by all other composers, inspired some of Schubert’s loveliest songs of unrequited love; Schumann’s Opus 90 are the finest Lenau songs in the repertoire; and Schumann’s Dichterliebe, 16 songs from Heine’s Lyrisches Intermezzo,
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Concerts & Itinerary is one of the immortal song cycles – an astonishing mixture of love, hate and self-pity.
Day 6, Tuesday 3 June Schloss Mannheim
Return to the ship for dinner and sail overnight to Mannheim.
Moor at dawn at Mannheim, a city laid out and built in the eighteenth century when it was an important centre of music. The Schloss, within walking distance of the ship, is one of the largest in Germany.
The Walking Party: morning walk in the hills of the Rheingau. Attend concert 7: Christoph Prégardien and Julius Drake at Schloss Biebrich. Continue south and stay for the first of two nights at the Hotel Domhof in Speyer.
in the world today. For over twenty years he has electrified audiences around the world and released a series of extraordinary recordings which range widely across the Early Music repertoire. Ever keen to push the boundaries, Andreas has recently moved into Lieder, and this programme includes songs by Mozart, Schubert and Brahms as well as some English folksongs.
Concert 8: Scholl’s Lieder Schloss Mannheim
Tamar Halperin has a repertoire that spans five centuries and performs as a solo pianist and harpsichordist as well as with chamber groups in Europe, the USA, Mexico, Japan, Korea and Australia.
Andreas Scholl, counter-tenor Tamar Halperin, piano ‘The King of modern counter-tenors’, Andreas Scholl is one of the greatest singers
Sail from Mannheim to Speyer during lunch. Separated from the river by wooded parkland, the little city is dominated by the largest Romanesque cathedral in Germany, burial place of the Salian emperors. There are a couple of hours of free time here. Coaches take us to the evening concert at Bruchsal. Residence of the Archbishops of Speyer, the Schloss was begun in 1720 and finished in 1746 after frequent changes of architect and plan. But the result is magnificent, with at its core the famous Baroque staircase designed by Balthasar Neumann.
Far left: Speyer, copper engraving c. 1700. Left: Andreas Scholl (©James McMillan and Decca). Above: Renata Pokupić (©Chris Gloag).
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Concerts & Itinerary
Concert 9: Pokupić & Romantics Schloss Bruchsal, Kammermusiksaal Renata Pokupić, mezzo soprano Roger Vignoles, piano Renata Pokupić is a wonderful Croatian mezzo-soprano, known internationally for her performances of Baroque, Classical and coloratura repertoire as well as for Lieder. She has sung roles to great acclaim in Covent Garden, Grange Park and Garsington as well as in the USA and in many opera houses in Europe.
Day 7, Wednesday 4 June Breisach, Sankt Peter im Schwarzwald
Concert 10: Watts with Wolf & Strauss Sankt Peter im Schwarzwald Elizabeth Watts, soprano Roger Vignoles, piano
At around midday moor in Breisach. This highly attractive little town is built on a hill rising from the water’s edge and has a fine Gothic church at its summit.
Elizabeth Watts is one of Britain’s brightest talents. Her critically acclaimed début recording of Schubert Lieder for Sony Red Seal was followed in 2011 by an equally acclaimed disc of Bach Cantatas for Harmonia Mundi and most recently a Hyperion recording of Strauss songs with Roger Vignoles.
Drive in the early afternoon to Sankt Peter, a Benedictine monastery located in the lovely rolling countryside of the Black Forest. Our concert takes place in the Fürstensaal, the formal reception hall.
Pokupić opens her recital with a group of Goethe settings by Václav Tomášek, a contemporary of Schubert, whose 41 Goethe Lieder were composed in 1815, the great Schubert-Goethe year. She continues with favourite songs by Brahms and Mahler, and Britten’s ‘A Charm of Lullabies’.
When the publishing house Bote & Bock agreed to publish Richard Strauss’s Opus
56, a small-print clause in the contract gave them the rights to publish his next songs. Furious, he composed no further Lieder until the threat of legal action twelve years later. Strauss’s response was to compose the scurrilous Krämerspiegel, a vitriolic attack on music publishers. Elizabeth Watts follows these wonderfully entertaining songs with some of Strauss’s most popular Lieder and a selection of Wolf songs from the ‘Italienisches Liederbuch’. Return to the ship after the concert. We remain moored in Breisach until the early hours and then sail to Basel.
