THE ART & MUSIC OF BERLIN

with Peter Medhurst & Thomas Abbott

5 days from £2,099, departing  22nd November 2017

Appropriately starting on the feast day of St Cecilia, the patron saint of music, this exclusive tour to Berlin explores the music and culture of one of the most vibrant and dynamic cities in the world. The tour is enhanced by a four night stay at the first class Kempinski Hotel Bristol, placed in the heart of the city.

Private organ recitals, private tours, especially planned walks, inclusive lunches,

and dinners with wine will all add to the experience.

Day 1

The tour begins with our scheduled British Airways flight from London Heathrow to Berlin, where on arrival we are met by Peter and Tom and transfer by coach to the centre
of Berlin. En route, Peter and Tom will begin to tell the story of Berlin and its extraordinary history, and once in the centre of the city, Peter will give the first of his organ recitals at our carefully selected church. After the music, we make our way to the Kempinski Hotel Bristol for our five day stay. After check in and time for some relaxation, a lecture by Peter introduces us to some of the music associated with Berlin. A drinks reception in the hotel is followed by dinner in the restaurant, which includes wine, water and coffee.

Day 2

The day starts after breakfast with a 9.00am lecture on Carl Maria von Weber’s great opera ‘Der Freischütz’, which was premiered in 1821 in the Schauspielhaus. The opera was a landmark of German national expression after the Napoleonic wars and, through its music, symbolised the re-kindling of the German spirit after years of warfare. Following the lecture we leave the hotel and make our way to the boulevard Unter den Linden on which are sited all the main buildings and museums that we wish to explore today. On the agenda are the Neuewache, Bebelplatz, and the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin, as well as the opera house built for Frederick the Great in 1742. We also view the Singakademie, where Mendelssohn (left) in 1829 gave the first modern performance of Bach’s ‘St Matthew’s Passion’.

An included lunch is at a restaurant near Museum Island, the area where we spend the afternoon. Our first visit is to the Old National Gallery, which opened to the public in 1876 and which contains a fine selection of paintings by key 19th century German artists such as Friedrich Schinkel, Arnold Böcklin, Caspar David Friedrich, Moritz von Schwind and Friedrich Overbeck (Overbeck’s painting of Franz Pforr, right). We then make our way to the Pergamon Museum to view its monumental buildings, which include the Pergamon Altar, the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, and the reconstructed Market Gate of Miletus. This evening there will be an optional opera or concert in Berlin (subject to availability).

Day 3

We depart early this morning for Potsdam, a city situated 20 miles to the south west of Berlin. On arrival we enjoy a private tour of Frederick the Great’s summer palace, Sanssouci (lower right). The building is one of the finest in the German Rococo style and it is where CPE Bach directed orchestral concerts in which Frederick the Great played the flute solos (left). After a coffee break, we make our way to one of the local churches for the second of our organ recitals by Peter. The music performed will draw on the repertoire associated with the period of Frederick the Great. Included lunch is at the Flying Dutchman in Potsdam, a local hostelry that specialises in East German cuisine.

The afternoon will be spent at the historically important Cecilienhof, built in the style of an English country house and famous for being the venue for the Potsdam Conference in 1945. On our return to the hotel – and to wrap up today’s theme – we enjoy a lecture with some music written especially for Sanssouci, including samples of concertos written by Frederick himself. This evening there will be another optional opera or concert in Berlin (subject to availability).

Day 4

This morning’s lecture is on masterpieces in the Gemäldergallerie, a gallery that displays the main selection of paintings of the Berlin State Museums. We follow this with a visit to the collection itself. Paintings discussed in the gallery will be Dirck van Baburen’s ‘Flute Player’ of 1624 (left), Gerard ter Borch’s ‘Concert’ of 1675, as well as Vermeer’s ‘Lady Drinking and a Gentleman’ of 1658, and Tischbein’s ‘Self Portrait with his First Wife at the Clavichord’ of 1756-7.

When we have finished at the Gemäldergallerie we will visit the nearby musical instrument collection at the Philharmonie and – subject to permission – Peter will demonstrate some of the keyboard instruments, as well as guide us through the collection. After an included light lunch, the afternoon is at leisure. This evening there is an included farewell dinner in our hotel.

Day 5

After we have checked out of the Kempinski Hotel Bristol hotel, we will make our way to the Brandenburg Gate, without doubt the most iconic edifice in Berlin, and for many, the architectural nerve centre of the city. From there we walk around the corner to the Holocaust Memorial to spend some time among its extraordinary and thought provoking structures. We continue by coach to the 17th century palace of Charlottenburg for a tour of the state apartments, after which we make our way to the Reichstag to enjoy an included three-course lunch at the Käfer restaurant situated at the top of the German Parliament building. The restaurant will allow us to enjoy some of the most spectacular views over the city. We then transfer by coach to the airport for our British Airways flight back to Heathrow.