2011 itinerary

Fly at c. 1.45pm from London Heathrow to Budapest—time to settle into the hotel in Pest before dinner.

Cross the Danube to the hill-top Castle District of Buda—within the 18th- & 19th-century Royal Palace are the remains of its mediaeval and Renaissance predecessors—the National Gallery housed here has a marvellous collection of Hungarian art from the Middle Ages to the present day—most of the afternoon is free—evening concert at the Palace of Arts with the Wiener Symphoniker, Ádám Fischer (conductor), Alice Sara Ott (piano): Kódaly, Dances of Galánta; Liszt, Piano Concerto No.1; Brahms, Symphony No.1 in C minor.

In the morning walk around the old heart of Pest—Vörösmarty Square, Baroque Franciscan Church, the Inner City Parish Church, the vast 19th-century Basilica of St Stephen and the former Soldiers’ Hospital—some free time for further exploration—evening opera at the Hungarian State Opera House: Macbeth (Verdi). Orchestra and Chorus of the Hungarian State Opera House, György Győriványi Ráth (conductor), Alexandru Agache (Macbeth), Gyöngyi Lukács (Lady Macbeth).

By underground railway (the first on the Continent) to a museum dedicated to Hungarian composer Liszt—continue to Heroes Square and the Millennium Monument (celebrating the founding of the Hungarian state AD 896)—the Museum of Fine Arts has an excellent collection of antiquities and European painting—evening concert at the Palace of the Arts with Thomas Quasthoff (baritone), Andrea Marcon (conductor), and Camerata Salzburg: a selection of works by Mozart including the Symphonies in C (‘Jupiter’) and D (‘Haffner’).

Morning lecture, as on most mornings, followed by a tour of the Parliament building, an elaborate Gothic construction modelled on London’s—housed here is the precious Coronation regalia including the 10th-century crown of St Stephen—free afternoon, or an optional walk to see more architecture and decoration from the turn of the 19th century and from the Bauhaus period—evening opera (concert performance) at the Palace of Arts: Orlando Furioso (Vivaldi). Ensemble Matheus, Jean-Christophe Spinosi (conductor), Sonia Prina (Orlando), Jennifer Larmore (Alcina), Veronica Cangemi (Angelica).

Morning excursion to Gödöllo to visit the Grassalkovich Mansion, a Baroque building which became a summer residence of the Habsburgs in the 19th-century—free afternoon—evening concert at the Palace of Arts with the Hungarian National Philharmonic, Zoltán Kocsis (conductor): Bartók, Suite for Orchestra No.1; Kodály, Kálló Double Dance for chorus and orchestra; Kodály, Te Deum of Budavár.

Fly from Budapest arriving London Heathrow at about 2.30pm.

2011 itinerary