Return to the ship for dinner and continue upstream overnight. The Walking Party: drive to Mannheim. Attend concert 8: Andreas Scholl and Tamer Halperin at Schloss Mannheim. Afternoon walk. Attend concert 9: Renata Pokupić and Roger Vignoles at Schloss Bruchsal. Overnight Speyer.
Right: Elizabeth Watts (©Marco Borggreve). Far right: Breisach, wood engraving c. 1880.
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Concerts & Itinerary
The Walking Party: free morning in Speyer, or an optional walk. Drive in the afternoon to Frankfurt Airport and return to Heathrow at c. 6.00pm. Please note that this tour departs from London Gatwick and returns to Heathrow.
Day 8, Thursday 5 June Basel The ship moors in Basel. Straddling the Rhine at the uppermost point for shipping, the Swiss city abuts the borders of France and Germany. It retains much of its centuries-old streetscape and architecture, including a fine mediaeval cathedral, and the Kunstmuseum is Switzerland’s finest gallery of historic art. Coaches leave the ship between 9.00 and 9.30am. See page 4 for the options available for return travel to London. Selecting Option 2 allows for a day of independent sightseeing in Basel.
The concerts Private events. 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 private. Seating. Specific seats are not reserved. You sit where you want. Acoustics. This festival is more concerned with authenticity and ambience than acoustical perfection. While some of the venues have excellent acoustics, others have idiosyncrasies not found in modern concert halls. Changes. Musicians fall ill, venues need emergency repairs: there are many unforeseeable circumstances which could necessitate changes to the programme. We cannot rule out changes to the programme due to the tide, to severe increases in water levels (which lead to the closure of locks) or indeed low levels of water. Such changes might necessitate more travel by coach. We ask you to be understanding should these events occur.
‘We have long since run out of superlatives in commenting on MRT tours. The maintenance of such standards is very reassuring.’ P.B. & S.B., Kent, who travelled on The Rhine Valley Music Festival in 2012.
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Left: Basel, steel engraving c. 1840.
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The Ship, Hotels
The Amadeus Princess is one of the most comfortable cruisers on the waterways of Europe. The multinational crew is dedicated to the highest standards of service. With a minimum floor area of 15m2 the cabins are reasonably spacious by the standards of river cruisers. All have windows to the outside and are equipped with the facilities one would expect of a first-class hotel including shower, w.c., individually adjustable air-conditioning, telephone, TV and safe. Special attention has been paid to noise insulation. In layout and furnishings the cabins are identical, the significant differences being the size of windows and height above water level (higher cabins enjoy better views and fewer stairs).
The Rhine Valley Festival of Song, 29 May–5 June 2014
Those on the top two decks (Mozart and Strauss) are the most desirable, with the former having floor to ceiling windows (224 x 190 cm) which slide open, and the latter having only slightly smaller windows (224 x 160 cm), which also open. Also on the Mozart deck are two suites measuring approximately 22m2 which have a sofa, table and armchair, a bath, minibar and safe.
Suites (c. 22m2)
A cabin on the Haydn deck (cabins on other decks have the same layout, with larger windows).
A suite on the Mozart deck.
Key: 1 Bed; 2 Television; 3 Toilet; 4 Wash basin; 5 Shower; 6 Cabinet; 7 Telephone; 8 Writing desk; 9 Window; 10 Chair. (The floorplan is identical for all cabins on the Haydn, Strauss and Mozart decks.)
Cabins on the lowest (Haydn) deck have smaller windows (160 x 40 cm) which don’t open. There are no single cabins as such but we are allocating some two-bed cabins for single occupancy.
Floorplan for a suite on the Mozart deck. Key: 1 Bed; 2 Television; 3 Toilet; 4 Wash basin; 5 Bath tub; 6 Cabinet; 7 Telephone; 8 Writing desk; 9 Window; 10 Chair; 11 Minibar; 12 Sofa bed; 13 Table; 14 Armchair.
Hotels: The Walking Party In Utrecht (2 nights) the Grand Hotel Karel V is a 5-star hotel converted from a 19th-century hospital in a quiet location within the city walls. Schloss Lembeck (1 night) 17th-century castle with traditionally decorated rooms and a restaurant. Königswinter (2 nights) the Steigenberger Grandhotel St Petersberg has modern rooms and a restaurant with views of the Rhine valley. The Hotel Domhof in Speyer (2 nights) is small and traditional, in an old building around a courtyard and close to the cathedral.
