music in venice

• Unpack your bags on this residential-style tour, with a long stay in a central hotel in Venice

• Enjoy two performances at the legendary La Fenice: La Fabbrica Illuminata and Erwartung, and Carmina Burana

• Delight in private performances and recitals at a selection of Venice’s lesser-known venues, including Palazetto Bru Zane and Auditorium Lo Squero

• Soak up the atmosphere with a private recital in Venice’s Villa Valmarana, surrounded by Tiepolo’s frescoes

• Explore some of Venice’s significant music-making sites, from its churches to confraternities and academies

• Discover the terraferma on excursions to Vicenza, Valdobbiadene and into the Venetian lagoon

** Please note that this program is provisional only and that the days and order of our tour program may be modified to accommodate performances. **

WEDNESDAY 18 SEPTEMBER – ARRIVAL (D)

At 5.00pm we gather at the hotel for an aperitif and a brief orientation stroll of our neighbourhood. This is followed by dinner in a nearby restaurant.

THURSDAY 19 SEPTEMBER – MUSIC AND THE STATE (B, L)

The maritime republic of Venice, La Serenissima, lasted more than 1,000 years. Along with painting and architecture, Venice used music to project a glorious, triumphal image of itself. Ceremonies, processions and religious celebrations, accompanied by fanfares and choirs, were a regular part of life. This morning’s walking tour takes us to music history sites in Venice, including the Museum of Music in San Maurizio, and culminates with St Mark’s Square, the focal point of civic celebrations. We continue to San Zaccaria and its celebrated altarpiece by Giovanni Bellini. Afterwards, we enjoy a welcome lunch. Returning to the hotel, there is time to relax before a pre-performance talk by Royna McNamara ahead of our first performance at La Fenice.

Performance #1
Venue: La Fenice
Program: Luigi Nono, The Illuminated Factory and Arnold Schönberg, Erwatung
Performers: Jérémie Rohrer (conductor), Valentina Corò (Soprano) and Angela Meade (A woman)

FRIDAY 20 SEPTEMBER – THE VENETIAN LAGOON (B, L)

Away from the city centre, the islands and waterways of the Venetian lagoon have a unique beauty. This morning a private boat takes us to Torcello, whose extraordinary cathedral and mosaics are testament to a once thriving settlement in the lagoon. After our visit to Torcello we continue to a restaurant on Mazzorbo, a less-visited island with a winery producing the lagoon’s autochthonous wine. After lunch, we take a stroll on adjacent Burano, still a centre for hand-made lace, before returning to our hotel. The evening is at leisure.

SATURDAY 21 SEPTEMBER – ACCADEMIA AND SAN GIORGIO (B)

This morning we visit the recently refurbished Accademia galleries, still the best place to get an overview of Venetian painting, from Bellini and Carpaccio to Veronese, Titian and Tiepolo. After lunch at leisure, we visit the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, whose iconic church was designed by Andrea Palladio and quickly became one of the most frequently painted scenes of Venice. We visit the church, which contains recently-restored masterpieces by Tintoretto and whose campanile provides the finest view over Venice. Returning to the hotel, there is time for an early dinner before we attend a performance.

Performance #2
Venue: Palazzetto Bru Zane
Program: TBA (currently under embargo)
Performers: The Quatuor Cambini-Paris and Marion Martineau (cello)

SUNDAY 22 SEPTEMBER – FRARI AND SAN ROCCO (B)

Venice’s unique character and astounding wealth is very much reflected in its visual arts. Venetian painters such as Giovanni and Gentile Bellini, Carpaccio, Giorgione, Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto and Tiepolo are rated among the greatest in Western art. This morning we see masterpieces by Titian, Bellini and Donatello at Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, which is also the final resting place of Monteverdi. After a break for coffee in this charming neighbourhood of Venice, we visit the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, whose walls and ceilings were entirely painted by Tintoretto over the course of 25 years. The afternoon is at leisure, before an early evening talk in the hotel on Venice’s musical history. In the evening we attend a performance.

Performance #3
Venue: Sala Apollinee, La Fenice
Program: Franz Schubert, Piano Trio #2 in b-flat major, (1827); Dmitri Shostakovich, Trio #1 in d minor (1923)
Performers: Hesperos Trio

MONDAY 23 SEPTEMBER – EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY VENICE (B)

It’s often said that Venice went into a long period of decline in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but this view is somewhat erroneous. This morning, we explore Venice in the age of Vivaldi, looking closely at the art and architecture of this period. Our first stop is at the recently reopened Ca’ Rezzonico, Venice’s museum of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, with an exceptional collection of paintings by Canaletto, Tiepolo and others. We then visit the church of Santa Maria della Pietà. Like St Mark’s, this eighteenth-century church has specific architectural features relating to musical performance, and its female orphanage is where Venice’s best-known composer, Antonio Vivaldi, worked for decades. In the later afternoon, we enjoy a private recital. Evening at leisure.

