Overview
Listed in The Times’ 50 Best Holidays in Spain
Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona are Spain’s greatest cities, each with varied artistic and architectural treasures and world-class opera houses.
At the opulent Royal Theatre in Madrid see Wagner’s early opera Das Liebesverbot (The Ban on Love), which has at last begun to be recognised as an accomplished and hugely enjoyable work. Based on Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, relocated to Sicily, the opera overflows with lyrical invention in the sparkling French-Italian style. This is a co-production with Covent Garden, directed by the Royal Opera House’s director of opera, Kasper Holten, and strongly cast. It won’t be seen in London until a later season, so this affords an interesting opportunity to see it before anyone else.
At Calatrava’s futuristic Palace of the Arts in Valencia, inaugurated in 2005, see Verdi’s late masterpiece Aida, one of his most popular works. In this production David McVicar’s powerful staging focuses on the clash of the individual with a despotic theocracy.
The tour culminates at Barcelona’s glittering Liceu theatre with Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods), the climactic opera of Wagner’s monumental Ring cycle, itself an epic drama on a vast scale. From the ecstatic love duet for Siegfried and Brünnhilde in the Prologue to the stirring music of Siegfried’s Funeral March and the cataclysmic Immolation Scene [in which Brünnhilde bids farewell to Siegfried before leaping on his funeral pyre], the opera reaches emotional and psychological depths unsurpassed in the repertoire.
Aside from the performances this tour offers the opportunity to see Spanish Masters at the Prado and Habsburg town planning in Madrid, Moorish ceramics and the buildings of Santiago Calatrava in Valencia and Catalan Gothic and the modernists in Barcelona. Guided visits and walks are led by local guides and free time is allowed before each opera. Stay in comfortable hotels and travel by first-class rail between the three cities.
Day 1
Madrid. Fly at c. 10.45am from London Heathrow to Madrid (Iberia Airlines). Drive to the Prado, one of the greatest art galleries in the world, for a guided tour concentrating on the magnificent collection of Spanish art. First of two nights in Madrid.
Day 2
Madrid. Lecture on tonight’s performance followed by a guided visit of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, home to works by Goya, Zurbarán, Ribera and Murillo, and a walk through the Habsburg centre of Madrid including the arcaded Plaza Mayor. Free afternoon: we suggest the Royal Palace or the Thyssen Collection. Dinner is before the 8.00pm opera at the Teatro Real: Das Liebesverbot (Wagner, 1813–1883) with Ivor Bolton (conductor), Kasper Holten (director) James Rutherford (Friedrich), Peter Lodahl (Lucio), Bernard Richter (Claudio), Sonja Gornik (Isabella), Maria Miró (Mariana), Martin Winkler (Brighella) and María Hinojosa (Dorella).
Day 3
Valencia. Take the high-speed train from Madrid to Valencia (duration c. 1 hour 40 minutes). Lecture on tonight’s opera and dinner before the 8.00pm performance at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía: Aida (Giuseppe Verdi, 1813–1901) with Ramón Tebar (conductor), David McVicar (director), Lucrecia García (Aida), Rafael Dávila (Radamés), Marina Prudenskaya (Amneris), Gabriele Viviani (Amonasro), Riccardo Zanellato (Ramfis) and Alexéi Tanovitski (Il Re).
Day 4
Valencia. Visits led by a local guide include the Silk Exchange, a fine example of secular 15th-century Gothic, and the cathedral. See also the National Ceramics Museum, housed in an exuberantly Churrigueresque palace, with collections which range from Moorish lustre ware to Picasso. The Fine Arts Museum is one of the best in Spain after the Prado, with works by Valencian, Spanish and Flemish masters.
Day 5
Barcelona. Morning train to Barcelona (duration: c. 3 hours 30 minutes). Lecture and dinner before the 7.00pm opera at the Liceu: Götterdämmerung (Wagner) with Josep Pons (conductor), Robert Carsen (director), Lance Ryan (Siegfried), Samuel Youn (Gunther), Hans Peter König (Hagen), Oskar Hillebrandt (Alberich), Jacquelyn Wagner (Gutrune & third Norn), Michaela Schuster (Waltraute), Cristina Faus (First Norn) and Pilar Vázquez (second Norn).
Day 6
Barcelona. Guided visit of the Palau de la Música Catalana, the highly ornate concert hall designed by Gaudí-contemporary Domènech i Montaner. Visit also the Picasso museum in the Barri Gòtic, a marvellously well-preserved mediaeval quarter. By coach to Barcelona Airport for the flight to Heathrow arriving c. 7.00pm (British Airways).
Price, per person
Two sharing: £2,690 or £2,550 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,980 or £2,840 without flights.
Included
Flights (economy class) with Iberia & British Airways (Airbus 320); travel by private coach; first class rail travel; hotel accommodation as described below; breakfasts; 1 lunch and 3 dinners with wine, water, coffee; all admissions; all tips; all taxes; the services of the lecturer, tour manager and local guides.
Music
Good tickets for 3 performances are included costing c. £350. One performance is not confirmed until the end of October 2015.
Accommodation
Hotel Opera, Madrid: a 4-star hotel located a 5-minute walk from the Teatro Real. Hospes Palau de la Mar, Valencia: a boutique hotel in a 19th-century casa-palacio, rated as 5-star, modern and attractive, with restaurant and spa. Hotel Le Méridien, Barcelona: 5-star hotel on the Ramblas a very short walk from the Liceu; contemporary and stylish with an excellent restaurant. Single rooms throughout are doubles for sole use.
How strenuous?
Most visits are on foot. You need to wheel your own luggage on and off the train.
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.