The public areas on the upper deck include the lounge and bar, a library area and a restaurant which can seat everyone at a single sitting. The sun deck has a small heated pool and a tented area for shade. www.lueftner-cruises.at
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Cabins (c. 15m2)
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Practicalities & Prices
The Festival Package Admission to all ten concerts. A choice of flights from London. (There is a reduction in the price if you do not wish to use these.) Accommodation for seven nights on board a first-class river cruiser.
Prices
No-flights option
Haydn Deck (lowest)
If you are not taking any of the flight options, subtract £190 from these prices.
£2,960 per person, based on two sharing. £3,550 or £3,830 for single occupancy.*
All meals from dinner on the first day to breakfast on the last. Wine is provided with lunch and dinner.
Strauss Deck (middle)
Interval drinks.
Including ‘The Renewed Rijksmuseum’: £5,380 per person, based on two sharing. £6,370 or £6,720 for single occupancy.*
Tea, coffee, fresh fruit and snacks are available all day on the ship. Travel by coach between airport and ship and to the concert venues when they are beyond walking distance. Lectures by a musicologist. All tips for crew, restaurant staff and drivers, and all state and airport taxes. Practical and historical information and a detailed programme booklet. The assistance of an experienced team of festival staff. If you are joining The Walking Party: eight concerts; flights (Euro Traveller) with British Airways (Boeing 737 and Airbus 319); hotel accommodation; private coach travel; breakfasts, 3 lunches, 7 dinners with wine, water, coffee; all admissions; all tips; all taxes; the services of the lecturer and tour manager.
Deposit
Including ‘The Renewed Rijksmuseum’: £4,530 per person, based on two sharing. £5,580 or £5,860 for single occupancy.*
£300 per person for the festival. £500 per person if you are also booking on the ‘The Renewed Rijksmuseum’.
Fitness Quite a lot of walking is necessary to reach concert venues and to get around the towns visited. Neither the concert venues nor the ship are equipped with a lift. Participants need to be averagely fit, sure-footed and able to manage everyday walking and stairclimbing without difficulty.
The Walking Party
£3,620 per person, based on two sharing. £4,340 or £4,690 for single occupancy.*
It is essential for participants to be in good physical condition and to be used to country walking with uphill content. No walk is more than 5 miles or 2.5 hours. There is not always the opportunity to return to the hotel to freshen up before every concert or dinner.
Mozart Deck (top) £3,970 per person sharing a cabin £4,760 or £5,140 for single occupancy* Including ‘The Renewed Rijksmuseum’: £5,730 per person, based on two sharing. £6,790 or £7,170 for single occupancy.*
Suites (Mozart Deck) £4,580 per person sharing a cabin. Including ‘The Renewed Rijksmuseum’: £6,340 per person, based on two sharing. *The higher price applies when the initial allocation of cabins for single occupancy has sold out.
The Walking Party £2,870 per person, based on two sharing. £3,160 for single occupancy. ‘At Homes – 1. Music’ by Phil May 1894.
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The Rhine Valley Festival of Song, 29 May–5 June 2014
Pre-festival tour
The Renewed Rijksmuseum Dutch Art in Amsterdam, Haarlem & The Hague 25–28 May 2014 (ma 915) EBZT t -FDUVSFS UP CF DPOmSNFE This short tour concentrates on the art of the Dutch Golden Age – Frans Hals, Rembrandt, Vermeer and their contemporaries – in the major collections in Amsterdam, Haarlem and The Hague. Plenty of time is spent at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, one of the world’s great museums but largely closed for refurbishment for ten years until 2013. The results have been universally praised, with the displays intelligently planned and beautifully lit. The tour includes other major museums, galleries and historic buildings of the city, and walks through some of the finest streetscape – with its concentric rings of canals and 17thcentury merchants’ mansions, Amsterdam is one of the loveliest capitals in the world. There are also excursions to the other two outstanding galleries of seventeenth-century art in Holland, in Haarlem and The Hague. Art of other eras, and other countries, will not be ignored.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 11.00am from London Gatwick Airport to Amsterdam. Drive the short distance to Haarlem to see the Frans Hals Museum before settling into the comfortable canalside hotel in Amsterdam.
info@martinrandall.co.uk
An Amsterdam street, aquatint etching 1916.
