MARTIN RANDALL TRAVEL The Rhine Valley Festival of Song 29 May–5 June 2014 Ian Bostridge, Andreas Scholl, Birgid Steinberger, Roderick Williams, Stephan Loges, Elizabeth Watts, Markus Schäfer, Clara Mouriz, Christoph Prégardien, Renata Pokupić. Imogen Cooper, Roger Vignoles, Julius Drake, Sebastian Wybrew, Tobias Koch, Tamar Halperin.
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The Rhine Valley Festival of Song (29 May–5 June 2014)
Nine private Lieder recitals and a piano recital, all taking place in historic palaces, concert halls and country houses in the Rhine Valley
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M A R T I N R A N D A L L T R A V E L
The Rhine Valley Festival of Song
29 May–5 June 2014
Ian Bostridge, Andreas Scholl, Birgid Steinberger, Roderick Williams, Stephan Loges, Elizabeth Watts, Markus Schäfer, Clara Mouriz, Christoph Prégardien, Renata Pokupić.
Imogen Cooper, Roger Vignoles, Julius Drake, Sebastian Wybrew, Tobias Koch, Tamar Halperin.
Ten exceptional Lieder singers, six of
the finest pianist-accompanists, ten
beautiful, historic and appropriate
halls; seven days of recitals, lectures and
discussion: there has only been one event
like it, and that was the hugely successful
Danube Festival of Song in 2011, also
arranged by us.
But there is only one audience, of
maximum 140, consisting of those who
take the package which includes not only
all the recitals but also accommodation,
transport, meals and nearly everything
else. (A small number of tickets are being
sold locally for one recital only.) Most
live for the week on board a modern and
comfortable river cruiser, travelling the
Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel without
having to pack and unpack on the way. A
smaller group mixes concert-going with
country walking, staying in hotels – two
of which are also venues for concerts.
Most of the venues are small, creating
the closeness between performers
and audience which so enhances the
experience of this most intimate and
reflective of musical forms. The spoken
word, analytical, historical and anecdotal,
plays an important role in the festival.
There are daily talks by Richard Stokes,
who has an unsurpassed knowledge of
German-language poetry and is a much
sought-after lecturer and singing teacher.
All this is a spectacularly alluring offer
for the devotee of art song, but for the
less dedicated listener, will it be too rich
or too limited a diet? We maintain that
this is a festival which will be enjoyed by
all music lovers.
The Rhine Valley Festival of Song29 May–5 June 2014
‘In every respect it was a truly wonderful and faultless festival.’R.J., Western Australia, who travelled on The Rhine Valley Music Festival in 2012.
Concerts & Itinerary The Rhine Valley Festival of Song, 29 May–5 June 2014
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Concert 2: Songs of the Rhine Schloss LembeckStephan Loges, baritone Birgid Steinberger, soprano Roger Vignoles, pianoBavarian soprano Birgid Steinberger has
earned an international reputation as a
recitalist and has performed regularly as a
soloist at Vienna’s Staatsoper and Volksoper.
Born in Dresden, and subsequently resident
in London and now the Netherlands,
Stephan Loges was an early winner of
the Wigmore Hall International Song
Competition and has given concert
performances and recitals worldwide.
Roger Vignoles is recognised as one of
the world’s most distinguished piano
accompanists. He regularly partners the finest
singers in major venues around the world
and is regarded as a leading authority on the
song repertoire. He performs at four of the
concerts on this festival.
Together the artists perform a programme
of songs that are connected with the Rhine.
Composers include Brahms, Cornelius, Liszt,
Loewe, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Clara and
Robert Schumann, Silcher and Wolf.
Return to the ship in the evening and sail
overnight from Wesel to Bonn.
The Walking Party: leave Utrecht by coach,
enjoy a walk in the vicinity of the Lower
Rhine and arrive at the hotel in Lembeck in
the early afternoon. Attend concert 2: details above. Overnight Schloss Lembeck.
