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Opera trips

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#1 ·
I live in Europe and there are many cities with great Opera venues here. Since a year or two I have started undertaking city-trip holidays to go to a live opera performance, but also to enjoy some days in the city.

So far I went to London, Paris, Vienna, Prague. Next is Milan.

Anyone else doing this ? What is your experience and what are your future plans ?
 
#2 ·
Ive only ever been here in Amsterdam, but im moving to London in a month and I hope to see Tristan in Vienna next summer.

What are your favourite companies?
 
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#3 · (Edited)
What are your favourite companies?
I have no particular favourite companies. I look for the opera, production and singers first.

I loved Vienna, what a great city of music. If you need a suggestion for a hotel....

London is quite easy for me to reach, I live near an airport and within 1 hour and a half I'm in Covent Garden :)
 
#4 ·
I live in Europe and there are many cities with great Opera venues here. Since a year or two I have started undertaking city-trip holidays to go to a live opera performance, but also to enjoy some days in the city.

So far I went to London, Paris, Vienna, Prague. Next is Milan.

Anyone else doing this ? What is your experience and what are your future plans ?
Oooh, another opera-tripper!! I adore opera trips & would love to hear about your experiences. Those of us who live in Europe are so lucky, it's so easy to get to all these wonderful houses.

So far in Europe I've been to Munich and Berlin and I'm going to see L'amour des trois oranges in Amsterdam next March.

In January I had the trip of a lifetime when I went to Seattle to see Attila but the one place I really want to go is La Scala so I'll be asking you for advice!
 
#5 ·
Before retirement, I traveled around North America to hear my favorite tenors (Siegfried Jerusalem and then Jonas Kaufmann) when they were performing on this side of the pond. I've been to New York more than a dozen times, Chicago a bit less than that, Los Angeles, Toronto, and New Orleans twice, and San Francisco, San Diego, and Cleveland once. Things got to the point that my family once joked that Delta Air Lines should give Jerusalem a share in their profits due to all the business he was generating for them. :p (This was obviously during the years when airlines were still financially healthy.)
 
#6 ·
You lucky Europeans! We usually get to New York (from Chicago) at least once a year and take in a few productions at the Met. A few years ago we hit the summer festivals out west: Santa Fa, Aspen, and Central City Colorado - and we have been back to Aspen several times. Last year in ten days we caught operas in Milan, Florence, and Bologna and topped it off with a layover at the Opera Comique in Paris on the way home.
 
#7 ·
You lucky Europeans! We usually get to New York (from Chicago) at least once a year and take in a few productions at the Met. A few years ago we hit the summer festivals out west: Santa Fa, Aspen, and Central City Colorado - and we have been back to Aspen several times.
You have lots of great opera houses but they are a long way apart! Are you going to see The Magic Flute at Chicago Opera Theater? I don't know anything about the production or the main singers but Grigory Soloviov who is singing Sarastro is very good.

Last year in ten days we caught operas in Milan, Florence, and Bologna and topped it off with a layover at the Opera Comique in Paris on the way home.
Paris is another on my wish list.
 
#10 ·
I would love to hear about other folks trips too. I have only managed a few: Nozze and Radamisto in Santa Fe, Cosi fan Tutte and Angela Gheorghiu in concert in Washington DC, lots of Met trips but those are day trips. Next spring I am planning to take the train down to Philadelphia for Silent Night and then to DC again in March for Manon Lescaut and Norma.

I dream about traveling more for opera; once I get done paying tuition for my kids I will be out there. My BIG dream has always been the Mozart Week in Salzburg every January; okay, not specifically opera but I will go anywhere for my Mo-Z. Saving my pennies.............
 
#11 ·
Without a doubt -go to Berlin. 3 opera houses! The Germans are big on classical music and have lots of super shops selling cd's and DVDs. Like the Japanese they love the stuff and these shops are well stocked, have helpful and great staff. The problem with London, Amsterdam and even Paris is that the classical sections in the shops is diminishing or shops closing down! Independent retailers are selling stuff at ridiculous prices so it is better to get stuff online.