Performance #4

Venue: TBA
Program: A selection of works by Vivaldi, Handel and Fago
Performers: Alexander Simpson (counter tenor) and accompanists on cello, violin and viola)

TUESDAY 24 SEPTEMBER – RIALTO AND THE GHETTO (B, L)

This morning we have a guided tour of the Rialto, the centre of Venice’s once thriving commercial empire. We then cross the Grand Canal to visit the Ghetto, whose Jewish occupants were one of many groups attracted to Venice by its commercial potential. The four synagogues and multiple scòle are testament to the diversity among Venice’s Jewish population, whose ancestors had arrived in Venice from across the breadth of Europe. After our visit, we then enjoy lunch at a restaurant in Venice’s vibrant Canareggio district, before visiting the recently renovated Ca d’Oro, a magnificent palace on the Grand Canal with a museum dedicated to Venetian art and life in the early Renaissance. Returning to the hotel, the evening is at leisure.

WEDNESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER – FORTUNY AND CONSERVATORIUM (B)

This morning we visit the Fortuny Museum, which preserves the private collection of the family of Mariano Fortuny, the Spanish designer, artist and creator of modern stage lighting. After a guided tour of the four-floor palace and its collections, we have a break for lunch in the neighbourhood. In the afternoon we visit the Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello, Venice’s conservatorium of music. After a private tour of the conservatorium, including its rooftop terraces with views across Venice, we enjoy a private recital. The later afternoon is at leisure, before we enjoy a performance at Palazetto Bru Zane.

Performance #5

Venue: Palazzetto Bru Zane
Program: TBA (currently under embargo)
Performers: Quatuor Dutilleux and Victor Julien-Lafferrière (cello)

THURSDAY 26 SEPTEMBER – VICENZA AND PALLADIAN VILLAS (B, L)

Vicenza is an elegant provincial town and world famous for its Renaissance architecture. We begin our time in the area with a private visit of the Villa Valmarana ai Nani, a suburban villa on a hill overlooking Vicenza. The villa is famous for its cycle of frescoes, painted by Giambattista Tiepolo in 1754 at the height of his powers and international celebrity. We have a private lunch and recital at the villa from the Quartetto di Vicenza, the organisers behind the city’s very active musical life. Afterwards, we explore Palladio’s architecture in Vicenza, including a tour of his Teatro Olimpico, one of the only surviving theatres of the Italian Renaissance.

Performance #6
Venue: Villa Valmarana ai Nani
Program: Works by Vivaldi, Mozart, Tartini, Rota, Morricone and J.S. Bach
Performers: Chamber musicians of the Quartetto di Vicenza

FRIDAY 27 SEPTEMBER – CA’ PESARO (B)

This morning, we visit Ca’ Pesaro, Venice’s museum of modern art. The museum was created by Duchess Felicità Bevilacqua La Masa in the 1890s as both Italy’s first museum dedicated to modern art and as a studio space for a generation of young artists who would define modern art in Italy in the early twentieth century. The afternoon is at leisure, and you may wish to explore the quieter neighbourhood around Ca Pesaro, with its excellent restaurants and museums.

SATURDAY 28 SEPTEMBER – THE VILLA EMO AND THE VALDOBIADDENE (B, L)

A leisurely excursion today takes us to the mainland to admire a fine example of a Renaissance era villa designed by Andrea Palladio. (Please note: the Villa Emo is currently under restoration and we will advise of a substitute villa.) After our private recital, an exploration of the music commissioned for wind instruments by Venetian doges, we travel to Valdobbiadene, in the heart of Italy’s prosecco-producing region, for lunch at an excellent restaurant amid rolling hills and vineyards. Returning to Venice, the evening is at leisure.

Performance #7
Venue: a villa in the Veneto
Program: Titian’s Soundscape in Venice
Performers: I Pifari del Doge (ensemble of historic wind instruments)

SUNDAY 29 SEPTEMBER –AT LEISURE & CARMINA BURANA (B, L)

This morning is at leisure in Venice, and you may wish to attend mass for the music at St Mark’s Basilica, explore one of Venice’s other museums or simply relax. We meet for lunch at an excellent Venetian restaurant, after which we have a pre-performance talk in the hotel. In the evening, we attend Carmina Burana at La Fenice, the final performance in our program.

Performance #8
Venue: La Fenice
Program: Carl Orff, Carmina Burana
Performers: Alfonso Caiani (Chorus Master), Choir of Teatro La Fenice

MONDAY 30 SEPTEMBER – DEPARTURE (B)

The tour ends at the hotel after breakfast this morning.

Hotel Al Codega 4*, Venice, 12 nights
https://www.hotelalcodega.com
The four-star Hotel Al Codega is ideal for a long stay in Venice. It is a family-run establishment with just 21 rooms, meaning our group will occupy most of the rooms. Located in a hidden courtyard between St Mark’s and the Rialto, it is both quiet and central. Its breakfast, with pastries and other tempting delights still made in-house, is legendary.

• 12 nights’ accommodation at a central 4* hotel, including breakfast

• Best available seats to 8 performances, including 2 at La Fenice, orchestral music and chamber concerts

• 7 lunches or dinners, including drinks

• All ground transport and entrance fees to sites as mentioned in the itinerary, including unlimited use of the public water bus for the duration of the tour

• Commentary by and expertise of an Australian tour leader throughout

• Commentary and lectures by an Italian-based, early music specialist

A $1,500pp deposit is required at the time of booking to hold your place on tour. We will invoice you for a second deposit of $2,000pp on 21 May 2024.

We will invoice you for final payment for the tour, due on 5 July 2023.

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