at new year
- Czech operas: Dvořák’s Rusalka and Martinů’s The Miracles of Mary.
- Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Estates Theatre, where it was premièred.
- Enchanting art and architecture. Private tours of the Estates Theatre and the Obecní dum (Municipal House).
- A day in the countryside north of Prague.
- 5-star hotel in the Old Town.
- Talks by leading Czech musicologist, Jan Smaczny.
The city where Mozart had his most enthusiastic audiences still has a full musical life in a range of beautiful historic opera houses and concert halls. This New Year is no exception with an alluring programme of Czech music and two Mozart operas, including
Don Giovanni at the Estates Theatre (where it was first staged to ecstatic applause in 1787). The Estates Theatre is the oldest theatre in Prague, and one of Europe’s most regularly functioning eighteenth-century theatres.
The other two concert venues on this tour were added in the second half of the nineteenth century. The National Theatre was built as a symbol of Czech resistance to Habsburg rule. It burnt down soon after its opening performance in 1881, to be re-opened again two years later after reconstruction. The Rudolfinum was completed in 1884 as a palace of culture for the new Czech nation. Its Dvořák concert hall is widely regarded as possessing one of the finest acoustics for music in Prague. The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra play a Brahms concert here on New Year’s Eve.
The tour features two Czech operas with contrasting themes: Dvořák’s
Rusalka (1901) based on fairy-tales and pagan myths, and Martinů’s
The Miracles of Mary (1933–34), on a religious theme inspired by mediaeval miracle plays and legends. The work’s latest production at the National Theatre marks the 50th anniversary of Bohuslav Martinů’s death.
Also at the National Theatre we see Tchaikovsky’s
Eugene Onegin, which has not been performed here for fifteen years, and returns with a production conducted by John Fiore.
As well as attending the operas you have the opportunity to join guided walks and excursions through the beautiful city of Prague. There are also daily talks and discussions with the Czech musicologist, writer and broadcaster, Jan Smaczny. Most afternoons are left free for independent exploration – or for preserving your energies for the evenings.
Read the itinerary
Comments from participants on the Lucerne Festival in 2008 with Jan Smaczny:
‘We had experienced this hotel before and were pleasantly relieved to find it as charming and as well run as on previous visits.’
‘Really inspiring, a wonderful concert hall, colourful programmes and very good seats. Playing standards of the very best.’
‘Lectures excellent, delivered with wit and knowledge. Recorded examples well chosen with several original and cogent comments.’
‘Very good indeed and mixture of walks and music perfect.’