Best of all, Germany is cheap! Flights are cheap, hotels are cheap (or great value). Berlin has a Beautiful cathedral, gardens, loads of places to eat and drink.

If you want something a little 'less city' head to Barcelona. The Liceu Opera house is stunning and it also has quite a few music shops around it. Weather is lovely and there are masses of stuff to do, nice walks, beaches, places to eat -it really is a beautiful city. Not sure how it is being affected with the downturn though.

When i think about visiting europe these 2 are my favourites -ok. I also love Paris and London!

Of course, it is important to go when it is opera season -unlike me i can only visit really in the summer and not much opera goes on. But i can still browse and shop for cds
 
#14 · (Edited)
Back around 1980, I took a trip from Los AngeLes to Seattle to see the Ring in English. The Brunnhilde got sick and couldn't go on, so the only person in the world who knew the part in English was Rita Hunter. It was a truly astounding performance... Both Remedios and Hunter.
 
#15 · (Edited)
In Prague I went to the theatre where Don Giovanni was premiered to see, of course, Don Giovanni. The theatre is small, it just takes you back to Mozart's time. In fact, lots of parts for the movie Amadeus were shot here. Not much has changed there. The performance was so-so. The schedule showed that they play Don Giovanni very regularly there. Well, they must be very proud it premiered there ! It was a great trip, Prague is such a lovely city, with a very small old centre. You can see all the sites just walking around. There is a lot of focus on classical music. Lots of posters promoting concerts.

In London I also went to Don Giovanni. Great performance. I can get there quite fast, so in the future I will go there again. By the way, Don Giovanni is one of my favourite operas. I can never get enough of it. With every new production (even the ones I dont like so much) there are new things to discover.

In Vienna I went to see Magic Flute. Julia Novikova singing Queen of the night. See was wonderful, her high f in the Hoelle Rache was awesome. Goosebumps allover. Also Pamina was very impressive. During the break I walked around to check out the building. The same trip I also visited the Musikverein. Wow... It was smaller than I expected, but wat a beautiful place. The stage is quite small actually, if you sit near the stage, you can almost shake hands with the musicians. The seats were not very comfortable though.... I also arrived late, beacuse of my own fault, but still was allowed to enter the hall, together with the soloist and the conductor entered, I had to find my seat in only a few seconds, they were just started playing when I sat down.

Next is Milan, La Scala, I can't wait ! Boheme with Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczela. I adore Anna's voice. Getting a ticket was not easy, sales opened at 09:00 for the remaining 100 or so tickets, they were all sold out at 09:05.... I hope she doesn't cancel !

Wishlist: Now that I read about it, Berlin, and the Salzburg festival. And Italy ! So many places worth seeing. I really want to see a Tosca performance, I guess this will also be soon. Maybe Covent Garden. I saw Tosca on BBC with Gheorghiu, Kaufmann and Terfel. Would have loved to see this one live.

Also st Petersburg, the Mariinsky theatre ! New York... who knows.
 
#79 · (Edited)
I added a second night, different singers. I will be stuck in TO for a week now however. Still, it occurred to me, what if I were to die soon? My life would have been twice as good dying with two tickets to Tristan rather than just one. And if I die *after* I see Tristan, well then I had nothing left to live for anyway.

We need a crazy, deranged smiley.
 
#35 ·
Hi all,

Great to see a thread on opera tours. Anyone up for this one in May 2013?

I'm from Sydney, Australia, but get to see opera around the world. I'm up to a nearly 1000 performances (but I'm not the geeky, musicologist type....I just love it!).

I came with a great itinerary for a tour, so thought I'd better find some like minded people to join me! I've got tentative bookings with hotels and opera houses in Hamburg, Vienna, London, Munich and Paris.

