WAGNER’S RING CYCLE

Day 1 | Monday 25 May
Arrive Berlin
After individual travel arrangements to Berlin, we meet in the evening for introductions followed by a welcome dinner at Lutter & Wegner – a Berliner institution at the Gendarmenmarkt, within easy walking distance of the hotel. Overnight Berlin (D)

Day 2 | Tuesday 26 May
Berlin’s Golden Age | Das Rheingold
This morning begins with a talk in the hotel, examining the first part of the tetralogy, Das Rheingold, which introduces us to the gods and giants of Norse-Germanic mythology and their struggle to possess the Rhine’s golden hoard – an idea which serves as a prologue to the larger story and sets the stage for the conflicts over power, greed, and fate that will unfold across the Cycle. We then embark on a historic walking tour of Berlin, as we make our way down the Unter den Linden towards the iconic Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag – a symbol of the struggles and eventual triumph of the city. We conclude our tour in the verdant surroundings of the Großer Tiergartenat, where we find a striking neobaroque monument dedicated to Richard Wagner, crafted by the renowned sculptor Gustav Eberlein between 1901 and 1903. After an afternoon at leisure, we then reconvene in the early evening for our first performance at the Deutsche Oper, Wagner’s Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold), starring Baritone Iain Paterson in the role of Wotan and Mezzo-soprano Annika Schlicht as the powerful Fricka. Overnight Berlin (B)

Day 3 | Wednesday 27 May
European Arts | Die Walküre
Our talk this morning explores Die Walküre, perhaps the best known of the four works in the Ring, in which the heroine of the drama, Wotan’s daughter Brünnhilde, is introduced. This second Music Drama is primarily concerned with an emotionally complex and troubling struggle between the forces of power and love. After the talk, our first visit for the day is the Gemäldegalerie in the Kulturforum (Culture Forum), which boasts one of the world’s most important collections of European painting ranging from the 13th to 18th century. Masterpieces from all epochs in the history of art are on permanent display here, including paintings by Jan van Eyck, Pieter Bruegel, Albrecht Dürer, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, Peter Paul Rubens and Rembrandt. Following a break for lunch, the afternoon is then spent exploring the nearby Musikinstrumenten Museum, home to nearly 3,600 European musical instruments from the 16th to the 21st century. One unique highlight is the Naumburger wind instrument collection, a nearly complete range of instruments originating from a central German city pipers group from 1600. After time to freshen up back at our hotel, we return to Deutsche Oper this evening for Wagner’s Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), starring Lyric Tenor Matthew Newlin and Soprano Elisabeth Teige as condemned siblings Siegmund and Sieglinde. Baritone Thomas Johannes Mayer plays Wotan. Overnight Berlin (B)

Day 4 | Thursday 28 May
Fredrick the Great’s City
Departing Berlin this morning, we spend the day in nearby Potsdam. The Prussian kings left their royal imprint on Potsdam with lavish palaces, parks and gardens, many of them with UNESCO World Heritage status. An undoubted highlight of the day is the visit to Frederick the Great’s rococo summer palace, aptly called Sanssouci (‘without worries’ in French). We also view the exterior of Cecilienhof Palace, with its rustic English Tudor design offering a contrast to Sanssouci, followed by a guided tour through the lakeside Marble Palace. Built in the Neoclassical style, the halls and the living areas are luxuriously furnished with marquetry, silk wall coverings, stuccowork and decorative arts. After an early dinner in Potsdam, we return to Berlin. Overnight Berlin (B, D)

Day 5 | Friday 29 May
At Leisure on Museum Island | Siegfried
This morning begins with a talk exploring the third and often the least well-known Music Drama in the Ring, Siegfried. Charting the progress of Siegfried from a boisterous youth to a young man capable of heroism and love, it serves as the prelude to the cataclysmic finale, Götterdämmerung – setting the stage for the downfall of the gods. Following our talk, we walk to Museum Island in the middle of the Spree River, where there is free time to explore this unique collection of five museums at your own pace and discretion. Together the museums, built between 1824 and 1930, trace a panorama stretching from the Ancient Egyptians to European art of the 19th century. (Please note, the Pergamon Museum is currently closed for extensive renovation work). Lunch in then enjoyed together at Brasserie Quarré in the Pariser Platz, with views of the Brandenburg Gate, before returning to the Deutsche Oper for Wagner’s Siegfried. Wagner described this work as a “heroic comedy” which, in its balance between comic and tragic elements, remains the challenge for its directors to this day. Tenor Clay Hilley stars in the title role, with tenor Ya-Chung portraying the cunning Mime, Soprano Elisabeth Teige taking on the role of Brünnhilde and Iain Paterson performing Der Wanderer. Overnight Berlin (B, L)

Day 6 | Saturday 30 May
The Prussian City
We travel by coach this morning to Charlottenburg Palace. Built as a summer palace for Sophie Charlotte, the first Queen consort in Prussia, by Elector Friederich III in 1699, this regal estate is framed by a baroque-style garden and contains over 600 gems and treasures from the century-long supremacy of the Hohenzollern dynasty. After touring  the opulent baroque interiors, including the Porcelain Cabinet, the dazzling Rococo ballroom and the Royal apartments, we explore the New Wing (Neuer Flügel), added in the 18th century under Frederick the Great, and the Charlottenburg Gardens – designed in the French formal style and later redesigned with English landscape elements. We then continue to the Kurfürstendamm, or “Ku’damm” as it’s commonly called, which, in the 1920s, was the centre of Berliner nightlife and later became the heart of West Berlin. Here we enjoy lunch together at Diekmann, featuring refined German cuisine, before returning to our hotel for an evening at leisure. Overnight Berlin (B, L)

Day 7 | Sunday 31 May
Echoes of the Stage | Götterdämmerung
The final Music Drama of the Ring, Götterdämmerung (meaning ‘Twilight of the Gods’), is a thrilling but demanding work which brings us, via Siegfried’s murder, to Brünnhilde’s final ecstatic act of self-sacrifice. Our concluding talk this morning will draw together the complex threads of this great operatic tetralogy. Following the talk, we’re treated to a private backstage tour of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Here we’ll explore the auditorium, props room and costume department, gaining a behind-the-scenes look at how the theatre operates. In the afternoon we then return to the Deutsche Oper for a final time as we experience Wagner’s Götterdämmerung. The theatrical devices that dominate Stefan Herheim’s version will come together for the grand finale, as Tenor Clay Hilley continues in the role of Siegfried and Bass-baritone Michael Sumue brings depth to the tormented Alberich. Overnight Berlin (B, L)

Day 8 | Monday 1 June
Atop The Reichstag
A day at leisure in Berlin allows us to relax after our previous evening’s odyssey through the final chapter of Der Ring des Nibelungen. You may like to join your Tour Leader for an optional visit to the magnificent Bode-Museum on the northern tip of Museum Island. When the museum first opened in 1904, painting and sculpture, considered at the time as the ‘high arts’, were for the first time presented side by side on an equal footing with each other – a presentation strategy that differed radically from that of traditional museums. We reconvene in the evening to farewell Berlin with dinner atop the Reichstag Building. The Reichstag first opened in 1894, was destroyed by fire in 1933, and then became the first meeting place of a reunified Germany. The reconstruction of the building was completed in 1999 to a plan by British architect Sir Norman Foster. His plan included an extraordinary glass dome at the top of the building which we will ascend. Overnight Berlin (B, D)

Day 9 | Tuesday 2 June
Depart Berlin
The tour ends after breakfast this morning. A group transfer to Berlin Airport will be available for those departing today. (B)