Florence - Wonderful music, gourmet meals, fascinating sightseeing

Late October - exact dates announced in April

Florence, one of the great cultural centres of the world, will be our 'home' for eight wonderful days. This holiday achieves the combination of interesting musical experiences, gourmet meals, the many attractions of this great artistic city and the stunning beauty of this region of Italy.

Accommodation
We return again to our charming, elegant hotel in central Florence, formerly a 19th Century villa. Chamber Music Holidays have been based here since 1997. Immediately when you enter you are taken back in time to a grandiose age with antique furniture, high ceilings and frescoes, bowls of fresh flowers and a friendly staff to welcome you. It is set on a wide avenue with buses to many parts of the city stopping nearby. The Cathedral, the Uffizi Palace and Gallery, the Ponte Vecchio and the other major sights are all within walking distance or a short bus ride. The delightful garden at the back of the hotel with tables and chairs among the pine and palm trees and flowers provides a peaceful retreat from the busy city. While the bedrooms have all modern comforts including en-suite bathrooms, WiFi, TV direct dial phone, they have an Old World charm and spaciousness with antique furniture and sumptuous fabrics - most of them still have the 19th Century frescoes. There is private secure parking.

Chamber Music Playing and Coaching will be with two of Italy’s leading chamber musicians Roger Low and Igor Polesitsky. Twenty hours of scheduled playing and ten of these with intensive coaching will be structured so that everyone knows in advance what they will work on. All playing and coaching will take place in the hotel.

For the first two to three days playing and intensive coaching will be on Haydn Quartet op 76, no 3; Beethoven Quartet op 18 no. 3 or 4; Schubert Quartet op 125; Mozart Quintet in g minor K 516 or Dvorak Quintet op 97. Music involving combinations of winds and strings or only winds will also be added to this list according to enrolment. When you send your application form, send an email with the choice of music you would like to play, your experience playing chamber music and instrument (1st or 2nd violin for example) to facilitate study of the parts in advance. After three days, groups will be changed to another quartet or quintet from this list, or you are free to make suggestions as to repertoire or groupings. There will also be optional reading sessions during unscheduled hours. Pre-formed groups are especially welcome to the Florence Chamber Music Holidays session.

Concerts and Musical Events
Three concerts are included. One very special evening will be in an amazing private villa in an extensive parkland with fantastic views over the city, in central Florence, just above the Pitti Palace area. Roger Low will give a recital of Bach solo cello suites. This will be followed by a Tuscan speciality buffet dinner with wines, where we celebrate the 30th Birthday of Chamber Music Holidays. Several interesting local people will also attend, an opportunity to meet and get to know residents of Florence. We shall again visit one or two rehearsals of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra with Zubin Mehta conducting and offer concerts for participants to attend. We shall also be attending a Dress Rehearsal on Saturday morning, details nearer the time.

Special events and excursions

• A cooking course with the world famous chef Jeff Thickman. We visit his home in a wildlife reserve in the hills of Florence at 4 p.m. and spend the next five or so hours as active participants in this informal, hands-on class. Jeff gives lots of information while keeping the group in good spirits and well fed! He talks about local products, specialty items, cheeses, olive oil etc and offers tastings. The sumptuous feast we have produced is served with excellent wines in a relaxed and happy atmosphere.
• A ticket for the ‘hop on hop off’ sightseeing bus for one day is included. This will give an overall picture of the layout and important buildings of this great city. There are 17 stops, including the Piazzale Michelangelo with superb views over the city, enabling you to visit the places which most interest you. Listeners will be able to make the most use of this for a full day We also plan a three hour walk with a highly experienced guide to give insights to this amazing city.
• An afternoon in the glorious Chianti area visiting the charming wine towns of Greve and Rada. We visit wineries for tastings which also produce excellent olive oil. Finally we have dinner in a traditional Tuscan restaurant arriving home after a most interesting and enjoyable six hours.
• For listeners we shall explore the magnificent Etruscan town, Fiesole which overlooks Florence. Probably founded in the 9th Century B.C. there are many fascinating places to visit.
• There will be time to visit museums and galleries of your choice and advice on how to get tickets in advance and other details.

"The Holiday in Florence was all I hoped it would be. The hotel was charming and conveniently located to allow us to walk to the many attractions of the city. It was a thrill to visit an Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino rehearsal with Zubin Mehta conducting. It was really a dream musical vacation.
Marge and Paul Modell. U.S.A.

We reserve the right to make changes due to circumstances beyond our control.