THE BEETHOVEN FESTIVAL IN LEIPZIG & DRESDEN

• Delight in seven performances at the Beethoven Festival, with Andris Nelsons conducting the Gewandhaus-orchester, and Igor Levit and Lang Lang performing celebrated works for the piano

• Attend Dresden’s Semperoper for two performances, featuring works by Mozart and Paer’s Leonora, the inspiration for Fidelio

• Gain insight into the life and music of Beethoven, through background talks by music history educator Robert Gay

• Explore the musical heritage of Leipzig and surrounds, from Bach to Handel and Mendelssohn

• Admire exceptional art, including Leipzig’s Grassi Museum, porcelain in Meissen and Dresden’s Green Vault

Performance 1: Monday 10 May 2027
Venue: Main Hall of the Gewandhaus
Program: Beethoven’s Incidental Music for Goethe’s Egmont, Op.84; and Symphony No.5, Op.67
Performers: Andris Nelsons, Gewandhaus Orchestra, Anna Prohaska (soprano) and Tobias Moretti (speaker)

Performance 2: Wednesday 12 May 2027
Venue: Main Hall of the Gewandhaus
Program: Beethoven Symphonies No.1, Op.21, & No.8, Op.93; and the ‘Choral Fantasy’, Op.80, for piano, chorus & orchestra
Performers: Andris Nelsons, Gewandhaus Orchestra, and pianist Giorgi Gigashvili

Performance 3: Thursday 13 May 2027
Venue: Mendelssohn Chamber Music Hall of the Gewandhaus
Program: Beethoven’s Quintet for piano and winds, Op.16; and his Septet, Op.20
Performers: Gewandhaus Octet

Performance 4: Friday 14 May 2027
Venue: Main Hall of the Gewandhaus
Program: Beethoven’s Symphony No.4, Op.60; the Violin Concerto, Op.61; and Scena & Aria Ah! Perfido for soprano, Op.65
Performers: Andris Nelsons, Gewandhaus Orchestra, Anna Prohaska, soprano, and violinist Leonidas Kavakos

Performance 5: Saturday 15 May 2027, 3.00pm
Venue: Mendelssohn Chamber Music Hall of the Gewandhaus
Program: Beethoven String Quartets: Op.18, No.1; Op.74, (‘Harp’); and Op.59, No.2, (Razumovsky)
Performers: Gewandhaus Quartet

Performance 6: Saturday 15 May, 7.30pm
Venue: Main Hall of the Gewandhaus
Program: Beethoven Piano Sonatas: Op.2, No.1; Op.31, No.2 (‘Storm’); Op.79 (‘Sonatina’); and Op.53 (‘Waldstein’)
Performer: Igor Levit, piano

Performance 7: Sunday 16 May 2027, 11.00am
Venue: Main Hall of the Gewandhaus
Program: Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.3, Op.37; and Symphony No.3, ‘Eroica’, Op.55
Performers: Andris Nelsons, Gewandhaus Orchestra, and pianist Lang Lang

Performance 8: Tuesday 18 May 2027
Venue: Semperoper Dresden
Program: Paul Wranitzky’s Overture to his Singspiel, Oberon, King of the Elves; Mozart’s Piano Concerto, No.21 in C, K.467; and Mendelssohn’s Ein Sommernachtstraum
Performers: Riccardo Minasi (conductor), Rudolf Buchbinder (piano) and Women of the Saxon State Opera Chorus

Performance 9: Thursday 20 May 2027
Venue: Semperoper Dresden – Beethoven 200 Celebrations
Program: Ferdinando Paer’s Leonora, which premiered in Dresden in 1804, strikingly influenced Beethoven’s 1805 version of Fidelio (revised 1814), which had also originally been called Leonore. Surtitles in English
Performers: Giulio Cilona (conductor), Andrea Moses (staging), Louise McClelland Jacobsen (Leonora), Jonah Hoskins (Florestano) and Peter Kellner (Rocco)

SUNDAY 09 MAY 2027 – ARRIVAL (CANAPÉS)

The tour begins in the lobby of our hotel at 6.00pm, when we meet for welcome drinks and canapés.(Check-in commences at 3.00pm.) Afterwards, the evening is at leisure. Please note: no arrival or departure transfers are included in the price of the tour; Leipzig is well served by the train system, and Leipzig-Halle airport, which is approximately 30 minutes from our hotel by taxi, has flight connections from major European cities. First of eight nights in Leipzig.

MONDAY 10 MAY 2027 – LEIPZIG OLD TOWN, PERFORMANCE 1 (B, L)

There is no doubt that Leipzig is one of the great musical cities, and this morning, after a talk on our first two concerts by tour leader Robert Gay, we have a guided tour of this handsome city. We explore its many composer connections, before enjoying a welcome lunch together, followed by a free afternoon. This evening we attend our first performance at the Beethoven Festival.