Day 3, Saturday 31 May BonnFamously disparaged as a village by the
diplomatic corps when it was capital, Bonn
had in fact been a significant centre of
culture while seat of the Elector Archbishops
of Cologne in the early modern period.
In the eighteenth century a second-rate
tenor inclined to drink, named Johann
van Beethoven, was employed at the
Attention to detail was unparalleled and no stone left unturned to ensure that one’s experience of the festival was as good as it could be.’R.L., Perthshire, who travelled on The Rhine Valley Music Festival in 2012.
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Concerts & Itinerary The Rhine Valley Festival of Song, 29 May–5 June 2014
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archiepiscopal court. His son was a better
musician. The morning recital is in the
Kammermusiksaal, a handsome modern
chamber music hall attached to the
Beethoven family home within walking
distance of the mooring.
Concert 3: Piano by Beethoven & the Schumanns, Robert & Clara Bonn, Beethoven Haus, KammermusiksaalImogen Cooper pianoImogen Cooper is recognised worldwide as
one of the finest interpreters of the classical
repertoire, renowned for her virtuosity
and poetic poise. She has made around 30
recordings as a soloist, accompanist, concerto
and chamber pianist.
This recital opens with one of Beethoven’s
early sonatas, the third of Op.10, designated
‘Grande’ by the composer. Robert Schumann’s
Sonata in F sharp minor quotes one of Clara
Wieck’s ‘Four Characteristic Pieces’, and
Clara’s own Romance in B minor, composed
a few months after the death of Robert, is
juxtaposed with his Romance in F sharp.
There is some time for independent
exploration of Bonn, perhaps to return to
the Beethoven Haus with its remarkable
collection of memorabilia, or to visit
Bonn Minster, one of the most impressive
monuments of the transitional period
between Romanesque and Gothic.
The afternoon recital takes place in the
Schumann Haus, formerly the psychiatric
hospital where Robert worked as music
director before falling ill himself and dying
there in 1856. The music library is the
principal venue of the annual Schumann
Festival. Being too small for all our audience,
the concert is performed twice and we share
one concert with the Festival and therefore
with Bonn residents.
Concert 4: Settings of Heinrich Heine Bonn, Schumann Haus, MusikbibliothekMarkus Schäfer, tenor Tobias Koch, pianoMarkus Schäfer is as renowned for
his interpretations of Lieder as for his
performances of Mozart’s great tenor roles
and in Baroque opera. His accompanist
Tobias Koch regularly appears both as a
soloist and as a chamber musician at festivals
throughout Europe. He is particularly known
for his interpretation of works by Schumann.
Heinrich Heine’s association with the Rhine
is reflected in Robert Schumann’s first great
song cycle, the Liederkreis Op.24. Vesque von
Püttlingen, greatly prized by Schumann, set
88 songs from Heine’s Die Heimkehr, from
which we hear a selection. The recital ends
with three of Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder.
The ship remains moored in Bonn overnight.
The Walking Party: drive south for a walk
in the hills around Bonn before arriving at
the Steigenberger Grandhotel St Petersberg
above Königswinter. Attend concert 4: Markus Schäfer and Tobias Koch at the Schumannhaus in Bonn. First of two nights in Königswinter.
Below: Bonn, steel engraving c. 1840 from Views of the Rhine by William Tombleson.
M A R T I N R A N D A L L T R A V E L
Concerts & Itinerary The Rhine Valley Festival of Song, 29 May–5 June 2014
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Day 4, Sunday 1 June Königswinter, AndernachDrive the few miles to Königswinter and
up a steep hillside to the Grandhotel St
Petersberg, whose commanding position
overlooking the Rhine is among the features
which have attracted grandees and celebrities
for over a hundred years. Here Hitler received
Neville Chamberlain during the Munich
crisis in 1938.
