December 2009
Looking forward to 2010, there is so much of interest for the amateur musicians and the listeners. The new Holiday in St Goar on the Rhine is proving very popular, lots of playing and fascinating sightseeing with wonderful meals and wines. This is followed by Prague Spring - a wonderful time to be in this magical city. This year our special 50th birthday party for Michal Kanka is attracting several people. We then travel to Budapest and Vienna. After a break of about two months we are again in Prague for the summer Festival. This is followed immediately by Asolo and Venice with the International Music Festival and the world famous Human Chess Game in Marostica. It is possible to combine Asolo and Corfu sailing from Venice - a truly memorable experience. Finally to Corfu and the ever popular Divertimenti in Corfu festival with fantastic concerts, lots of playing and sightseeing including a day in Albania, a very sociable time.
Prague Christmas - 21 to 29 December
Bookings closed on 21 November but the website will be updated for Christmas 2010 early in the new year, so if you missed out this year you can plan early for next!
St. Goar, Rhine Valley, Germany - 12 to 19 May
This new Holiday is most exciting. We visit the Beethoven city of Bonn with its fantastic Beethoven House Museum and attend a concert in the superb chamber music concert hall. We also take the rack railway to the top of the Drachenfels Mountain so important in Beethoven's life. I am still immersed in books about Beethoven especially by people who knew him. Our hotel is opposite the famous Lorelei rock where legend tells us that the siren called Lorelei bewitched the sailors and lured them to their death. This is the deepest and narrowest part of the Rhine. This magnificent and romantic part of Germany has many renowned castles built in the 13th Century on the hills overlooking this great river with wonderful vineyards on the slopes. We stay in a friendly family run hotel which welcomes amateur musicians. Meals in the hotel will be a highlight. With their own butchery and bakery, the family provides menus with wonderful fresh produce which include typical food from this region and superb wines from their winery which we visit for tastings. Other meals will be in local gourmet restaurants. We take two cruises on the Rhine, visit two wineries for wine tastings and take a guided walk with the vintner in the vineyards; we also explore historic towns such as St Goar and Bacharach and some of the stunning Castles. Lots of opportunities for chamber music playing with coaching in the mornings and freelance playing on several evenings. Bookings have started and it would be advisable to reserve as soon as possible as single rooms especially are almost booked out already. Several of us (seven so far) will be going from St Goar straight to Prague so we start on 19th with dinner then playing, an opera and sightseeing before the main group arrives on 21st. Do join us!
Prague Spring Festival - 21 May to 2 June
The Prague Spring Festival is one of the most famous and prestigious in Europe. We have eight concerts and one opera during our stay. The great Czech cellist Michal Kanka will be celebrating his 50th birthday with us at a party in my apartment in the hotel on 21st May. He will have a special recital on 24th May and on 1st June a concert with the Prazak Quartet of which he is a member. Extensive sightseeing will include some walks with our wonderful guides Pavel and Jara who are so knowledgeable and interested in us and our questions. We visit two of my special favourites, the Musical Instruments Museum and the Lobkowicz Museum and many other places. It would be advisable to book early as tickets for the opera sell quickly and I only make reservations once deposits are paid.
Budapest and Vienna - 4 to 14 June
Budapest is a superb city with much of musical interest. Our centrally located hotel, set in charming gardens in a tree lined street, was built at the turn of the 19th and 20th century. The rooms have lovely antique furniture in the style of the building but with modern bathrooms, phone and TV. These are ideal places for playing chamber music. We have a concert in the Palace of Arts, the fantastic new concert hall, and a performance at the State Opera House, as well as some special visits and excursions. Single rooms are very limited and immediate booking is suggested. Vienna is always interesting and enjoyable with so much of musical history. There will be chamber music playing with coaching by the world renowned Aron Quartet. On our last day there will be a concert by the Vienna Chamber Orchestra - a great way to end a fantastic ten days. Our apartment hotel is particularly welcoming and to stay there is an experience in itself!
Prague Summer Festival - 21 August to 2 September
This very popular Holiday has wonderful music and so much more. Prague is usually not crowded at this time and we have extensive sightseeing as described above in May as well as concerts of lots of chamber music playing with coaching. Prague is very green and our hotel overlooks the main city, a superb position near the castle. Meals vary from typical Czech menus to international cuisine, several in the hotel restaurant, outdoor barbeque area and terrace. A favourite is a Czech restaurant with a fantastic virtuoso band.
