Overview
Berlin possesses some of the finest art galleries and museums in the world and offers the highest standards of music and opera performance. It is endowed with a range of historic architecture and is the site of Europe’s greatest concentration of first-rate contemporary architecture. Once again a national capital, it is also one of the most exciting cities on the Continent, recent and rapid changes pushing through a transformation without peacetime parallel.
One of the grandest capitals in Europe for the first forty years of the last century, it then suffered appallingly from aerial bombardment and Soviet artillery. For the next forty years it was cruelly divided into two parts and became the focus of Cold War antagonism, a bizarre confrontation between an enclave of western libertarianism and hard-line Communism.
Since the Wall was breached in 1989 the city has been transformed beyond recognition. From being a largely charmless urban expanse still bearing the scars of war, it has become a vibrant, liveable city, the very model of a modern major metropolis. The two halves have been knitted together and cleaning and repair have revealed the patrimony of historic architecture to be among the finest in Central Europe.
The art collections, formerly split, dispersed and often housed in temporary premises, are now coming together in magnificently restored or newly-built galleries. Berlin possesses international art and antiquities of the highest importance, as well as incomparable collections of German art. The number and variety of museums and the quality of their holdings make Berlin among the world’s most desired destinations for art lovers.
With three major opera houses and several orchestras, Berlin is a city where truly outstanding performances can be virtually guaranteed.
Day 1
Fly at c. 10.50am from London Heathrow to Berlin Brandenburg (British Airways). Take an orientation tour by coach: the New Embassy quarter, Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, Pariser Platz and Unter den Linden. Dinner in the hotel.
Day 2
Walk through the oldest part of the city to ‘Museum Island’, a group of major museum buildings. Visit the Neues Museum, the stunning new home to the Egyptian Museum, restored and recreated by British architect David Chipperfield and the Alte Nationalgalerie which superbly displays European painting of the 19th century including the finest collection of German Romantics. Some free time. Evening performance at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden: Così fan tutte (Mozart) with Daniel Barenboim (conductor), Vincent Huguet (director), Orchestra and Choir of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Elsa Dreisig (Fiordiligi), Marina Viotti (Dorabella), Gyula Orendt (Guglielmo), Paolo Fanale (Ferrando), Barbara Frittoli (Despina), Lucio Gallo (Don Alfonso).
Day 3
Berlin, Potsdam. Excursion to Potsdam which in the 18th century developed into Brandenburg-Prussia’s second capital and acquired fine buildings, parks and gardens. Sanssouci, created as a retreat from the affairs of state by Frederick the Great, is among the finest 18th-century complexes of gardens, palaces and pavilions to be found anywhere. Visit his single-storey palace atop terraces of fruit trees, the Chinese Tea House and the orangery, and see the city centre with its Dutch Quarter and Neo-Classical buildings. Return to Berlin. Evening concert at the Staatsoper with Igor Levit (piano): Franz Liszt, Fantasy on Themes from Mozart’s ‘Le nozze di Figaro’; Mozart, Piano sonata No. 17 in B-flat, K. 570 and Piano sonata No. 14 in C minor, K. 457; Liszt, ‘Réminiscences de Don Juan’.
Day 4
Berlin, Charlottenburg. Schloss Charlottenburg, the earliest major building in Berlin, is an outstanding Baroque and Rococo palace with splendid interiors. The Berggruen Collection of Picasso and classic modern art is also here. Evening performance at the Staatsoper: Le nozze di Figaro (Mozart) with Daniel Barenboim (conductor), Vincent Huguet (director), Orchestra and Choir of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Gyula Orendt (Graf Almaviva), Elsa Dreisig (Gräfin Almaviva), Regula Mühlemann (Susanna), Riccardo Fassi (Figaro), Marina Viotti (Cherubino), Waltraud Meier (Marcellina), Stephan Rügamer (Basilio), Siegfried Jerusalem (Don Curzio), Peter Rose (Bartolo), David Oštrek (Antonio), Liubov Medvedeva (Barbarina), Lorenzo Di Toro (Cembalist).
Day 5
Europe’s greatest building project in the 1990s, Potsdamer Platz showcases an international array of architects (Piano, Isozaki, Rogers, Moneo). Scattered around the nearby ‘Kulturforum’ are museums, the State Library and the Philharmonie concert hall (Hans Scharoun 1956–63). The Gemäldegalerie houses one of Europe’s major collections of Old Masters. Evening performance at the Staatsoper: Don Giovanni (Mozart) with Daniel Barenboim (conductor), Vincent Huguet (director), Orchestra and Choir of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Michael Volle (Don Giovanni), Slávka Zámečníková (Donna Anna), Bogdan Volkov (Don Ottavio), Peter Rose (Komtur), Elsa Dreisig (Donna Elvira), Riccardo Fassi (Leporello), David Oštrek (Masetto), Serena Sáenz (Zerlina).
Day 6
Homeward journey. Return to London Heathrow from Berlin Brandenburg landing at c. 1.40pm.
Price, per person
Two sharing: £3,420 or £3,270 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,880 or £3,730 without flights.
Included
Flights with British Airways (Airbus A320); travel by private coach throughout; accommodation as described below; breakfasts, 1 lunch and 3 dinners with wine; all admissions; all tips; all taxes; the services of the lecturer, tour manager and local guide.
Music
Tickets to 4 performances are included, costing c. £720.
Accommodation
The Regent Berlin: elegant 5-star hotel decorated in Regency style, close to Unter den Linden. Rooms are of a good size and excellent standard. Single rooms are doubles for sole use.
How strenuous?
There is a reasonable amount of walking and standing around in art galleries. Average distance by coach per day: 9 miles.
Are you fit enough to join the tour?
Group size
Between 10 and 22 participants.
Travel advice
Before booking, please refer to the FCDO website to ensure you are happy with the travel advice for the destination(s) you are visiting.
'A wonderful mixture of music and museums, but also with some free time.'
'This tour was a joy from start to finish. The balance between art and opera was excellent.
'I absolutely loved it! It was a great mix of history, art, music and culture.'