Performance 1 details
Venue: Main Hall of the Gewandhaus
Program: Beethoven’s Incidental Music for Goethe’s Egmont, Op.84; and Symphony No.5, Op.67
Performers: Andris Nelsons, Gewandhaus Orchestra, Anna Prohaska (soprano) and Tobias Moretti (speaker)

TUESDAY 11 MAY 2027 – EXCURSION TO WEIMAR, CITY TOUR & GOETHE HOUSE (B)

This morning we travel south-west by coach to Weimar, a city with strong cultural connections to Goethe, Schiller, Franz Liszt and the Bauhaus movement. We begin our visit with a walking tour of this compact small city with an excellent local guide. After lunch, we visit the impressive Goethe House Museum, before heading back to Leipzig, where the evening is at leisure.

WEDNESDAY 12 MAY 2027 – BACH & MENDELSSOHN HOUSES, PERFORMANCE 2 (B)

This morning we have a guided visit to the Bach House Museum, situated just opposite St Thomas’s Church where Bach was cantor for 27 years. In the afternoon, we visit the fine Mendelssohn House, where Felix and his family lived during the last two years of his life. By that stage, Mendelssohn had already been musical director of the famous Gewandhaus Orchestra for nearly a decade. In the evening, we attend our second concert at the Beethoven Festival.

Performance 2 details
Venue: Main Hall of the Gewandhaus
Program: Beethoven Symphonies No.1, Op.21, & No.8, Op.93; and the ‘Choral Fantasy’, Op.80, for piano, chorus & orchestra
Performers: Andris Nelsons, Gewandhaus Orchestra, and pianist Giorgi Gigashvili

THURSDAY 13 MAY 2027 – GRASSI MUSEUM, PERFORMANCE 3 (B)

After a talk by Robert Gay, we walk to the Grassi Museum, where we have a guided introduction to the part of the collection which focuses on the 1920s and 1930s. This is followed by free time in this impressive museum for you to pursue your own individual interests. Following our visit, the remainder of the day is at leisure, before this evening’s delightful concert in the smaller chamber music hall of the Gewandhaus building.

Performance 3 details
Venue: Mendelssohn Chamber Music Hall of the Gewandhaus
Program: Beethoven’s Quintet for piano and winds, Op.16; and his Septet, Op.20
Performers: Gewandhaus Octet

FRIDAY 14 MAY 2027 – EXCURSION TO HALLE, HANDEL HOUSE MUSEUM, PERFORMANCE 4 (B, L)

Today we make an excursion by coach to nearby Halle, where Georg Friedrich Händel was born in 1685. After a guided visit to the Handel House Museum, we have a pleasant lunch in a local restaurant before returning to Leipzig. On our return journey, we make a photo stop on the outskirts of the city to see the massive Monument (290 feet tall) which commemorates the so-called ‘Battle of Nations’, where the tide began decisively to turn against Napoleon in October 1813. For music lovers, this year and the city of Leipzig will certainly ring a bell, because, on 22 May, Richard Wagner was born in a street called the Brühl, which originally ran just inside the old city wall. The street itself still exists – leading now to Richard-Wagner-Platz – though the old wall and the house have long since disappeared. A memorial plaque indicates where Wagner’s birth-house once stood.

Performance 4 details
Venue: Main Hall of the Gewandhaus
Program: Beethoven’s Symphony No.4, Op.60; the Violin Concerto, Op.61; and Scena & Aria Ah! Perfido for soprano, Op.65
Performers: Andris Nelsons, Gewandhaus Orchestra, Anna Prohaska, soprano, and violinist Leonidas Kavakos

SATURDAY 15 MAY 2027 – PERFORMANCES 5 & 6 (B)

Two beautifully curated concerts today – three string quartets, with the fine Gewandhaus Quartet in the afternoon, followed in the evening by four piano sonatas, played by the great Igor Levit. In his morning talk in the hotel, Robert Gay will weave these two programs into a connected narrative, providing an overview of Beethoven’s output in the two genres. In addition, Robert will discuss our final Leipzig performance, happening tomorrow morning, when two very familiar Beethoven works are splendidly juxtaposed – the Third Piano Concerto and the Third Symphony – the latter now famously known to us all as the ‘Eroica’, in spite of its having originally been labelled ‘Bonaparte’!

Performance 5 details – 3.00pm
Venue: Mendelssohn Chamber Music Hall of the Gewandhaus
Program: Beethoven String Quartets: Op.18, No.1; Op.74, (‘Harp’); and Op.59, No.2, (Razumovsky)
Performers: Gewandhaus Quartet

Performance 6 details – 7.30pm
Venue: Main Hall of the Gewandhaus
Program: Beethoven Piano Sonatas: Op.2, No.1; Op.31, No.2 (‘Storm’); Op.79 (‘Sonatina’); and Op.53 (‘Waldstein’)
Performer: Igor Levit, piano

SUNDAY 16 MAY 2027 – PERFORMANCE 7 – WHITSUNDAY (B, L)

A Sunday matinee performance is very usual here in this part of the world, and the concert brings our attendance at Leipzig’s Beethoven Bicentenary Festival to a fitting close.

Performance 7 details – 11.00am
Venue: Main Hall of the Gewandhaus
Program: Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.3, Op.37; and Symphony No.3, ‘Eroica’, Op.55
Performers: Andris Nelsons, Gewandhaus Orchestra, and pianist Lang Lang

After the performance, we enjoy lunch together in a local restaurant. The remainder of the afternoon and evening are at leisure in Leipzig. Final night in Leipzig.

