Würzburg trip`s brochure - Scottish Chamber Orchestra

The Mozart Festival, Würzburg
Friday 3 June, 4 nights
There can be no finer period setting for the
music of Mozart than the Imperial Hall of the
Prince-Bishops’ Residenz in Würzburg. The
month long Mozart Festival attracts some
of the world’s finest musicians. This year
brings artists to the Festival such as Alfred Brendel, Sir John Eliot
Gardiner and the American pianist prodigy Kit Armstrong. The
Scottish Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Clemens Schuldt, will
be giving the opening concerts of the Festival and are delighted
to welcome Kit Armstrong as soloist, described by his tutor Alfred
Brendel as the finest pianist he had worked with. Kit Armstrong
plays Mozart Piano Concerto No 20 in D minor. SCO’s concert opens
with an overture by an almost exact contemporary of Mozart,
Joseph Martin Krauss (1756 to 1792). Born in the Würzburg region
he moved to Sweden at the age of twenty-one, becoming the leading musician at the court of Gustav III and was nicknamed ‘the
Swedish Mozart’. The concert ends with Mozart Symphony No 39 in E Flat Major, which is preceded by Richard Strauss Intermezzo
aus Capriccio. Supporters will have the opportunity to meet with the SCO players during their stay in Würzburg.
The Festival’s opening weekend is probably also its most exciting. From noon on Saturday, ‘Mozart Day’, the Festival takes to
the streets of Würzburg with Mozart’s music being heard on open air stages within the old town. On Sunday there are chamber
concerts at 11am and 4pm given by the Dover Quartet and the Jacques Thibaud String Trio; the first recital includes Mozart ‘The
Hunt’ Quartet K.458 and the second recital two of his flute quartets. On Sunday evening the Basle Chamber Orchestra with Sol
Gabetta perform Haydn Symphony No 79, Schumann Cello Concerto and their interpretation of Mozart Symphony No 39. We are
spoilt for music whilst in Würzburg; at the opera house on Sunday evening there is a performance of Nicolai’s comic opera Die
lustigen Weiber von Windsor, which follows closely the plot of Shakespeare’s play. The opera remains very popular in Germany,
though it is seldom performed elsewhere. This is the only opera Nicolai composed in German; his previous operas were all in
Italian. Before he declined the libretto for the opera that became Nabucco, Nicolai’s works had been more successful in Italy than
those of Verdi.
Our accommodation is at the excellent four-star Hotel Maritim,
located just outside the old town and affording views across the
River Main to the old bishops’ palace and the vineyards on the
west bank. The hotel’s excellent facilities include an indoor pool,
spa, sauna and small gym. There is a bar and two restaurants. We
have reserved superior rooms, most of which enjoy a partial river
view. Rooms are of ample size, classically modern in design and
are equipped with safe, minibar, hairdryer, satellite tv and free
wifi.
Our touring programme besides visiting the glories of Würzburg,
concentrates on the historic small towns along the ‘Romantic
Road’, before ending in Augsburg and Munich.
Friday 3 June Our flight from Edinburgh with Easyjet is scheduled to land in Stuttgart at 10.30 from where we are driven to
Rothenburg ob der Tauber on the ‘Romantic Road’. Entering the city gates you feel transported back into the sixteenth century,
surrounded by ancient houses, street signs, fountains and narrow, cobbled lanes. The Thirty Years War so impoverished the
town that citizens couldn’t even afford to update their properties. Come nineteenth century Romanticism, preservation became
fashionable. So today you can admire genuine buildings of the Renaissance and Middle Ages, which display steep roofs, tall
gables, staircase turrets and corner oriels. We’ll become acquainted with this exquisite town initially with the assistance of a local
guide then on our own.
From Rothenburg we make the short drive to Würzburg to spend three nights in the Hotel Maritim. Evening meal is included at
the hotel tonight.
