Opera tours return is music to the ears
EVERY week our Holiday Hero NEIL SIMPSON takes an in-depth look at a brilliant holiday topic, doing all the legwork so you don’t have to. This week: Holidays for lovers of music and culture...
TICKETS to some of the world’s finest concert halls, opera houses, theatres and galleries are all part of the package on a range of cultural holidays introduced for the New Year and beyond.
American music and culture combine on an arts tour with Kirker Holidays. Its five-night Metropolitan Opera And Galleries And Museums Of New York trip includes a private, out-of-hours visit to the city’s Museum of Modern Art and a guided tour of the Frick Collection.
Guests also get a backstage tour of the famous ‘Met’ Opera House, two dinners in its Grand Tier restaurant and, of course, a worldclass opera. Tickets, including flights, are from £2,884pp (kirker holidays.com).
A big draw for 2022 is the return of the Oberammergau Passion Play in Bavaria. Every decade for 400 years, the residents of the eponymous Bavarian village make up a huge cast to tell the story of Jesus on an open-air stage. It was cancelled in 2020 because of the pandemic – and many performances for next year’s shows from May to October are already sold out, not least because organisers say most 2020 ticket-holders chose to rebook. But it is possible to get tickets as part of an organised tour.
Titan Travel has three itineraries that include tickets to the play. Choose between a seven-night, fully escorted Italian Lakes tour, a nine-night Wonders Of The Danube tour (which includes a week-long river cruise) and a five-night Innsbruck
And The Dolomites tour. Prices are from £2,499pp, including flights (titantravel.co.uk).
If you are holidaying on your own, solo travel specialist One Traveller has a few places left on its nine-night Oberammergau – Austrian Lakes And Mountains trips costing from £3,090pp.
The company also has plenty of other holidays for music-lovers. Its eight-day Vienna And The Vienna Woods holiday includes a private tour of the city’s 1,709-seat State Opera House, with its sweeping, curved architecture and rich red and gold interiors.
There’s more classical music while watching the Lipizzaner stallions perform under the chandeliers of the Spanish Riding School’s colonnaded hall, then traditional folk music in a city tavern. And on the final night of the tour you will go to a Strauss and Mozart concert in the grand salon of Hermesvilla palace. From £2,190pp (onetraveller.co.uk).
Jazz-lovers might prefer Saga’s seven-night river cruise – Jazz And Wine On The Rhine And Moselle. The six-piece Richard Leach’s Street Jazz Band will be on board and perform every night.
Or choose its Classical Music On The Danube cruise with on-board expert talks, concerts on land in a glorious assortment of ornate palaces and ancient abbeys. Cruises cost from £1,399pp including flights (saga.co.uk).
Another highlight of summer is set to be Andre Rieu’s return to his home town of Maastricht in the Netherlands for a series of outdoor concerts with his 60-piece Johann Strauss Orchestra.
Get tickets as part of a three-night break that includes coach pick-ups across England and Wales, ferry crossings, accommodation and tours of Maastricht and Brussels. Price from £399pp (justgoholidays.co.uk).