Day 2. The morning is devoted to the Rijksmuseum, with visits in the afternoon to a patrician’s mansion and to Rembrandt’s house. Day 3. The Amsterdam Historical Museum has many fine paintings, while the Royal Palace was the most ambitious building of the Golden Age (subject to closure for royal functions). Second visit to the Rijksmuseum. Nearby are the Van Gogh Museum and the Stedelijk Museum of modern art, also both recently refurbished. Day 4. See the many fine paintings at the Maritime Museum and then drive to The Hague to see the superb Mauritshuis collection of paintings (currently displayed in another museum). The coach returns you to Amsterdam at the end of the day. Day 5. Your time is free until 4.00pm when you are taken by taxi to MS Amadeus Princess for The Rhine Valley Festival of Song. Day 12, 5th June. After the festival, fly from Basel to London Heathrow, arriving at 1.05pm. Please note that this tour departs from London Gatwick, returning to London Heathrow at the end of the festival. Continued overleaf.
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The Rhine Valley Festival of Song, 29 May–5 June 2014
Pre-festival tour, Making a booking
Practicalities: The Renewed Rijksmuseum See page 14 for prices. In addition to everything included in the festival package, this includes: hotel accommodation for four nights as described below; travel by private coach and taxi; breakfasts and 3 dinners with wine, water, coee; admission to museums etc.; tips for waiters, drivers, etc.; the services of the lecturer and tour manager; ights with British Airways (London Gatwick to Amsterdam, Basel to London Heathrow, Euro Traveller, Boeing 737).
Making a booking 1. Provisional booking We recommend that you contact us ďŹ rst to ascertain that your preferred deck and cabin type is still available. 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. It is important that you also read our Booking Conditions (see page 19).
There is a reduction of £190 for making your own ight arrangements for the tour and festival.
%FmOJUF CPPLJOH
It is possible to book The Renewed Rijksmuseum without The Rhine Valley Festival of Song. Contact us for details.
Fill in the Booking Form and send it to us with the deposit. 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.
Hotel: the very comfortable Hotel Ambassade occupies several contiguous houses on one of the prettiest canals in the city centre. Not all rooms can be reached by lift.
0VS DPOmSNBUJPO Upon receipt of your Booking Form and deposit we send you conďŹ rmation of your booking. After this your deposit is non-returnable except in the special circumstances mentioned in the Booking Conditions.
How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking and standing around, and the tour would not be suitable for anyone with diďŹƒculties with everyday walking. Average distance by coach per day: 25 miles. Small group: 12 to 20 participants.
Right: the Rhine at Bingen, lithograph 1834.
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The Rhine Valley Festival of Song, 29 May–5 June 2014
Booking form
The Rhine Valley Festival of Song
29 May–5 June 2014
TRAVELLERS’ NAMES
DECK & CABIN TYPE
FLIGHT OPTION
Give your name as you would like it to appear on documents issued to other participants.
Please tick (see page 13)
Tick your chosen option (see page 4)
Haydn deck (lowest)
1.
Single occupancy Twin (beds separated)
2.
Twin (beds together) Strauss deck (middle)
ADDRESS for correspondence
Single occupancy Twin (beds separated) Twin (beds together)
Option 1. Heathrow to Amsterdam at 11.55am on Thursday 29 May, returning there at 1.05pm on Thursday 5 June. Option 2. Heathrow to Amsterdam at 1.15pm on Thursday 29 May, returning there at 6.40pm on Thursday 5 June. Option 3: no flights. Making your own arrangements for travel to and from the festival. If you are booking on the pre-festival tour or on The Walking Party, you should leave this section blank.
Mozart deck (top)
Postcode Telephone (home)
Telephone (work)
Mobile
Fax
Single occupancy
THE WALKING PARTY
Twin (beds separated)
28 May–4 June 2014 (please note that these dates differ slightly from the main festival)
Twin (beds together)
Mozart deck suite Twin (beds separated) Twin (beds together)
Tick if you do NOT want to receive updates on our range of cultural tours and music festivals by email.
SPECIAL REQUESTS. Please let us know if you have any requests (for flight upgrades, connecting flights, a particular cabin, etc.), or any dietary requirements.
