VIENNA & SALZBURG EASTER FESTIVAL
Monday, March 21st through Tuesday, March 29th
For the past twenty years, we have offered an annual visit to the prestigious Salzburg Easter Festival encompassing the complete four-performance cycle of opera and concerts. For 2016, the Festival remains under the direction of the prestigious German conductor Christian Thielemann, and the orchestra will be the Dresden Staatskapelle. For the second consecutive year, we have chosen to include Salzburg’s Easter Weekend instead of Palm Sunday, in order to secure our rooms at our first-choice Sacher Salzburg Hotel. Maestro Thielemann will conduct three of the performances, and the fourth will be under the baton of Vladimir Jurowsky.
The major operatic evening will be a new production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Shakespearean tragedy, Otello. With Dorothea Röschmann, Johan Botha and Dmitri Hvorostovsky as the trio of principals, this promises to be the hottest ticket of the European spring season. The choral concert will offer Beethoven’s towering Missa Solemnis with Maestro Thielemann leading a quartet of international soloists and the Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra and Chorus.
In most years, we have combined Salzburg with a second city where the opera program is the most enticing of the season – sometimes Munich, Vienna, Prague or Zürich. Immediately prior to Easter Weekend this year, we have chosen to return to the nearby Austrian capital of Vienna, where we will enjoy a three performances at the revered Wiener Saatsoper (Vienna State Opera). We will encounter the glorious sound of the Vienna Philharmonic in the pit for all three evenings. The first opera will be the celebrated Franco Zeffirelli production of Giacomo Puccini’s beloved La Bohème; to be followed by Richard Wagner’s sacred Easter music-drama Parsifal, appropriately scheduled on the day before Good Friday. Our third performance will be the Staatsoper’s exciting new production of Adolphe Adam’s classic ballet, Le Corsaire.
Vienna and Salzburg are two of our favorite destinations. We look forward to this convenient combination of exhilarating music in two cities with enticing restaurants and state-of-the art theatres for our diversified performances. There will be a performance on each of our seven nights, because we do not want to miss this unusual variety of three operas, three concerts and a ballet. This Tour is highly recommended for those who have never experienced the refined ambience of Salzburg’s Easter Festival or the high musical standards of Vienna’s glamorous State Opera.
VIENNA: March 22 – 24
Accommodations for three nights, with a lavish buffet breakfast included at the deluxe Sacher Hotel, among a handful of Europe’s finest proper ties by virtue of the full personal service and the old-world charm of the bedrooms and public spaces. The Sacher enjoys an optimum position directly across the street from the Opera House and at the head of the shops along the Kärntnerstrasse. Both the main restaurant and the Café boast superb cuisine, and the concierge has earned an enviable reputation for arranging any independent activities. Your stay in Vienna will be greatly enhanced by the comfort and location of this renowned hotel. Because there is a performance on our first evening, you may want to arrive a day earlier to adjust to the time change. You should let us know NOW if you want us to reserve your room for the additional early night of March 21st.
SALZBURG: March 25 – 28
Our accommodations in Salzburg are for four nights (with a generous buffet breakfast) at the deluxe Sacher Salzburg Hotel. Many of our former travelers have experienced the refined atmosphere and luxurious service of this great hotel, which commands an imposing site along the Salzach River. Because of our commitment to the Sacher in both Salzburg and Vienna for this Tour, we have been offered a rate over Easter which we feel is affordable. We are delighted to return to this favorite hotel for a truly memorable experience at the height of the Festival. The Sacher’s dining room serves the finest menus in the city, and the ideal location is within a short walk of both the Old and New Town for independent shopping and dining. A convenient shuttle bus will take us back and forth to the Festival theatres across the river.
Price Per Person (based on Double Occupancy): $6,570
Price Per Person (based on Single Occupancy): $7,550