Concert 5: Die schöne Magelone Königswinter, Grandhotel PetersbergRoderick Williams, baritone Roger Vignoles, piano Julia Somerville, readerOne of Britain’s most brilliant and versatile
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Concerts & Itinerary The Rhine Valley Festival of Song, 29 May–5 June 2014
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Hohenzollern. Once a castle, it has evolved
over the centuries into a stately residence. The
ballroom, venue for the recital, dates to 1911.
Concert 6: Canciones & Mélodies Andernach, Burg NamedyClara Mouriz, mezzo-soprano Julius Drake, pianoSpanish born Clara Mouriz is rapidly
establishing herself as one of the most
exciting mezzo-sopranos of her generation.
She made her début at Wigmore Hall in
2007 and has returned every season. She has
just released her first disc of Spanish songs
and made her Proms début in 2013.
An outstanding piano accompanist, Julius
Drake works with many of the world’s
leading artists, vocal and instrumental, in
recital and on disc. He won the 2013 BBC
Music Magazine Vocal Award for a Liszt
recording with Angelika Kirchschlager. This is
the first of two appearances on this festival.
This is a beguiling programme of popular
Spanish songs and French mélodies with a
Spanish theme, featuring works by Obradors,
Granados and Bizet.
Remain moored at Andernach overnight so
that participants can enjoy the next stretch of
the Rhine in daylight.
The Walking Party: attend concert 5: Roderick Williams and Roger Vignoles at the Grandhotel St Petersberg. An afternoon walk finishes at
the evening concert. Attend concert 6: details above. Overnight Königswinter.
Day 5, Monday 2 June Schloss BiebrichToday the ship passes through the Middle
Rhine, the most dramatically picturesque
stretch of the river. On both sides there are
vine-clad hills with castles on many of the
peaks, and charming little towns and villages
at the water’s edge. Towards the end of the
afternoon, moor at Biebrich a couple of
hundred metres from the concert venue.
Built at the river’s edge around 1700, Schloss
Biebrich has a hall whose ample glazing looks
out to the Rhine on one side and towards the
park on the other.
Concert 7: Schubert & Schumann with Prégardien Schloss BiebrichChristoph Prégardien, tenor Julius Drake, pianoChristoph Prégardien is one of the today’s
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The Walking Party: free morning in Speyer,
or an optional walk. Drive in the afternoon
to Frankfurt Airport and return to Heathrow
at c. 6.00pm. Please note that this tour departs from London Gatwick and returns to Heathrow.
Day 8, Thursday 5 June BaselThe ship moors in Basel. Straddling the
Rhine at the uppermost point for shipping,
the Swiss city abuts the borders of France and
Germany. It retains much of its centuries-old
streetscape and architecture, including a fine
mediaeval cathedral, and the Kunstmuseum is
Switzerland’s finest gallery of historic art.
Coaches leave the ship between 9.00
and 9.30am. See page 4 for the options
available for return travel to London.
Selecting Option 2 allows for a day of
independent sightseeing in Basel.
The concertsPrivate events. The concerts are planned
and administered by Martin Randall
Travel, and the audience consists
exclusively of those who have taken the
full festival package. The concerts are
therefore private.
Seating. Specific seats are not reserved.
You sit where you want.
Acoustics. This festival is more concerned
with authenticity and ambience than
acoustical perfection. While some of
the venues have excellent acoustics, others
have idiosyncrasies not found in modern
concert halls.
Changes. Musicians fall ill, venues
need emergency repairs: there are many
unforeseeable circumstances which could
necessitate changes to the programme.
We cannot rule out changes to the
programme due to the tide, to severe
increases in water levels (which lead to
the closure of locks) or indeed low levels
of water. Such changes might necessitate
more travel by coach. We ask you to be
understanding should these events occur.
‘We have long since run out of superlatives in commenting on MRT tours. The maintenance of such standards is very reassuring.’ P.B. & S.B., Kent, who travelled on The Rhine Valley Music Festival in 2012. Left: Basel, steel engraving c. 1840.
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The Ship, Hotels The Rhine Valley Festival of Song, 29 May–5 June 2014