BALLET & MUSIC WEEKEND IN TALLINN

Friday April 24th – Monday April 27th 2009

Operas Abroad is pleased to offer this interesting tour featuring the Ballet, ‘The Three Musketeers’ at the Estonian National Opera. The score of the ballet is by Sir Malcolm Arnold and the impetus for the tour came from Katherine Arnold, Sir Malcolm’s daughter, and members of the Malcolm Arnold Society, who are delighted that this colourful and exciting work will soon receive its first performance outside the UK. Arnold is well known to British audiences for his scores for such films as ‘Bridge on the River Kwai’ and the ‘Inn of the Sixth Happiness’, also his extensive orchestral catalogue including the ever popular ‘Tam O’Shanter Overture’ and the ‘English Dances’.
At the Estonian National Opera & Ballet high classical standards have been achieved and their imaginative programming will bring the Dumas’ story and Malcolm Arnold’s colourful score to a wider audience.

Friday April 24th.
Arrival in Tallinn. Transfer to Hotel Barons ****

Saturday April 25th.
City Tour of Tallinn in the morning with an English speaking guide.
Evening. Ballet. The Three Musketeers at the Estonian National Opera & Ballet.

Sunday April 26th
At leisure

Monday April 27th
Departure to UK

The price for is this is £300 and it includes return transfers airport/hotel/airport, three nights accommodation with breakfast at the Hotel Barons****, a half day city tour and good seats for the ballet in the front two rows of the first balcony (dress circle). Single room supplement for all nights £100.50. A deposit of £100 is required to secure your booking and the remaining balance will be due eight weeks before departure.

Optional Extras
Friday April 24th.
7pm. Opera – Un Ballo In Maschera-Verdi at the Estonian National Opera. £23.
Friday April 24th.
7pm. Concert at the Town Hall (Gothic building dating from 1404). Maano Manni (violin) and Christine Bengtsson (piano) Works by Tüür, Aulin, Gershwin and Saint-Saëns. £7.
Sunday April 26th.
A guided excursion to Palmse Manor in the Lahemaa National Park. £42
Sunday April 26th.
Dinner in the medieval Old Hansa Restaurant in the Old Town Hall Square of Tallinn offering typically Estonian Cuisine. Price £40.
(The concert and the opera are on the first night of the holiday.

Passengers arriving on the Estonian Air flight will not be in time for either of them but the Easy Jet flight will arrive in plenty of time. It will be possible to book an extra night).The itinerary does not include flights yet as not all the airlines have announced their schedules. Easy Jet is likely to running direct flights from Stansted leaving early and arriving at midday and returning at midday for about £120. Estonian Air has announced its direct schedule from Gatwick (Out Gatwick 18.00 – Tallinn 18.00 and Return Tallinn 16.15 – Gatwick 17.15) this flight is currently offered for £140). Operas Abroad will be pleased to arrange flights from other parts of the UK or Ireland; it is not likely that they will be direct flights. This holiday is offered by Vamos Travel Limited in co-operation with specialists in travel for opera and ballet Operas Abroad. The holiday will not be escorted throughout but the representative of our partner company in Tallinn will meet you on the first day for the City Tour and will be pleased to help you with directions to the Opera House, Old Hansa Restaurant and any other advice you need and you will have an emergency contact number for local help.
For further information or booking please contact Operas Abroad Tel 0207 511 9018 info@operasabroad.com. For further information about Tallinn visit our Tallinn page HERE. Please note that this tour is open to the public and to members of the Malcolm Arnold Society. A discounted price is available to members of the Society. For further information on Malcolm Arnold and the Malcolm Arnold Society
Click here for The Malcolm Arnold Society

Hotel Barons **** This small and atmospheric hotel is located a couple of steps from the Town Hall Square. Carefully restored in the early 20th century style, the hotel has retained the contemporary interior and atmosphere. Previously, the building served as a bank - it still has the vaults that are today used for keeping the guests' valuables. Because of the traffic restrictions in the Old Town, taxis cannot drive right up to the entrance. The hotel features an á la carte restaurant, a lobby bar and a sauna. There are 32 rooms, all nicely appointed and fully equipped with modern amenities, including minibar, air conditioning and floor heating in the bathrooms. Rooms for non-smokers and sufferers from allergies are provided. The hotel is within easy walking distance of the Opera House.

Featuring PARSIFAL-Wagner (State Opera House) CAVALLERIA RUSICANA-Mascagni (State Opera House) MAHAGONNY-Weill (National Concert Hall) Parsifal and Cavalleria Rusticana are of course very familiar works but this tour also offers the opportunity to see Mahagonny by Kurt Weill. Opera lovers familiar with the works of Kurt Weill generally know him for his Threepenny Opera and the Seven Deadly Sins. Fully titled, the Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny it is a work of 1930 with a libretto by Bertolt Brecht which is a political satire. Hope vies with cynicism and greed as cruel fate pursues the opera’s curiously named protagonists including Trinity Moses, Fatty the Bookkeeper and Moneybags Billy across America. The tour will be led by the well known writer and lecturer on music Terry Barfoot. He will give a lecture about each opera before the performance. The offer includes direct return flights with British Airways (Outbound LHR 1400 – Budapest 1735 and Return Budapest 1235 – LHR 1415), return transfers Airport/Hotel/Airport (with guide assistance), four nights at the Danubius Hotel Astoria**** with breakfast, lectures before each opera, coach transfer to the operas, Hungarian Reps in Budapest-24 hours, 1-1 UK support and opera synopses. Price for all the above is £750.00 per person in a twin/double room and £865 – single. Deposit £200 per person with the balance due eight weeks before departure. *All subject to availability, and terms & conditions apply. We will be pleased to arrange connecting flights from regional airports to Heathrow. Guided sight-seeing, a river cruise and a typically Hungarian meal will be arranged as optional extras. Terry Barfoot has a great deal of experience at leading music tours both in the UK and abroad. He writes widely on music for Britain’s leading journals, orchestras, festivals and record companies. A well-known figure in the musical life of southern England, he lectures at Oxford and other universities, and is Publications Consultant to the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Danubius Hotel Astoria was opened in 1914. Its name given by the owners and Mihály Gellér, the first General Manager of the hotel, who formerly worked for the world-famous Waldorf Astoria in New York, and was an acknowledged expert in hospitality at that time. The hotel was renovated in 2006 but its unique grace was carefully restored. The Empire-style interior decoration, marble, fine carpets, crystal chandeliers, glittering mirrors, stained-glass windows and marvellous works of art invite the guests to a romantic journey back in time. Film producers and directors often take the advantage of the excellent facilities of the hotel, which provides perfect scenery for film shooting. The hotel has excellent services and an ideal location in the heart of the historical city centre and close to the famous shopping areas of Váci Street.