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Music along the Danube - A musical voyage through Habsburg heartland via Europe’s most sublime waterway
8
days
from
US$9,340
ex flights
15th August 2026
- Eight private concerts in appropriate historic buildings, world-class artists, illuminating talks, and a daily diet of beautiful landscape and picturesque streets.
- A singularly beguiling combination of music and place: some the most beautiful locations in the Danube valley are also where some of the greatest composers of the Western classical tradition lived or worked.
- Haydn symphonies in the Esterházy Palace in Eisenstadt, where he worked for most of his life; Mozart string quartets in a tiny jewel of a venue in Grein, Austria’s oldest working theatre (1791), and Kristian Bezuidenhout performs works for fortepiano in the magnificent Klosterneuburg Abbey.
- Sublime soprano Carolyn Sampson presents Schubert songs in a countryside hunting lodge, and renowned pianist Imogen Cooper plays his lyrical Impromptus in the majestic palace of the Habsburg emperors, Vienna’s Hofburg.
- In Bratislava the superb Smetana Trio introduces a Czech flavour to our journey through the former Habsburg Empire, and in Linz the Wigmore Soloists perform Beethoven’s elegant and deservedly popular Septet as our grand finale.
- Accommodation throughout on a first-class river cruiser, which sails from Passau to Bratislava and back, through some of the most enchanting riverine landscape in Europe.
- Daily talks by leading music expert Dr Paul Max Edlin.
Eight private concerts in appropriate historic buildings, world-class artists, illuminating talks, a daily diet of beautiful landscape and picturesque streets, the comfort and convenience of a first-class river cruiser: this iteration of Music Along the Danube follows the winning formula that we first launched in 1994.
The key feature is the singularly beguiling combination of music and place. Concerts take place in buildings that are among the most beautiful in the Danube valley – palaces, churches, monasteries and country houses. But the value of the juxtaposition goes deeper: the buildings are often of the same period as the music, and in some cases there are potent historical associations between the two.
Some of the greatest composers of the Western classical tradition were either Austrian or made their home in Vienna. Music and place align here in such a rich and varied way, and at the festival’s core are some of the most beautiful and beloved works by Haydn, Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven.
We hear Haydn symphonies in the Esterházy Palace in Eisenstadt, where he worked for most of his life; Mozart string quartets in the tiny jewel of a theatre in Grein, Austria’s oldest working theatre (1791), and Kristian Bezuidenhout performs works for fortepiano in the handsome Augustinus Hall of Klosterneuburg Abbey.
Sublime soprano Carolyn Sampson presents Schubert songs in a countryside hunting lodge, and renowned pianist Imogen Cooper plays his lyrical Impromptus in the majestic palace of the Habsburg emperors, Vienna’s Hofburg.
In Bratislava the superb Smetana Trio introduces a Czech flavour to our journey through the former Habsburg Empire, and in Linz the Wigmore Soloists perform Beethoven’s elegant and deservedly popular Septet as part of our grand finale.
The MS Amadeus Imperial serves as our floating hotel throughout, eliminating the need for hotel changes or long drives between venues. There is no onboard entertainment, no assigned seating, minimal announcements – and absolutely no piped music.
All performances are private, being exclusive to the participants who take the festival package, which leads to an intimacy that engenders a rare intensity of musical communication, and a proximity to world-class musicians which is rare and wonderful. Combine this with daily talks by music expert Dr Paul Max Edlin and an itinerary which takes us through some of the most enchanting riverine landscape in Europe, and this really is an unmissable experience.
Musicians
Programme
Fly from London Heathrow or Manchester or make your way to Passau independently. Selecting Option 1 includes lunch en route to the ship in Landshut; Options 2 & 3 transfer directly to the ship.
The ship is ready for boarding from 4.00pm. Afternoon tea is available upon arrival.
Piled up on promontories at the confluence of three rivers, the Bavarian city of Passau is crammed with historic buildings, dominated by the great Baroque cathedral. It was one of the most important episcopal seats in Central Europe and served as a refuge for the Habsburg court in times of danger.
The ship sails at 6.30pm. A reception is followed by dinner.
Moor at Grein, a charming little town squeezed between the Danube and the hills with a 16th-century Schloss rising to one side. The series of daily talks begins.
It is a short walk from the ship to the main square where the tiny theatre lies hidden within the town hall. Constructed in 1791, it is the oldest working theatre in Austria.
Concert, 10.45am:
Grein, Stadttheater
'Early String Quartets: Music With Friends'
Butter Quartet
In the 1780s Haydn, Dittersdorf, Mozart, and Vaňhal would gather to play string quartets, and this programme celebrates these four musical minds working together in this special format. The Vaňhal Op.21 No.1 is of a shorter type, focused on sweetness of melody and elegant decorations. Mozart’s K421 is darker and more expansive, building on Haydn’s own pathbreaking Op.20 quartets. The sublime opening of No.4 in D major from the latter set leads to a melancholy slow movement, a rollicking gypsy dance, and a scurrying finale.