Operas include: La Gioconda, Andrea Chenier, La Donna del Lago, Lohengrin, Tristan, Dutchman, daughter of the regiment, a couple of Traviatas, Hoffmann, Götterdämmerung, Don Carlo.

operatour2013@gmail.com if you'd like further info.

Cheers
Michael
 
#38 ·
Hi Don Giovanni,

Traviatas always come in pairs, don't they? Lol.

Tenors are always a challenge for opera companies (outside the absolute top league), and Piotr Beczala (my fave) and Vittorio Grigolo are too good to miss, in my opinion, even if they are both singing Alfredo.

I saw Beczala in Lucia in Vienna a few months ago, and Grigolo in Faust at ROH. Both great.

The Faust was interesting because I heard Gheorgiou in London and then her husband (Alagna) in Paris in the same opera only 24 hours later in the same opera. (Grigolo won, I reckon).

What else can I tell you about the planned trip? The Wagners (except Götterdämmerung) are in Hamburg under Aussie conductor Simone Young. I'm particularly looking forward to the Tristan, as Isolde is being sung by Linda Watson, a soprano I heard in Vienna (under Simone) as Elektra. Phenomenal (and how great was Agnes Baltsa too!)

Speaking of tenors, we get Kauffmann (in Don Carlo), Juan Diego Florez (Donna) and Giuseppe Filianoti (Hoffmann) too, as well as Stig Fogh Andersen (Tristan) and Lawrence Brownlee (Fille).

Joyce diDonato, who I've never heard live, stars in La Donna del Lago (an opera I've never seen). Ermonela Jaho is Violetta (saw her in Suor Angelica at ROH, and I'm hoping to be more impressed.)

Throw in Anja Harteros, Jose Cura, Violeta Urmana......that's all I can remember from memory.

I can email you a flyer if you are interested.

I'm just looking to share it all with interested people. Where I'm a bit different is that my passion for opera revolves around live performance. I very rarely listen to recordings, but love what opera can offer in a theatre.

Any way....I've talked too much!
 
#39 · (Edited)
Tenors are always a challenge for opera companies (outside the absolute top league), and Piotr Beczala (my fave) and Vittorio Grigolo are too good to miss, in my opinion, even if they are both singing Alfredo.
Im wunderschönen Monat Mai :)

I will hear Beczela in Boheme, La scala in October.

I'm interested to see your plan. You can post it here, or you can sand me a PM.

By the way, I can't find any Grigolo as Alfredo in 2013.
 
#44 ·
My next trip is to Zurich to see Jenůfa.

I've not seen this opera before, I've never been to Opernhaus Zürich and never been to Zurich before (apart from changing planes at the airport).

Cast:
Fabio Luisi: Conductor
Dmitri Tcherniakov: Director
Kristine Opolais: Jenůfa
Michaela Martens: Kostelnička
Hanna Schwarz: Grandmother Buryjovka
Christopher Ventris: Laca
Pavol Breslik: Števa
Ivana Rusko: Karolka
Pavel Daniluk: Mayor
Irène Friedli: Mayor's wife

Can't wait.
 
#48 ·
Pavol Breslik ... sang the most beautful Lensky in the "brokeback" Eugene Onegin.
He's singing it at ROH in the new Kasper Holten version in February 2013

Dir: Kasper Holten Cond: Robin Ticciati
Krassimira Stoyanova (Tatyana)
Simon Keenlyside (Eugene Onegin)
Elena Maximova (Olga)
Pavol Breslik (Lensky)
Peter Rose (Prince Gremin)
Diana Montague (Madame Larina)
Kathleen Wilkinson (Filipyevna)
 
#53 · (Edited)
Well, this should be exciting! My next opera trip will take me to one of the world's newest and most exotic, and unlikely, opera cities: Muscat, Oman. It wasn't on the top of my list, but I'll be going to see a certain someone special in an upcoming production at the Royal Opera House there, which just opened in October of 2011.


And, since the flights there and back connect in Zurich, I'll be stopping to catch Lucia and and Jenufa at the Opernhaus on the way out. We'll have to compare notes sospiro, my first visit too!