Asolo and Venice - 4 to 12 September
The Asolo International Music Festival will be a highlight, as will the world famous Human Chess Game in Marostica which is held every two years. There will be one day to visit Venice and another exploring the islands of Murano and Burano in the Venice Lagoon. Igor Polesitsky and Roger Low, two of Italy's leading chamber musicians, will be our coaches, Charismatic and highly experienced teachers they are always very popular with our participants. The hill top town of Asolo at the foothills of the Dolomites is certainly one of the most beautiful and historic in the country and the lower part of the town has wonderful villas and superb gardens with spectacular views. This is the location for our hotel, a completely restored and refurbished old Venetian farmhouse. Set in extensive gardens with mature shrubs and trees, terraces and lawns,this is an ideal place to play music, socialize and to relax. We eat in a variety of excellent local restaurants which are famous for their food and wines as well as their charming ambience.
Asolo and Venice can be combined with the Corfu Chamber Music Holiday.
Enjoy the unique, spectacular views as you sail out of Venice passing the Grand Canal, St Mark's Square, the Doge's Palace and the Vivaldi Church, it is amazing to look down on the maze of canals and houses. Stay over in Venice on 13th September then take the ferry to Corfu the next afternoon, arriving the following evening. The ferries are like cruise boats with restaurants, cafe/bars, swimming pools, shops and a large range of cabins. Several of our participants have travelled this way and they all had a great time. You would then have 15th at leisure in Corfu before the Holiday starts on 16th. You could also stay longer in Venice or the Veneto area departing from Venice early afternoon on 15th and arrive in Corfu around midday on 16th.
Divertimenti in Corfu 16 - 30 September.
This is the 23rd year on this beautiful, lush green, cultured island. Our first year in the friendly, family run hotel was a big success, the 500 year old family chapel was a very popular place for chamber music.
The Albanian trip is now one day, Hydrofoil to Saranda in 30 minutes, then drive to Saranda Castle, then on to Gjirokastra for sightseeing and an interesting and delicious lunch consisting of lots of different dishes and local wines. After lunch we drive to Butrint for a tour of over two hours. The reason we can do all this in one day is that from Butrint we take the new fast road to the border and on to the Greek port of Igoumenitsa, from which there is a large, comfortable and fast ferry taking around an hour. This is a much quicker way to get back to Corfu.
Four dinners each week will be in the hotel with the wonderful home cooked meals from fresh local produce. The sunsets from the outdoor dining area on the terrace are absolutely amazing. Three days a week we have lunch or dinner in a variety of restaurants with excellent food, typical Greek and also international. We go south to a famous fish beachside restaurant, a pre concert dinner in a most attractive restaurant in the Old Town, dinner on a magnificent roof garden in an historic hotel in Corfu Town and a drive to the north of the island to the beautiful St George's Bay Country Club to dine in their most attractive and excellent beachside restaurant before the concert there. Enough about food! The idea of meals in different places as well as the hotel is new that is why I am so excited about this! Divertimenti in Corfu Festival will again feature the Herold Quartet from Prague. There were so many requests for them to return after the wonderful concerts this year. Programmes will be on the website by the end of the year and will include Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Dvorak, Schubert, Ravel and more. Concerts are held in spectacular venues including an atmospheric square in the Old Town of Corfu and a wonderful winery.
Our Musical Family.
The Prazak Quartet were on tour in Japan recently and several of our participants went to see them after the concerts and have taken up our invitation to come to Prague and Michal's 50th birthday party!
The Herold Quartet have just recorded Schubert's Death and the Maiden Quartet for an American company in Prague - many people here in Corfu are asking when they can buy the CD as their performance here was one of those you remember for years!
I seem to have written a lot about food and wines! These are always an important part of our holidays and in many ways reflect the culture of the country we are staying. The Rhine and the vineyards near Asolo are famous wine areas, not to forget the Austrian and Hungarian wines and Czech beer which is, in my opinion, the best in the world.
Once again thank you all for your interest and support and please forward this Newsletter to friends who may be interested. Do continue to send me contacts with people who may be interested in joining us. Thank you to everyone who has sent me their change of e-mail address, this is most helpful. If you have written an e-mail to me which has not been answered, please re-send it as I am still finding important emails and application forms in junk or spam filters.
I really enjoy your emails responding to the Newsletter - do keep writing! I hope to see you soon.
All best wishes for a wonderful 2010.
Vivienne E. Pittendrigh
Previous Newsletters
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
June 2009
May 2009
February 2009
December 2008
October 2008
|
