The Villa Medici Giulini Collection

A FOUR NIGHT HOLIDAY | 6 JUNE 2023

This is a very special and unusual opportunity to join a private house party for Kirker clients, hosted by Fernanda Giulini whose private villa is the base for our visit. It is also an opportunity to get to know the pianist Melvyn Tan who will bring the beautiful instruments to life in three concerts and talks at both the Villa and Signora Giulini’s apartment in Milan. The development of the piano is vividly explained in the three included recitals.

the itinerary

We fly to Milan Linate and transfer to the Villa Medici Giulini, a journey of 40 minutes. There will be a drinks reception when we will be introduced to Melvyn and Signora Giulini, followed by dinner.

Melvyn will play a series of works on a selection of pianos that Bach, Haydn and Mozart would have known. We will then have lunch and shortly afterwards drive to Monza to visit one of Italy’s most important and historic churches. We will see the chapel of Queen Teodelinda and the famous Iron Cross in the Treasury before continuing to Milan where we will discover the exquisitely decorated keyboard instruments on display in Fernanda Giulini’s own apartment. After dinner here we will return to Briosco.

We drive to Lake Como and board a private boat to Villa Balbianello, romantically sited on its own promontory. Afterwards, we continue to the Hotel Villa D’Este for lunch. We will sail back to Como to board the coach to Briosco. This evening, Melvyn will play works by Beethoven and Schubert on the forte piano by Conrad Graf.

After breakfast we will drive to the home of Fernanda’s brother, Vittorio. His villa is in the village of Velate, north of Varese. An English landscaped park stretches away from the villa. Much fine topiary, parterres and specimen trees and shrubs create a cool, green veil which surrounds the villa. We will stay for lunch with Signor Giulini who is the President of the Association of Historic Houses of Lombardy. Melvyn’s concluding recital is on a Pleyel piano.

DAY

After breakfast we will return to Milan Linate airport.

Melvyn Tan

One of the world’s best known pianists, Melvyn Tan came to the UK from Singapore as a small boy and studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Royal College of Music. He has played in concert halls around the globe. Melvyn writes: ‘Although I have been performing from the collection for the best part of 30 years, I am still discovering new musical miracles. With the instruments from Mozart and Haydn’s time we hear a brittle, glass-like sound which was very much the kind the composers heard, and was reflected in the music they wrote. Beethoven of course, when he became the toast of Vienna a few decades later, disliked these instruments and encouraged pianomakers to strive for a fuller sound, so the player could achieve a ‘cantabile’, a singing quality to imitate the singers and string players of the day. The rest, as they say, is history, and the concept of the piano as we know it today was born.’

villa medici giulini

We return to the Villa Medici Giulini, the home of Fernanda Giulini, in the village of Briosco between Milan and Como for the second consecutive year. The internationally known pianist, Melvyn Tan, introduced us to Fernanda Giulini and her matchless collection of historic pianos a couple of years ago. It’s a wonderful experience to hear the pianos played by a pianist of Melvyn’s stature in the magnificent rooms of the 17th century villa, simultaneously both grand and intimate. Three dinners are taken at the Villa and one in her apartment in the heart of Milan where her collection of virginals, harpsichords and harps are kept. Wines from the Giulini vineyards are served with every dinner. After dinner, postprandial drinks will be served in a different room each evening. The Villa is very much a private home, not a hotel and our clients are looked after by Signora Giulini’s own staff.

MUSIC PROGRAMME

The recitals will be planned chronologically so that Melvyn will take you on a musical journey in which the development of the piano comes alive, in a setting of the utmost grandeur and intimacy. Concert 1 on the Five Octave Piano Beethoven: Sonata in Op.10 No.1 Mozart: Sonata K. 576 And a sonata by Haydn Concert 2 on the Six Octave Piano Two sonatas by Beethoven including Sonata in C Op.53 ‘Waldstein’ Schubert: Sonata in A Op.120 D. 664 Concert 3 on the Six and a Half Octave Piano – the birth of the modern piano as we know it today Schumann: Sonata in G minor Op.22 Chopin: A selection of nocturnes and scherzos Liszt: A selection of pieces

TOUR INFORMATION

DEPARTURE DATE & PRICES

DATE PRICE SINGLE SUPP

6 June £2,293 £260

Our prices are per person, based on the shared occupancy of a twin/double room. Supplement for single occupancy as shown.

FLIGHT DETAILS

Flights with British Airways: Depart London Heathrow 10.30, arrive Milan Linate 13.30 Depart Milan Linate 14.00, arrive London Heathrow 15.00 Flight times subject to change – regional departures available on request.

WHAT WE INCLUDE

• Return flights • Four nights’ accommodation with breakfast • Four dinners and two lunches • Three concerts as described with programmes notes • A copy of the illustrated souvenir guide to Villa Medici Giulini • All sightseeing, entrance fees and gratuities • The services of the Kirker Tour Leader