Return to the ship, which during the afternoon passes through some of the most gorgeous riverine landscape in Europe, the wine-producing region of the Wachau.
Moor at Dürnstein, perhaps the loveliest little town on the river. The ruins of a castle in which Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned cling to a steep hill which rears behind, while a gorgeous Baroque abbey church perched above the river signals the monastery, venue for the evening concert.
Concert, 6.00pm:
Dürnstein Abbey, Abbey Church
Austrian Choral
Vienna Chamber Choir
Programme to be confirmed.
Return to the ship for dinner.
Sail until lunchtime, with a talk on the music mid-morning.
Founded in 1114, Klosterneuburg Abbey is best known as the ‘Austrian Escorial’, a Baroque monastery-palace begun by Emperor Charles V in 1730 but left incomplete 100 years later. From the Middle Ages there remain a beautiful cloister and some astonishing artworks. The concert takes place in the Augustinus Hall, a charming Rococo room off a quiet courtyard.
Recital, 4.00pm:
Klosterneuburg, Augustinus Hall
Haydn & Mozart
Kristian Bezuidenhout fortepiano
The invention of the fortepiano in 1700 was a huge technological leap from its predecessors, and by the 1770s and 80s composers were starting to tailor their music to its expressive capabilities. What was especially exciting for composers of this era is how quiet it could be compared to the consistent noise of a harpsichord. Some of the most special moments in Haydn and Mozart’s piano works come when they step back from the grandeur or drama and aim instead for delicacy, sparkle, or light wit.
Return to the ship for dinner. Sail throughout the evening, to Hainburg.
The ship moors in the early morning in the little Austrian town of Hainburg. Haydn went to school here.
Disembark for the short drive to Schloss Eckartsau. Though only 25 miles from Vienna, the Marchfeld is surprisingly rural, an alluvial plain ringed by mountains, and significant in Austrian history as a hunting ground and field of battle.
Schloss Eckartsau is an enchanting Baroque hunting lodge which was extended for Archduke Franz Ferdinand (he of the Sarajevo assassination in 1914) and became the final Austrian residence of Charles, the last Emperor of Austria.
Recital, 10.30am:
Schloss Eckartsau
Schubert’s Four Seasons
Carolyn Sampson soprano
Joseph Middleton piano
‘Schubert’s Four Seasons’ is a cycle through the natural world and the most personal aspects of the human condition, tracing the turning of the year through songs of renewal, stillness, longing, and light. We begin with the wintery longing of Sehnsucht and the peace of Der Winterabend. Spring bursts into life with Frühlingsglaube and a scent of violets in Nachtviolen.
The warmth of Die Sommernacht and the lush meadows in Schäfers Klagelied hide darker thoughts of lost love, which move into the wilting flowers of autumn in Herbst, albeit with the joy of the harvest in Erntelied. Framing well-loved Lieder alongside lesser-known gems, this programme offers a journey both familiar and revelatory.
Sail downstream to Bratislava.
Now capital of Slovakia, Bratislava was for 70 years the second city of Czechoslovakia and for 300 years before that the capital (as Pressburg) of the Habsburg rump of Hungary while Ottoman Turks occupied most of the country. Its compact historic centre is a dense mesh of unspoilt streets, squares and restored façades. There is a choice of museums and historic buildings to visit before an early-evening concert.
Concert, 5.00pm:
Bratislava, Primatial Palace
Czech Piano Trios
Smetana Trio
The composers in this programme illustrate the changing fortunes of Czech music. Smetana’s lamenting and nostalgic Piano Trio was prompted by the death of his eldest daughter in 1855. But he was still comparatively unknown, so the piece was not published for two decades. By the time of Dvořák’s Piano Trio No.4 (‘Dumky’) in 1891, Czech music had international standing. Audiences thrilled to its radical form and harmony, full of rhapsody and passion. Suk’s mournful Elegie from 1902 then built on the foundations of his artistic predecessors, memorialising the national poet Julius Zeyer.
Remain moored in Bratislava until the early morning.
Sail throughout the morning, with a talk on board.
Drive to Eisenstadt, an attractive country town to the south-east of Vienna. It is dominated by a vast 17th-century mansion, the principal seat of the Esterházy family. Many of Haydn’s works were first performed here. The concert takes place in the great hall, the Haydnsaal.
