BEETHOVEN BICENTENNIAL IN LEIPZIG AND DRESDEN 2027

Friday, April 23. (D)*. DEPART FOR LEIPZIG

Depart this evening aboard any airline of your choice to Leipzig, Germany. Enjoy dinner and a light breakfast on the plane.

Saturday, April 24. (B,D). LEIPZIG

Arrival at Leipzig Airport is independent. Take a taxi to the centrally located luxury Steinberger Hotel where we will stay for three nights. Enjoy a cocktail and Gala Welcome Dinner at the Restaurant.

LEIPZIG, a city of merchants and music set in the heart of Saxony, has long been one of Europe's great cultural crossroads. For more than three centuries, its churches, halls, and universities have drawn the finest minds in German music and letters. Johann Sebastian Bach served as Cantor of the Thomaskirche from 1723 until his death in 1750, composing here the St. Matthew Passion, the Christmas Oratorio, and the greater part of his sacred works; his grave lies before the altar of the church to this day. Felix Mendelssohn made Leipzig his home and as Music Director of the Gewandhausorchester transformed it into one of the foremost ensembles in Europe, while also founding Germany's first conservatory of music. Robert and Clara Schumann began their married life in Leipzig, where Robert composed his joyful "Spring Symphony," and the young Richard Wagner was born within the city walls. Goethe immortalized the legendary Auerbachs Keller in Faust, and it was here in 1989 that the candlelit Monday demonstrations at the Nikolaikirche helped bring about the peaceful revolution that ended a divided Germany.

Sunday, April 25. (B). LEIPZIG

This morning we will set out on a guided walking tour of Leipzig's historic center, often called the "city of music," where Bach, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Wagner all left their mark. We will visit Thomaskirche, where Johann Sebastian Bach served as Thomaskantor for twenty-seven years and where his grave lies before the altar. We will tour the Bach Museum, housing original manuscripts and treasured artifacts from the composer's life. We will continue to the Mendelssohn-Haus, the only remaining residence of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and the place where he died in 1847. This evening, we will see the opera Salome by Richard Strauss at the Leipzig opera house.

Monday, April 26. (B). LEIPZIG

This morning we will take a bus to the Schumann-Haus, where Robert and Clara Schumann began their married life and where Robert composed his celebrated "Spring Symphony." Afternoon at leisure to visit Grassi Museum of Musical Instruments, holding one of the most important collections of historic instruments in the world. Another option to visit is Museum of Fine Arts (Museum der bildenden Künste), with its outstanding collection from the Late Middle Ages to the present, including works of the New Leipzig School.

Tuesday, April 27. (B). LEIPZIG - DRESDEN

This morning we depart Leipzig by luxury coach for Dresden, travelling through the gentle landscapes of Saxony on a scenic journey of approximately two hours. Upon arrival in Dresden, we will transfer to our centrally located luxury hotel Taschenbergpalais Kempinski, where we will stay for six nights. This evening, we will see the opera Leonara by Ferdinando Paër at the Semper Oper.

DRESDEN, splendidly situated on the banks of the Elbe River, is known as the "Florence of the North" and has long held an irresistible attraction for artists, poets, and composers. Friedrich Schiller, the master of German poetry and drama, made his home here from 1785 to 1787, where he wrote Don Carlos upon which Verdi based his opera of the same name and the Ode to Joy, which Beethoven would later set as the choral finale of his Ninth Symphony. Carl Maria von Weber lived and worked in Dresden as Royal Saxon Kapellmeister, composing his celebrated Der Freischütz, and Richard Wagner held the same post a generation later. It was during his tenure as Kapellmeister to the Saxon court that Wagner first conceived a work drawn from the Nibelungen legend, and the first reading of the draft libretto was held in Dresden. Beyond the magnificent Zwinger Palace, the city's other great cultural landmark is the rebuilt Semperoper, named for its architect Gottfried Semper, where both Wagner and Von Weber conducted, and where so many of Richard Strauss's operas among them Salome, Elektra, and Der Rosenkavalier received their world premieres.

Wednesday, April 28. (B). DRESDEN

This morning we will take an orientation tour by bus. We will drive along the River Elbe to see the famous Blue Wonder Bridge, the charming Neustadt district across the river, with its bohemian cafés, art shops, and the celebrated Kunsthofpassage of artist-decorated courtyards. We will also have the opportunity to visit Pfunds Molkerei, listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most beautiful dairy shop in the world, with its hand-painted Villeroy & Boch tilework. Afternoon at leisure. This evening, we will attend Beethoven’s Symphonie No. 1, 4, 5 at the Semper Oper.

Thursday, April 29. (B). DRESDEN

This morning we stroll through the old part of this great Baroque city. During our tour we will see the Procession of Princes, a 101-meter-long mural, the Residenzschloss, the Renaissance palace that served as the seat of the Saxon Electors and Kings for over four hundred years. We will walk on the Brühl’s terrace and see the magnificent Frauenkirche, the Baroque Lutheran church destroyed in 1945 and faithfully reconstructed during the communistic time using thousands of original stones, now standing as a powerful symbol of peace and reconciliation. This evening, we will attend Beethoven’s Symphonie No. 2 & 3 at the Semper Oper.

Friday, April 30. (B). DRESDEN

This morning we just step out of our hotel and that is where we will find the most exciting and precious site in Dresden. Inside we will explore the Historic Green Vault, one of Europe's greatest treasuries, founded by Augustus the Strong in 1723 and home to extraordinary works in gold, silver, ivory, and jewels. We will continue into the New Green Vault, where the famed forty-one-carat Dresden Green Diamond is on display. Afternoon at leisure. This evening, we will attend Beethoven’s Symphonie No. 6 & 7 at the Semper Oper.

Saturday, May 1. (B,L). DRESDEN - MEISSEN

This morning we will travel to the historic town of Meissen, just downstream along the Elbe, where we will visit the world-renowned Meissen Porcelain Manufactory, founded in 1710 and the birthplace of European hard-paste porcelain. We will tour the museum and witness skilled artisans painting the iconic crossed blue swords trademark by hand. After lunch, we will take a walk through the cobbled medieval lanes of Meissen's Altstadt. Time permitting, we will see the soaring Gothic Meissen Cathedral located on the citadel hill of Meissen. Late afternoon arrival back in Dresden. This evening, we will attend Beethoven’s Symphonie No. 8 & 9 at the Semper Oper.

Sunday, May 2. (B,D). DRESDEN

This morning, we will visit the complex of Zwinger palace, the first place renovated after the second world war reminding us of the glorious baroque period like no other building. We will have a guided tour of the Old Master’s picture gallery displaying paintings by Rembreandt, Rubens, Titian, Vermeer, Dürer, and Canaletto from 15th to the 18th centuries, crowned by Rapheal’s celebrated Sistine Madonna. You can continue the other sections in the museum complex such as the porcelain collection, the largest of its kind in the world, and the treasured legacy of the August the strong in the mathematisch-physikalischer Salon with exquisite historic scientific instruments. Later afternoon, we will have early Gala Farewell Dinner. This evening, we will see the opera Fidelio by Beethoven at the Semper Oper.

Monday, May 3. (B). DRESDEN – BACK HOME

Morning departure aboard your flight back home, arriving the same afternoon. Auf wiedersehn. See you on another HAT Tours.

* B-Breakfast, L-Lunch, D-Dinner (including wine)