In scoping out the opera schedule for the return trip, the nearest production was Rigoletto at none other than La Scala featuring none other than Vittorio Grigolo with none other than Gustavo Dudamel conducting. That combination seemed like a good enough excuse for a quick diversion across the Alps to Milan on the way home. I nabbed one of the few remaining tickets - in one of those notoriously overpriced and view-obstructed side boxes, but I have everything reason to believe it will be worth the cost and the strained back from contorting to see the a corner of the stage.
 
#54 ·
Well, this should be exciting! My next opera trip will take me to one of the world's newest and most exotic, and unlikely, opera cities: Muscat, Oman. It wasn't on the top of my list, but I'll be going to see a certain someone special in an upcoming production at the Royal Opera House there, which just opened in October of 2011.
Wow! No expense will have been spared in the building of that house so I'm sure the acoustics will be superb. Who is the certain someone?

And, since the flights there and back connect in Zurich, I'll be stopping to catch Lucia and and Jenufa at the Opernhaus on the way out. We'll have to compare notes sospiro, my first visit too!
The seating capacity is only 1100 & someone described it as ' a little gem' so we shall see!!!

In scoping out the opera schedule for the return trip, the nearest production was Rigoletto at none other than La Scala featuring none other than Vittorio Grigolo with none other than Gustavo Dudamel conducting. That combination seemed like a good enough excuse for a quick diversion across the Alps to Milan on the way home. I nabbed one of the few remaining tickets - in one of those notoriously overpriced and view-obstructed side boxes, but I have everything reason to believe it will be worth the cost and the strained back from contorting to see the a corner of the stage.
La Scala is on my list but not sure when I'll go.

Did you read this? The most expensive opera tickets in the world.
 
#60 ·
Meanwhile I got mail from Milan, my ticket to Boheme :) O, I just can't wait.
Just got my Rigoletto ticket yesterday too. It's funny, the envelope is impressive but the ticket itself looks like it was printed on a circa-1996 bubble-jet printer about to run out of ink.

The other tickets for my trip are all bar-coded print-at-home pdf's sent via email. While those are super convenient, I do like having an old-fashioned ticket in my hand.

Some weeks ago I checked out the prices at the Met for L'Elisir d'Amore ... $460 for a parterre seat !! Then I found out it was the opening night. Still, this is a huge amount.
Actually, that's pretty much the regular price for center parterre at the Met. But you can get a front seat in a side parterre box for $130-$150 and side and rear orchestra seats for even less.
 
#71 ·
I'm off to see a Madame Butterfly production today! It's a production of a local orchestra.

I'm anxious! I haven't seen an opera live for a couple of years. I hope i won't bring down to tears. To listen to a recording is something but listening to it live is another world...
You're seeing Puccini. There will be tears whether you like it or not.
 
#74 ·
Arrived in Milan today, and went straight to La Scala to see the museum and the shop. It turns out, if you get a museum ticket, you have access to some boxes where I spent some time watching and listening Barenboim rehearse Siegfried :eek: Needless to say I didn't see much of the museum.

Lots of activity at La Scala, it looks like they were preparing a broadcast for TV. They couldn't tell me which performance.

I was interested to do a special guided tour of the theater, but because of the rehearsing it was not possible. Nevertheless I had a very nice time today.

If you ever go the La Scala, and you want to see something, better check where you sit. If you sit in a box, only the first row can see the performance.... these boxes are very small !

Building Window Light Automotive lighting Road surface
 
#75 ·
Arrived in Milan today, and went straight to La Scala to see the museum and the shop. It turns out, if you get a museum ticket, you have access to some boxes where I spent some time watching and listening Barenboim rehearse Siegfried :eek: Needless to say I didn't see much of the museum!
Lucky you! There are lots of goodies in the museum for a true opera lover to enjoy (like Verdi's piano) but I would have done the same thing if Barenboim was rehearsing. Tomorrow is your big night with Anna, right? Enjoy!
 
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