Concert, 4.00pm:
Eisenstadt, Schloss Esterházy, Haydnsaal
Haydn Symphonies
Haydn Philharmonie
During the symphony’s transformation from a synonym for ‘overture’ to the grandest instrumental form, there was much scope for experiment and playfulness. Haydn’s early Symphony No.59 started as a piece of lively concert music, but sections of it were then used as incidental music for a play, from which it gained its current nickname of ‘Fire’. Haydn then turned to politics for the later Symphony No.45 (‘Farewell’): during the poignant final adagio, the performers left the stage one by one, letting their employer know that they were keen to go home.
Return to the ship for dinner.
Wake up at a mooring 20 minutes from the centre of Vienna.
Principal seat of the Habsburgs for over 600 years, Vienna became capital of a extensive agglomeration of territories that encompassed much of central and eastern Europe. The fabric of the city is a glorious mix of the magnificent and the charming, the imperious and the unpretentious. It remains one of the world’s greatest centres for the arts, and has no rivals for its dominant place in the history of music.
The morning is free to explore the city and visit a museum or two. The Kunsthistorisches Museum should not be missed, the Belvedere Palace has paintings by Klimt, the Beethoven apartment is fascinating, MAK an exciting museum of decorative arts. We will give guidance.
The winter palace of the Habsburg emperors, the Hofburg is a vast complex which grew during the course of six centuries of building and refurbishment. Our concert takes place in the Rittersaal, a mid-18th-century hall with white and gold Rococo stucco and woodwork and red silk wall hangings.
Recital, 3.00pm:
Vienna, Hofburg, Rittersaal
Musical Fantasias
Imogen Cooper piano
Legendary pianists Wilhelm Kempff and Ferruccio Busoni brought considerable creativity to their transcriptions of Bach chorale preludes, showcasing their impressive technique. Schubert’s two sets of Impromptus (mostly published posthumously) invoke the idea of spontaneous creativity. The eight movements are outpourings of almost Classical grace and lyricism, though unmistakably marked with Romantic harmonic twists and melancholy. Among the Schubert comes the Beethoven Bagatelles Op.33, even smaller-scale pieces that nudge and wink as they push at the edges of what was possible for music in 1801.
Return to the ship for dinner. Sail upstream, from Vienna to Linz.
Sail throughout the morning, arriving in Linz just after lunch.
The historic capital of Upper Austria, Linz is a picturesque maze of streets, alleys and historic buildings grouped around a huge market square, only yards from the mooring. There is time for some independent exploration before coaches depart for the afternoon concert.
The Palais Kaufmännischer Verein, opened in 1898, is a building of a sort that was a peculiarity of the Habsburg Empire, a suite of richly ornamented rooms and halls for meetings, receptions, balls and concerts. The concert is in the Bildersaal, so called because of wall paintings of historic scenes.
Concert, 4.00pm:
Linz, Palais Kaufmännischer Verein
Beethoven’s Septet
Wigmore Soloists
Michael Collins artistic director, clarinet
The Septet Op.20 shows Beethoven at the peak of his early period. The six movements in a serenade format (usually background music for parties) draw on the structures of his classical predecessors, as do the balanced, charming melodies and the interplay between instruments. However there are also hints of the Beethoven to come, with the emotional depth, a striving for symphonic grandeur even in small-scale contexts, and more challenging parts for all instruments equally. It’s no surprise that this was his most popular work during his lifetime.
Sail upstream overnight from Linz to Passau, with a reception and dinner against a backdrop of river and wooded hills receding into the dusk.
The ship moors at Passau and coaches leave for Munich city centre and the airport between 8.30 and 9.30am. See page 20 for the options available for return travel to London.
Selecting Option 2 or 3 allows for some independent sightseeing in Munich.
Expert speaker
Dr Paul Max Edlin
Composer, Artistic Director, Performer. Paul has taught in universities for over 30 years, most recently as a professor and then as Director of Music at Queen Mary University of London. He has been Artistic Director of both Sounds New Contemporary Music Festival and Deal Music and Arts. He was also Director of International Composer Pyramid, which has supported some of the world’s finest young composers at the start of their careers.
His music, encompassing ballet, orchestral to chamber and instrumental to electronic, has been composed for and performed by some of the world’s finest musicians and ensembles.
He is a trustee of several arts charities, including Ora Singers, City Music Foundation, Cantoris Charitable Trust and China-UK International Music Festival. In 2022 he moved permanently to Tuscany so he could concentrate on his work as a composer.
More tours led by Dr Paul Max Edlin
Practicalities
The price includes:
— Eight private concerts in historic and appropriate buildings.
— Talks on the music by Dr Paul Max Edlin.
— Accommodation on a first-class river cruiser for 7 nights.
— Return flights between London/Manchester and Munich (reduced price if you arrange your own)
— All meals, from dinner on the first day to breakfast on the last, with wine, and interval drinks.
— Coach travel between airport and ship, and to concert venues when not reached on foot.
— All tips, taxes and admission charges.
— A detailed programme booklet.
— The assistance of festival staff.
