An exceptional line-up of musicians
The line-up of artists on this, the eighth Rhine Valley Music Festival matches and perhaps exceeds the best of previous editions.

There is a solo recital with Paul Lewis (piano), chamber recitals with the Mandelring and Schuppanzigh Quartets, vocal concerts with Cantus Cölln and Himlische Cantorey and instrumental and choral concerts with La Petite Bande, the Amphion Octet and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. A song recital is also planned, with artists to be announced.

They are among the finest musicians and ensembles within their fields. The majority are Early Music or period instrument practitioners, appropriate for the historic buildings in which their performances take place.

See the concert programme.

Appropriate music and venues
An essential ingredient of these festivals, providing immeasurable enhancement of the music, are the concert venues. Most are historic, all have beauty or charm, some are of the same period as the music performed there or even have specific associations with the composers or pieces played.

Nearly all are small, leading to an informality and intimacy of musical communication between players and audience which engenders an intense artistic experience.

Much of the music is German or has Rhineland connections, though there is some from elsewhere.

Private events, exclusively chartered ship
The concerts are effectively private, being exclusive to participants (maximum 130) who book a package which not only provides admission to all nine performances but also includes accommodation, all meals, flights from the UK (though this is optional), travel by river and road, lectures and a range of other services.

To this exceptional artistic experience is added a further pleasure: the comfort and convenience of a first-class river cruiser, chartered exclusively for the festival audience. The MS Amadeus Princess was launched in 2006 and is one of the most modern and comfortable passenger ships on European waters.

Acting as both hotel and principal means of transport, it enables passengers to attend all the concerts and see some of the finest art and architecture in the region without having to change hotel or drive long distances. Three of the concerts can be reached on foot from the mooring.

Talks and lectures
The spoken word contributes to the audience’s experience and is an important ingredient of the festival. There are daily talks by the musicologist Roderick Swanston and by Richard Evans, Regius Professor of History at Cambridge.

One of the great rivers of the world
The Rhine is one of the shortest of the great rivers of the world, but probably no other has served such a prominent role in shaping the history and culture of a continent.

Stretches of the river are beautiful, the Middle Rhine especially being flanked by vine-clad hills with virtually every peak being topped by a castle. There is time to explore some of the towns along its course and to see much art and architecture of the highest quality.

As a trading route along the north-south, the Rhine brought prosperity to the region and a degree of cultural unity to different peoples and nations dispersed along its length. But for those who wished to travel its east-west axis the river presented a major obstacle, and so was the scene of tension and conflict throughout history.