MONDAY 17 MAY 2027 – VIA MEISSEN TO DRESDEN – WHITMONDAY (B, L)

This morning we travel by private coach to the town of Meissen, famous for its production of Europe’s first high-quality porcelain. After lunch together, we visit the Meissen Porcelain Factory and Museum, before continuing to Dresden, where we check in to our hotel. The evening is at leisure in Dresden. Overnight Dresden.

TUESDAY 18 MAY 2027 – DRESDEN CITY TOUR, PERFORMANCE 8 (B)

This morning’s talk in the hotel will cover our last two performances, both of which take place in the same building – the so-called Semperoper – designed by Gottfried Semper, which opened in 1878, and which was superbly reconstructed after it was severely damaged in the Second World War. After a guided walking tour of Dresden and a visit to the Gemäldegalerie, there is time at leisure before our first performance at the Semperoper. The concert is given by the Staatskapelle Dresden, conducted by Riccardo Minasi, and featuring the legendary Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder playing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.21, K.467. Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s delightful Incidental Music for Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream will fill the second half of the program perfectly.  Overnight Dresden.

Performance 8 details
Venue: Semperoper Dresden
Program: Paul Wranitzky’s Overture to his Singspiel, Oberon, King of the Elves; Mozart’s Piano Concerto, No.21 in C, K.467; and Mendelssohn’s Ein Sommernachtstraum
Performers: Riccardo Minasi (conductor), Rudolf Buchbinder (piano) and Women of the Saxon State Opera Chorus

WEDNESDAY 19 MAY 2027 – EXCURSION TO GRAUPA & PILLNITZ (B)

This morning we make an excursion to the village of Graupa, where Richard Wagner – already, since 1843, Kapellmeister of the new Royal Court Opera House in Dresden – came in the summer of 1846, not only to enjoy the stunning Romantic scenery of nearby ‘Saxon Switzerland’, but also to engage in an extended – often frenzied – period of work on his new opera Lohengrin, thus optimising his annual 3-month summer break. We then continue to the town of Pillnitz on the Elbe, where we board a boat to travel downstream towards Dresden, so as to take in the celebrated silhouette of the great city – as painted by Bernardo Bellotto, the nephew of Canaletto – now finally restored by the completion of the great dome of the Frauenkirche, once again marking the centre of the city. The evening is at leisure in Dresden. Overnight Dresden.

THURSDAY 20 MAY 2027 – HISTORIC ‘GREEN VAULT’, PERFORMANCE 9 (B, L)

This morning we have a booked entry to the Historic ‘Green Vault’ – which houses the treasures of the Kings of Saxony – followed by our farewell lunch in a local restaurant. The later afternoon is at leisure in Dresden, before our final evening performance. Overnight Dresden.

Performance 9 details
Venue: Semperoper Dresden – Beethoven 200 Celebrations
Program: Ferdinando Paer’s Leonora, which premiered in Dresden in 1804, strikingly influenced Beethoven’s 1805 version of Fidelio (revised 1814), which had also originally been called Leonore. Surtitles in English
Performers: Giulio Cilona (conductor), Andrea Moses (staging), Louise McClelland Jacobsen (Leonora), Jonah Hoskins (Florestano) and Peter Kellner (Rocco)

FRIDAY 21 MAY 2027 – DEPARTURE (B)

The tour ends after breakfast in our hotel. Please note that no departure transfers are included in the cost of the tour; Dresden is well connected to Berlin and other destinations by multiple high-speed train departures.

Marriott Hotel 4* Leipzig, 8 nights

https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/lejdt-leipzig-marriott-hotel/overview/

Perfectly located within walking distance of the Gewandhaus for all performances in Leipzig. Our rooms in the Deluxe category are on average 23sqm in size.

Hotel Steigenberger de Saxe 4* Superior Dresden, 4 nights

https://hrewards.com/en/steigenberger-hotel-de-saxe-dresden

A gracious property in Dresden’s restored historic centre. Our rooms in the Superior category are on average 28sqm.

NB: hotels of a similar standard may be substituted.

• 12 nights’ accommodation at 4* and 4* Superior hotels

• All breakfasts, 5 lunches or dinners and welcome drinks with canapés on arrival

• Best available tickets to 9 performances: 5 in Premium in the Grosse Saal Gewandhaus, and 4 in Category 1 in the Mendelssohn Saal Gewandhaus and Semperoper Dresden

• All ground transport, guided tours and entrance fees to sites as mentioned in the itinerary, and tipping

• Please note that no arrival or departure transfers are included in the price of the tour

• Talks by and expertise of an Australian tour leader throughout

• Services of a German-speaking tour manager throughout

A $1,500pp deposit is required at the time of booking to hold your place on tour.

A second deposit of $2,000pp is due on 08 January 2027.

We will invoice you for final payment for the tour, due on 23 February 2027.

When you book on one of tours, we ask you to accept our terms and conditions. You can read our terms and conditions here.