Room type
Flights
Single occupancy
Group flights
Twin
No flights
Double
PRE-FESTIVAL TOUR. Tick to book. The Renewed Rijksmuseum 25–28 May 2014 (see pages 15–16) Room type
Flights
Single occupancy
Group flights
Twin
No flights
Double
The Rhine Valley Festival of Song, 29 May–5 June 2014
Booking form
PASSPORT DETAILS. In block capitals please. Essential for airlines and in case of emergency:
PAYMENT
Traveller 1
Traveller 2
EITHER Deposit(s) at £300 per person for the festival, or £500 per person if you are also taking the pre-festival tour:
Title
Title
Total:
Surname
Surname
OR Full payment which is required within ten weeks of departure:
Forename(s)
Forename(s)
Date of birth (dd/mm/yy)
Date of birth (dd/mm/yy)
EITHER by cheque. Please make cheques payable to Martin Randall Travel Ltd and write the festival code (ma 917) on the reverse.
Passport number
Passport number
OR by credit or debit card. Visa/ Mastercard/ Amex
Place of birth
Place of birth
Card number
Place of issue
Place of issue
Start date
Nationality
Nationality
OR by bank transfer. Please use your surname and the festival code (ma 917) as a reference and please allow for all bank charges. Tick if you have paid by bank transfer:
Date of issue (dd/mm/yy)
Date of issue (dd/mm/yy)
Date of expiry (dd/mm/yy)
Date of expiry (dd/mm/yy)
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
Total:
£
£
Expiry date
NEXT OF KIN or contact in case of emergency.
I have read and agree to the Booking Conditions on behalf of all listed on this form.
Name
Signed
Relation to you
Telephone
M ARTIN RANDALL T R AV E L
Date
Voysey House, Barley Mow Passage, London, UK, W4 4GF Telephone 020 8742 3355 Fax 020 8742 7766 info@martinrandall.co.uk
www.martinrandall.com
5085
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
The Rhine Valley Festival of Song, 29 May–5 June 2014
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 the steps required to get to the concert venues. See ‘Fitness’ on page 14 (page 16 for the pre-festival tour). There is no age limit for the festival, though we cannot accept bookings on the pre-festival tour, ‘The Renewed Rijksmuseum’, or on the walking alternative to the festival, from those who would be 81 or over at the time of departure. info@martinrandall.co.uk
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.
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.
Passports and visas. Participants must have passports, valid for at least six months beyond the date of the festival. No visas are required for visiting The Netherlands, Germany or Switzerland 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.
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.
If you cancel. If you have to cancel your participation in the festival or the 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: from 56 to 29 days: from 28 to 15 days: from 14 to 3 days: within 48 hours:
40% 60% 80% 100%
We take as the day of cancellation that on which we receive your 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. 19
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 or tour, 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 or tour exactly as advertised. We would try to devise a satisfactory alternative, but if the change represents a significant loss to the festival or tour 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.
B o o k o n l i n e a t w w w. m a r t i n r a n d a l l . c o m
M ARTIN RANDALL T R AV E L
Voysey House, Barley Mow Passage, London, W4 4GF Telephone 020 8742 3355 Fax 020 8742 7766 info@martinrandall.co.uk Australia: Martin Randall Marketing PO Box 537, Toowong, QLD 4066 Telephone 1300 55 95 95 Fax 07 3377 0142 anz@martinrandall.com.au New Zealand: Telephone 0800 877 622
5085
www.martinrandall.com
Canada: Telephone 647 382 1644 Fax 416 925 2670 canada@martinrandall.ca USA: Telephone 1 800 988 6168
Britain’s leading provider of cultural holidays At Martin Randall Travel we aim to provide the best-planned, best-led and altogether the most fulfilling and enjoyable cultural tours available. Within the UK and Europe, the Middle East and India, we offer an unsurpassed range of events focusing primarily on art, architecture and music, and also on archaeology, history and gastronomy.
Martin Randall Travel has for twenty-five years 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: All-inclusive music festivals began with The Danube Music Festival in 1994, since when they
have spread from St Petersburg to Seville and from Newcastle to Naples. The audiences number between forty and three hundred. Tours for small groups, all accompanied by an expert lecturer, have 22 participants or fewer. Commencing in 1988, there are now around two hundred a year in nearly forty countries. Bacharach, wood engraving after Richard Püttner (1842–1913)