October 2008       

2009 is the 200th anniversary of Haydn's death. He is being widely commemorated. We will continue our regular and successful tours to music festivals we have been involved with, in some cases for over twenty years. We are arranging three visits to Eisenstadt, Haydn's "home town", each to include visits to Vienna, Eszterháza and his birthplace Rohrau, all of which are each holding special exhibitions. January starts with our annual visit to the RNCM Chamber Music Festival in Manchester, this year devoted to Music in Vienna from Schubert to Schoenberg (7-12 January). Haydn and the other anniversary-composer Mendelssohn feature in András Schiff's Vicenza Festival in concerts given in the incomparable setting of Palladio's Teatro Olimpico. We start in Venice and attend a performance of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda at the Teatro la Fenice (29 April-6 May). The Haydn TRIOthalon in Eisenstadt offers an in-depth exploration of piano trios, flute trios and baryton trios by Haydn and dedicated to Haydn in the original setting of the Esterhazy Palace Haydnsaal, Empiresaal and Chapel. Richard Wigmore (critic, broadcaster and author of the latest Haydn biography) will introduce each programme and interview some of the musicians. Visits to the special Haydn exhibitions in Eszterháza, Vienna and the Rohrau birthplace are included (30 April - 4 May). The 15th Ittingen Festival coincides with Heinz Holliger's 70th birthday. "Haydn the Genius" is the subject - the opera L'isola disabitata (Holliger conducting and Schiff playing timps) and two masses, quartets, trios and piano music with other composers' tributes to Haydn. We also visit galleries in Winterthur and Zurich including the re-opened Buehrle collection. We stay in the idyllic setting of the Charterhouse with the musicians and there is very limited accommodation, so please reserve places soon (20-24 May). 31 May is the 200th anniversary of Haydn's death and we will be in the Bergkirche where he is buried to hear his Creation Mass, followed by a performance of The Creation with Adam Fischer and the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra and soloists including Thomas Quasthoff. Also the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the Academy of Ancient Music. Professor Denis McAldin of the Haydn Society is guest lecturer. Visits to the special Haydn exhibitions in Eszterháza, Vienna and the Rohrau birthplace are included (28 May - 2 June). New in 2008, and very popular, was our visit to Wagner's Ring in the Budapest Palace of Arts conducted by Adam Fischer. This was over four evenings in a "semi-staged" production that impressed everyone. It is being repeated, and we have secured seats in the front row (and others) for our party (10 - 15 June). The Schubertiade at Schwarzenberg always brings together the cream of singers and instrumentalists and this year is no exception. We stay in a lovely small hotel in a peaceful valley setting. We are offering two tours and it is possible to stay for both (17 - 22 - 28 June). We are planning a return to Heinrich Schiff's Mondsee Musiktage in its beautiful lakeside setting near Salzburg (29 August - 6 September). Our annual pilgrimage to the Eisenstadt Haydn Festival and the places Haydn lived and worked. Highlights include Adam Fisher and the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra, Haydn's London opera 'L'anima del filosofo' with Christiane Oelze, Paul Agnew and Jonathan Lemalu, and Christophe Coin playing both cello concertos and works for baryton. Richard Wigmore is guest lecturer, and visits to the special Haydn exhibitions in Eszterháza, Vienna and the Rohrau birthplace are included (23 - 28 September). After an exceptionally successful inauguration this year the Indian Summer Festival In Eastern Slovakia continues next autumn with two recitals by the Vienna Piano Trio, (Mendelssohn and Haydn), two recitals by the Stamic Quartet and appearances by the Budapest Baryton Trio and the exciting South African pianist Petronel Malan (2 - 7 October).