For more than twenty-five years, we have offered an annual four-night visit to the prestigious Salzburg Easter Festival encompassing the complete four-performance cycle of opera and concerts. For 2023, the Festival will be led for the first time by Sir Antonio Pappano, the distinguished Italian Music Director of Covent Garden’s Royal Opera. Boston Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra will be the revered Accademia di Santa Cecilia of Rome. Our four evenings will include the new production of Amilcare Ponchielli’s ‘grand opera’ La Gioconda (starring Anna Netrebko opposite Jonas Kaufmann); the towering Verdi Requiem conducted by Pappano; an Orchestral Concert led by Jakub Hrusa (recently named Pappano’s successor at Covent Garden); and a Recital of arias and songs by soprano Lise Davidsen and tenor Freddie de Tommaso. The Easter performances will take us into Salzburg’s Grosses Festspielhaus (Large Festival Hall), renowned for its brilliant acoustics and sightlines, and the intimate Mozarteum.

As always, we have combined Salzburg with a second city where the opera program is the most enticing of the season – usually Munich or Vienna. This year, we have chosen to fly to the Saxonian capital of Dresden immediately following Salzburg. We are eager to attend three performances at the exquisite Semper Opera, where our dates coincide with a compact Richard Strauss Festival. (For Strauss ‘aficionados’, this opportunity will compensate for the MET’s disappointing ’23 – ’24 season’s omission of a single Strauss opera.) Dresden’s Strauss program will offer performances of Elektra (with Lise Lindstrom in the title role); a new production of Die Frau Ohne Schatten (conducted by Music Director Christian Thielemann); and a Recital by German soprano Christiane Karg.

Our accommodations in Salzburg are for four nights (with a generous buffet breakfast) at the Imlauer Pitter Hotel, centrally located near the Mirabel Gardens and a short walk from the Mozarteum. The Pitter retains the classic Austrian atmosphere that attracts local residents to its several well-known dining areas. Both the Rainerstube Keller and the gourmet Imlauer Restaurant serve regional menus before and after the Festival performances, and the Plaza Bar is a popular gathering spot for international visitors. The top floor offers the Sky Restaurant Imlauer for breakfast with a beautiful view over Salzburg, and a fitness, sauna and relaxation area.

In Dresden, our accommodations are for four nights with an elaborate buffet breakfast included at the Kempinski Taschenberg Palace Hotel, ideally located directly across the street from the Semper Opera House and the Zwinger Palace. All of our events are within very short walking distance of the hotel. This deluxe property – one of Europe’s finest hotels - is built above the ruins of the eponymous Baroque palace in the heart of the city, with large, elegant rooms. A health club and indoor swimming pool overlook the city from the top floor. This will be our first return to the hotel following extensive renovations.

Complete details for all our tours are available in our full brochure. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PDF VERSION

Prices Per Person (Air Fare not Included)

Double Occupancy: $6,880
Single Occupancy: $7,860