The 'Ring' in Vienna

Vienna

15 - 22 May 2009

Tour Leader: Antony Ernst

Stephen Gould as Siegfried in Siegfried
Vienna State Opera, April 2008

Vienna has occupied an influential place in European musical life for centuries. 

Richard Wagner first visited Vienna as a nineteen-year-old in 1832. He spent six weeks there, went to the theatre, saw operas by Gluck and Hérold and generally indulged himself. ‘The impressions of musical and theatrical life were certainly very stimulating’ he wrote, ‘and Vienna remained for a long time my idea of creativity rooted in the originality of a people…I shall never forget the enthusiasm - bordering on derangement - generated by that magician of the violin Johann Strauss [the elder] whenever he played, no matter what the piece was.’

Wagner returned to Vienna a decade later and, with characteristic zeal, tried to reform the administration of the city’s five theatres! It was in Vienna in 1861 that he heard his Lohengrin for the first time, thirteen years after its completion, and there too that he planned the premiere of Tristan und Isolde.

He was back again in 1875 to conduct fund-raising concerts for the first performance of the Ring, and he chose Vienna as one of only three cities to be granted production rights after Bayreuth. The Ring was first performed there between 1877 and 1879.

The new production of Der Ring des Nibelugen, which you will see in 2009, has a wonderful cast including Nina Stemme, Eva Johansson, Stephen Gould and Juha Uusitalo. It is under the musical direction of Franz Welser-Möst, currently Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra and recently appointed General Music Director of the Vienna State Opera from 2010.

Because 2009 is the Haydn bicentenary year, we shall also be celebrating (in our non-Wagner moments) the life and works of this much-loved and hugely influential figure in Vienna’s musical life. 

ITINERARY

Friday 15 May 2009
Arrive Vienna and check-in to Le Meridien Hotel. Late this afternoon, join Antony Ernst for a special welcome reception at the hotel. (Welcome reception)

Saturday 16 May
Start today with an orientation tour around the famous Ringstrasse surrounding the Old City and bordered by the city’s most important buildings: the Vienna State Opera, Hofburg Imperial Palace, Town Hall, Parliament House and the Museums of Fine Arts and Natural History. You will also stop at the Vienna Central Cemetery, the resting place of many great musicians including Beethoven, Schubert, Salieri, Brahms, Gluck, Wolf, Strauss (Johann senior and junior, Josef and Eduard), Czerny, Schoenberg, Hanslick, Suppe, Zemlinsky, Pfitzner, Lotte Lehmann, Leonie Rysanek and others. This evening, enjoy your first Vienna Ring Cycle performance at Wiener Staatsoper - Das Rheingold. (BL)

Sunday 17 May
A short morning's stroll with your local guide around Vienna’s Old Town within the Ringstrasse, then continue to the Austrian Theatre Museum, at Lobkowitz Palace, which houses a model of the first Hofburg theatre and the Eroica-Saal where many first performances of Beethoven’s works took place. This afternoon, there will be some free time to relax before this evening’s performance of Die Walküre. (BL)

Monday 18 May
A full day at leisure in Vienna.
This evening, enjoy a concert at the Wiener Konzerthaus by the incomparable Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Daniele Gatti and featuring harpist Xavier de Maistre. The programme includes works by Rossini, Strawinski, Previn and Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. (B)

Tuesday 19 May
Morning excursion to the fabulous Schloss Hof, an imperial Baroque palace built under the order of Prince Eugene of Savoy and extended under its later owner, Empress Maria Theresa. The jewel of Schloss Hof is undoubtedly its stunning garden, spread across seven terraces stretching down to the banks of the March River. The garden was admired by contemporary visitors even more than the castle itself. However, as time passed it was sadly neglected, lost in a sea of weeds and brush, until quite recently. With the help of excavations by landscape architects, historical maps and three paintings that were created around 1760, the gardens were successfully restored in exact detail to their original diversity of colour and form. Return to Vienna mid-afternoon. Evening performance of Siegfried at the State Opera House. (BL)

Wednesday 20 May
In 2009 Austria commemorates the 200th anniversary of Joseph Haydn’s death and today you will take an excursion into Lower Austria and Burgenland to learn about the life of this extraordinary composer. Start with a visit to Haydn’s birthplace, then continue to the town of Eisenstadt, where Haydn spent a major part of his lifetime working as conductor for Prince Esterházy for whom he composed many of his famous works. Here you will see Haydn’s former home and the lovely Mount Calvary Church where one of the seven Eisenstädter organs can be found, which the master himself played. Finally, take a tour of the magnificent Esterházy Palace where Haydn spent most of his career as court musician for the Esterházy family. The Haydn Hall is the showpiece of the palace - a concert hall which ranks as one of the finest in the world – and Haydn composed many of his works specifically based on the outstanding acoustics of this hall. Return to Vienna in the late afternoon. (BL)

Thursday 21 May
After a leisurely start to the day, join Antony Ernst and your fellow group members for a special farewell lunch before the finale of the Vienna Ring – Götterdämmerung. (BL)

Friday 22 May
Tour ends after breakfast (B) 

 

Renaissance Tours
Level 4, 47 York Street
Sydney NSW 2000
GPO Box 5068, Sydney NSW 2001
Tel: + 61 (02) 9299 5801   
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