Option 1 – London Heathrow (earlier)
15 August: London Heathrow to Munich (LH 2471) departing at 09.00 and arriving at 11.50. Break the drive to Passau with lunch at Landshut, a former capital of Bavaria. There are two hours here; it should be possible to see the main street with its Renaissance and Baroque house fronts, the great Gothic church of St Martin or the precociously Italianate Renaissance ducal palace.
22 August: Transfer directly from the ship to the airport. Munich to London Heathrow (LH 2476) departing at 14.35 and arriving at 15.40.
Option 2 – London Heathrow (later)
15 August: London Heathrow to Munich (LH 2473) departing at 10.50 and arriving at 13.40. Drive directly from the airport to the ship at Passau, a journey of under two hours.
22 August: Coaches take you first to the centre of Munich, where you have about four hours of free time. Munich to London Heathrow (LH 2480) departing at 18.35 and arriving at 19.40.
Option 3 – Manchester
15 August: Manchester to Munich (LH 2501) departing at 10.45 and arriving at 13.40. Drive directly from the airport to the ship at Passau, a journey of under two hours.
22 August: Coaches take you first to the centre of Munich, where you have about two hours of free time. Munich to Manchester (LH 4126) departing at 15.55 and arriving at 17.00.
Actual flight schedules for August 2026 are not yet available. These are the most likely times (they rarely change) but they will be updated as soon as the times for next summer are released.
The no-flights option
You can choose not to take any of our flight options and to make your own arrangements for joining and leaving the ship. You are welcome to join our airport coach transfers if your flights coincide with any of the group options.
Price reduction for ‘no flights’: £220.
The ship
The MS Amadeus Imperial was launched in 2020, and is and one of the most comfortable river cruisers in Europe. The multinational crew is dedicated to the highest standards of service.
With a floor area of 16m2 (Haydn deck) or 17.5m2 (Strauss and Mozart decks) the cabins are reasonably spacious by the standards of river cruisers. All have windows to the outside and are equipped with the facilities one would expect of a first-class hotel such as adjustable air-conditioning, telephone, TV and safe.
Bathrooms have showers only. Special attention has been paid to noise insulation.
In layout and furnishings the cabins are identical, the significant differences being the size of windows and height above water level (higher cabins enjoy better views and fewer stairs). All cabins have twin beds that can be separated or pushed together.
Cabins on the top decks (Mozart and Strauss) are the most desirable, with floor-to-ceiling windows which drop down to open, and minibars. There are twelve suites (Mozart) measuring 26.4m2 with a corner sofa area and small balcony. Cabins on the lowest (Haydn) deck have smaller windows which do not open. There are no single cabins as such but we are allocating some twin-bed cabins for single occupancy.
The public areas include the lounge and bar, a library area and a restaurant which can seat everyone at a single sitting. The sun deck has a tented area for shade.
Quite a lot of walking is necessary to reach some of the concert venues and to get around the towns we visit.
You will sometimes need to walk for up to 20 minutes/1 kilometre each way in order to attend the concerts, with no additional transportation possible. Even in big cities taxis are not readily available or cannot get close enough to the ship or the concert venue to justify their use.
Many of the concert venues do not have a lift. You need to be averagely fit, sure-footed and able to manage everyday walking and stairclimbing without difficulty.
We are very happy to talk you through each day’s manoeuvres, as these differ festival to festival, to identify if it may be necessary to opt out at any point.
Private. All the performances are planned and administered by us, and the audience consists exclusively of those who have taken the festival package.
Seating. Specific seats are not reserved. You sit where you want.
Audience size. There will be up to 140 participants on the festival.
Acoustics. This festival is more concerned with locale and authenticity than with acoustic perfection. The venues may have idiosyncrasies or reverberations of the sort not found in modern concert halls.
Changes. Musicians fall ill, venues may close for repairs, airlines alter schedules: there are many circumstances which could necessitate changes to the programme. We ask you to be understanding should they occur.
Floods and droughts. We cannot rule out changes to the programme arising from exceptionally high or low water levels on the Danube, either of which may bring river traffic to a halt. These might necessitate more travel by coach or the loss of a concert, though we would always try to minimise the impact on the itinerary
Before booking, please refer to the FCDO website to ensure you are happy with the travel advice for the destination(s) you are visiting.
Baroque & Rococo, 5–13 August 2026
The price for the pre-festival tour includes the option of a return flight – out at the start of the tour, and back at the end of the festival.
All pre-festival tour participants return to the UK on festival flight option 1.
We charge for flights, if you are taking them, as part of your pre-festival tour booking. You therefore pay the ‘no flights’ price for the festival.
Dates & prices
2026
Date
Speaker
Price
Date:
15th - 22nd August 2026
Speaker:
Dr Paul Max Edlin
Price:
US$9,340 ex flights
(Based on two sharing)
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