Saturday and Sunday 4 and 5 June Würzburg owes its glory to the Prince-Bishops who developed the town and built one
of Germany’s largest palaces. St Kilian cathedral houses the funerary monuments to the Prince-Bishops. Some are plain and
unadorned, others reflect the overweening presumption of mankind. Constructed between 1720 and 1744, the Residenz owes
its design to Balthasar Neumann, and the huge 600 square metre ceiling fresco over the Grand Staircase (reputedly the largest
fresco in the world) is by Giovanni Tiepolo. The Imperial Hall, or Kaisersaal, also features Tiepolo’s frescoes; the Venetian room is
so named after three tapestries depicting the Venice Carnival; the Gartensaal is decorated in a lighter Rococo style. After our
morning guided tour Saturday afternoon and Sunday are at leisure. Saturday evening is the SCO concert in the Residenz and
Sunday the optional chamber music recitals, concert and opera performance.
Across the River Main, on the west bank, is the old bishops’ palace,
Marienberg. It served in more hazardous times as both residential
palace and defensive fortress. Within the central courtyard stand
a thirteenth century keep and a circular chapel from the eighth
century. The Marienberg is also home to the Franconian Museum
of the Main, noted for its collection of wooden sculptures by
the ‘Master of Würzburg’, Tilman Riemenschneider. Local wine
producers will certainly be vying with Mozart to grab your
attention during the weekend. Würzburg will be celebrating its
annual Wine Festival and producers set up booths across the
town for sampling and purchasing their vintages.
Monday 6 June Leaving Würzburg we regain the Romantic Road
at Dinkelsbühl. The town’s medieval walls are intact, fortified by
four towers. Inside most buildings are of original timber-frame
construction. The Deutsches Haus boasts a richly decorated
Renaissance façade, and the hall church of St George has a splendid
fan-vault ceiling. From the Tauber valley we enter the Ries basin,
thought to have been created by a meteor strike millions of years
ago. Nördlingen is a former free town of the Holy Roman Empire,
just as well preserved as Dinkelbühl. Continuing south Donauwörth
is dominated by the Monastery of the Holy Cross, displaying a
beautiful eighteenth century Wessobrunn stuccowork interior.
Our final stop is Augsburg, where we stay one night at the Hotel
Augusta, providing good sized rooms in a city centre location.
Tuesday 7 June We start our day with a guided tour of Augsburg,
probably Germany’s richest city in the sixteenth century. A trading
centre on the route to Italy since Roman times, the city gained in
wealth when it was nominated the seat of the Imperial Diet. Historically
significant both for the Lutheran ‘Confession of Augsburg’ of 1530 and
for the ‘Peace of Augsburg’ of 1555 which acknowledged the Protestant
faith, it is best known as the home of great banking dynasties such as
the Fuggers and the Welsers. Of the Fuggers there remains the family
palace, their funeral chapel and the Fuggerei, a colony built between
1516 and 1525 for poorer citizens who could reside there for a token
rent provided they prayed for the souls of their benefactors. There are
other outstanding Renaissance and later Mannerist period buildings
in Augsburg, notably the Town Hall with its Golden Room and Princes
Chambers, and the properties along Maximilianstrasse, considered the
most elegant street in southern Germany.
There is free time after the guided tour before we depart to the capital of Bavaria, Munich, arriving mid-afternoon for a brief
tour of the historic city centre. After the tour there is time for an early evening meal before we continue to Munich airport for our
direct flight back to Edinburgh with Easyjet.
Holiday price is £970pp sharing a twin room with four nights accommodation including breakfast, one evening meal, flights,
excursions, entrance fees and transfers as above, one concert ticket for 4 June, and the on-site assistance of a SCO representative.
Single occupancy supplement is £110. Deposit is £370pp. Travel insurance is available from £22pp, conditions apply. Enquire for
pricing and availability for room upgrades, and for optional concert and opera tickets. Plane seats can be pre-booked at a small
additional cost.
Booking is by phone with Grosvenor Travel, 01492 547744. Minimum numbers are required to operate the holiday. Closing date
is Friday 29 January or sooner if ticket and room allocation are exhausted.
This flight-inclusive holiday is financially protected by the ATOL scheme. When you pay you will be supplied with an ATOL Certificate.
Please ask for it and check to ensure that everything you booked (flights, hotels and other services) is listed on it. Please see our booking conditions for
further information, or for more information about financial protection and the ATOL Certificate go to: www.atol.org.uk/ATOLCertificate.
5886
Grosvenor Travel
8c Penrhyn Avenue, Rhos-on-Sea LL28 4RD Tel: 01492 547744
Email: grosvenortravel@grosvenortravel.co.uk www.grosvenortravel.co.uk
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