Don Giovanni, Lohengrin, Tosca
- Flights from Manchester or London to Helsinki and continue to Savonlinna.
- Productions at Savonlinna are musically and dramatically first-rate, in the incomparable setting of a mediaeval castle on an island.
- A pleasant, small town amidst the unassertive beauty of the lakeland in design-conscious Finland.
A massive structure of rough-hewn granite rising from a rocky islet, the castle at Savonlinna is the largest in Scandinavia. It was built in 1475 and frequently re-fortified during the next three centuries, for this was border country: Nordic occupancy alternated with Russian until modern times.
Opera has been performed here in the courtyard – under a temporary roof – since 1912, so it even pre-dates Verona as a festival in a spectacular historic setting. During the last couple of decades its artistic achievements have placed this festival among the best in the world, yet its unlikely and rather inaccessible location keeps the number of international visitors well below what it deserves.
The lake district of eastern Finland is an area of gently beguiling beauty. Thousands of inter-connected lakes meet forests of birch and pine at an incredibly convoluted shoreline, the pattern varied with scattered patches of pasture and arable land neatly arranged around timber farmsteads. The scenery and pure air provide a restful and refreshing foil to nights at the opera.
Read the itinerary
18–22 July 2011
(MX 912)
5 days •
£2,540
Lecturer:
Simon Rees
Comments from participants in 2009:
‘It was a really interesting, imaginative and varied programme. Three different operas and interpretations. Our lecturer’s introductions added greatly to my appreciation of operas I knew well.’
JL, London
‘Lucia the best I have ever seen – perfect setting, well sung by entire cast.’
DD, Dorset
‘Our lecturer was extremely knowledgeable and interesting – both in lectures and socially.’
M&SW, Surrey
‘Dinner in the castle was super – so atmospheric!’
VL, Hong Kong