Rusalka
Antonin Dvorak
Monday, April 23
Karlin Theater
La Cenerentola
Gioachino Rossini
Tuesday, April 24
Estates Theater
The Kiss
Bedrich Smetana
Thursday, April 24
Mahen Theater, Brno
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PRAGUE AND BRNO IN SPRING!
Spend a spring week in Prague and Brno, the beating hearts of culture in the Czech Republic. We will see three operas during our time together. The first performance in the 1881 Karlin Theater will be Dvorak’s Rusalka, one of the greats of Czech operatic repertoire. We will then see Rossini’s delightful La Cenerentola. This will be in the beautiful Estates Theater where Mozart conducted the premiere of Don Giovanni in 1787! Finally, at the Mahen Theater in Brno, capital of Moravia, we will see Smetana’s lovely comic opera, The Kiss. In addition to plenty of open time for personal wandering, we will have guided walking tours of both Prague and Brno.
About the Instructor
Larry Axelrod has traveled to four continents for
fun and cultural purposes. He has been
arranging Opera Adventures in the
United States and abroad for more than seven
years. He taught at the Music Center of the
North Shore (now Music Institute of Chicago),
different Elderhostel venues and Renasan. He
taught many different classes over the course of
fifteen years at Ghost
Ranch Santa Fe, including an opera class and
music theory at Columbia College in Chicago.
Larry is a composer, pianist and conductor,
whose musical activities have taken him
around the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. His compositions have been performed in composers’ festival concerts around the United States and abroad.
For more information please call Larry at (773) 680-8811 or email larry223@aol.com.
Also please visit: www.operaadventures.com.
About the Class
We will be attending:
Monday, April 23 — Rusalka (Dvorak)
Tuesday, April 24 — Cenerentola (Rossini)
Thursday, April 26 — The Kiss (Smetana)
Sunday, we will have a private group tour around Prague, concentrating on sights of musical interest. Wednesday afternoon, we will have an afternoon tour of Brno.
Monday, Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9 AM to about 11, we will gather to watch DVD performances, listen to CDs and learn about that evening’s performance. There will be time for discussion and questions. Class participation is encouraged! The class will be held in a meeting room in the hotel.
Rusalka is at 7 PM in the lovely Karlin Theater. Cenerentola is also at 7 PM in the historic Estates Theater, where Mozart performed. The Kiss is at 7 pm in the Janacek Theater in Brno.
Useful links:
Hotel UNIC
Hotel Grandezza
Hotel and Amenities
In Prague, our hotel will be the Hotel UNIC, a stylish small hotel in the city center.It is close to all of the main attractions in center-city Prague and is a five-minute walk from a subway stop. There are four different dining options in the hotel itself. There is complimentary WiFi in the public areas of the hotel.
In Brno, we will stay at the Hotel Grandezza, a magnificent turn-of-the century structure, recently renovated, right on the main square. It has three different restaurants in addition to access to other center city options.
About your arrival and departure
Arrival in Prague will be on Saturday, April 21. We will meet briefly in the late afternoon to greet one another and discuss the logistics of our stay. We will travel together by fast train to Brno - a two hour trip - on Wednesday, April 25. (The ticket is included in the trip price.) Check out from the hotel in Brno will be on Friday, April 27. If you wish to add nights at the beginning or the end of our trip, please contact me directly and I will make sure through the group reservations personnel that it is handled properly.
Czech Airlines has a daily nonstop flight from JFK to Prague (airport code PRG). All other airlines make a stop at a major European hub. Our trip ends in Brno (airport code BRQ), which has a regional airport served by BMI Regional Airlines, a Lufthansa affiliate. They have two daily nonstop flights to Munich, where you can easily connect to flights to the US. Also, Brno is just 1 hour and 26 minutes from Vienna by train, with many departures per day. From the Vienna main station, you can connect to the very frequent quick trains to the Vienna International Airport. Significantly lower airfares may be available returning from Vienna rather than Brno.
Other activities
Prague is one of the pearls of Europe, full of magnificent architecture from Baroque to Art Nouveau. Its beautiful center city streets retain the charm of the 18th century. Brno is the capital of Moravia, rich in local culture and art. It is a small, friendly, walkable city.
Transportation to the performances
The Karlin Theater is about a fifteen minute walk from the hotel. The Estates Theater is the same distance. Taxis are easily available. The Mahen Theater is 700 meters from the hotel, less than ten minutes walk.
Transportation to/from the airport
The Hotel Unic offers an airport transfer for 28 Euros. Contact them at info@hotel-unic.cz. There are also buses to the city center. A hotel shuttle is available from the Hotel Grandezza to the airport in Brno for 5 Euros per person if we travel as a group.
Fee and fee schedule
Double occupancy will be $1600 per person. Single occupancy will be $2000. This includes: three opera tickets, six nights hotel stay, train ticket from Prague to Brno, daily breakfast, one lunch, one dinner and two private walking tours.
A 50% deposit ($800 per person double, $1000 single) will hold your place. The balance will be due on or before February 21, 2018.
Cancellation policy:
Before February 21, a full refund minus a $25 administrative fee will be issued. Before March 21, a 50% refund will be issued. Before April 7, a 25% refund will be issued. Any cancellation later than April 7, no refund will be issued.
Not included:
Five dinners, five lunches, all air travel, airport transfers, transport to/from performances, admission to attractions/museums on the day tours.
Travel Insurance
Sometimes our personal libretti give opera a run for its
money. Plans need to change quickly, forcing
cancellation of an eagerly anticipated trip. I try to make my refund policy as clear, fair and straight-forward as possible, in line with what I see on other travel sites. However, as a single-person enterprise, I have little leeway with goods and services already purchased and time already invested.
For this reason, I recommend travel insurance for
those “just in case” moments. I can promise I really
don’t want you to cancel once you have signed up for
one of my great opera adventures. I also don’t want
you to lose money. However I really must stay with my
refund policy. So, consider travel insurance. It’s a
small investment that you really hope you won’t need,
but might be very worthwhile.
www.insuremytrip.com
www.travelguard.com
Registration
To register for Prague Opera Adventure 2018, click on the link here and download the registration form. Completed forms can be mailed to:
Lawrence Axelrod
5445 N. Sheridan Rd. #1212
Chicago IL 60640