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Spanish Melodies
Great music, art, and food in Madrid and
Barcelona, with an extension to Mallorca
with 99.5 All Classical Host Cathy Fuller
Th u rs day, A pr il 7 – Sat u r day, A p r i l 1 7, 2 01 1
M allo rca e x t e n s i o n : S at u r day, A p r i l 1 7–
T u e s day, A p r i l 2 0 , 2 0 1 1
Barcelona’s Palau de la Musica Catalana
B
eauty and fashion, flamenco and zarzuela, Picasso and
Goya. Revel in the glories of Spain with 99.5 All Classical
host Cathy Fuller on a WGBH LearningTour to the stately
capital Madrid and exciting, chic Barcelona, with an extension
to the gorgeous Mediterranean island of Mallorca. The musical
highlights include an opera performance at Barcelona’s Palau de la
Musica Catalana, the St. John Passion by Amsterdam Baroque,
pianists Grigori Sokolov and Rudolf Buchbinder; a zarzuela (Spanish operetta); and an evening of flamenco. On Mallorca, we will
hear a Chopin recital in the cell in which he lived. Excursions take
us to the ancient towns of Toledo, Segovia, and Girona.
Thursday, April 7
Hola, Madrid!
Group flight departs for Madrid, arriving the next day.
Friday, April 8
The Marqués’ Masterpieces
We arrive at our hotel, the Villa Real, adorned with ancient sculpture and elegant rooms in a central location. Our gala welcome
reception is at the palace of the Marqués de Santa Cruz. We will
view the Marqués’ private collection of masterpieces by Goya and
others while listening to a private guitar recital. The reception is
followed by dinner at a fine restaurant.
Saturday, april 9
A Night at the Operetta
We begin explorations of Madrid with the Palacio Real, the royal
seat built in 1738 by Philip V. We’ll wind through medieval streets
surrounding the 17th century Plaza Mayor and have lunch at a
notable tapas bar. Our next musical event is a performance of
Luisa Fernanda by Federico Moreno Torroba. This zarzuela, the
Spanish form of operetta, was chosen by Placido Domingo to
perform at Washington Opera in 2004.
aqueduct, cathedral, and fairytale castle, known as the Alcazar,
and have lunch there. Evening free.
monday, april 11
Toledo, El Greco and Chopin
The ancient, walled city of Toledo is built atop a hill, bordered on
three sides by the River Tagus, known for its rich mingling of
Christian, Moorish and Hebrew culture. We’ll visit the Cathedral
and wind through the medieval streets and view masterpieces of
the painter El Greco. Lunch is at La Perdiz. At night, back in
Madrid, we’ll attend an all-Chopin recital by renowned Russian
pianist Grigori Sokolov.
Tuesday, April 12
Picasso, Dalí and flamenco
We visit two of Madrid’s treasures, the Prado, unrivalled for its
paintings by the great artists Velásquez, Goya, Zurbarán and Ribera;
then we’ll visit the Reina Sofia, home to Picasso’s stirring “Guernica.”
We’ll also view works by Dalí. Our evening concludes with the
swirling dance of flamenco, plus dinner at the Corral de la Morería,
one of Madrid’s best tablaos.
w e d n e s day, a p r i l 1 3
Barcelona Bound, and Bach
We board a high-speed train to Barcelona, and explore the ancient
streets, monuments, and market in the Barri Gótic, the old center
of town. We’ll stay on the elegant Passeig de Grácia, in the
modernista Hotel Condes de Barcelona. Tonight is a performance
of Bach’s St. John Passion by
Amsterdam Baroque, at the
spectacular Palau de la Musica
Catalana.
T h u rs day, a p r i l 1 4
El Escorial and Segovia
Gaudi’s Greatest Hits;
Opera at Night
El Escorial, at the foot of the Guadarrama Mountains, was one of
the largest buildings in the world in 1584. We’ll tour the palace,
with its 16 courtyards, view the tombs of Charles V and successive
emperors (and that of his son Don Carlo - of Schiller and Verdi
fame.) Then we travel to Segovia, dominated by its Roman
Architect Antonio Gaudì set the
design world on fire at the turn
of the 20th century with his
buildings of illusionistic
exteriors and undulating forms.
sunday, April 10
We’ll visit two of his works: Park
Güell and the church Sagrada
Familia, recently consecrated by Pope
Benedict. We’ll also stop at the Museu
Nacional de Catalunya, high atop the
city, to view a magnificient set of
Romanesque frescoes, extracted from
the walls of Pyrenees churches. At
night is a performance of the two
great verismo one-act operas,
Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci at
the Teatre del Liceu, featuring
Argentinean tenor Jose Cura and
Italian mezzo Lucina d’Intimo.
F r i day, a p r i l 1 5
Girona and Besalú
Today we travel north to visit two pretty Catalonian towns. First
we visit Girona, with Roman walls, Arab baths, and old Jewish
quarter, where we’ll enjoy lunch. Then on to medieval Besalú, with
fine Romanesque churches. Evening free.
S at u r day, a p r i l 1 6
Picasso’s Palaces by day; concert at night
For our final day in Barcelona, we’ll visit the Museu Picasso, made
up of three medieval palaces in the old district of Born. We’ll attend
a concert at L’Auditori by the Orchestra Nacional de Catalunya, a
program of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven with Austrian pianist
Rudolf Buchbinder as conductor and soloist. Our farewell dinner
is at El Principal, a fine restaurant.
Extension
s u n day, a p r i l 1 7
Magnificent Mallorca
The main part of the tour ends with the optional flight back to
Boston. Those staying on will fly to Palma, on the island of Mallorca, refuge and playground of the rich and famous for decades.
We’ll walk through the medieval center, dominated by its immense
Gothic cathedral. Our hotel is the Gran Hotel de Sóller, nestled in
a valley below the Tramontana Mountains. In the evening, the
antique train takes us to the Port de Sóller for a drink on the
harbor.
m o n day, a p r i l 1 8
Concert in Chopin’s Cell
Today we’ll go into the hills of the beautiful town of Deià. This was
the home for more than 50 years of poet and author Robert Graves
(“I, Claudius”). We’ll visit his unassuming, but interesting home,
now a museum, and explore the village. Then it’s on to the town of
Valldemossa, famed for the winter of 1838 when Frederic Chopin
and his lover, French novelist George Sand (Aurore Lucille Dupin),
lived in the Carthusian monastery the Real Cartuja de Jesùs de
Nazaret. Two pianos the composer used to complete his op. 28
Preludes and other works remain in the museum there. After
closing hours, you’ll hear a program of Chopin and Spanish works
in the composer’s own cell.
t u e s day, a p r i l 1 9
A Spiritual Serenade
We visit Mallorca’s spiritual center at Monastery de LLuc and then
on to the monastery of San Salvatore, famous for its paella, for
lunch. Tenim Cantera, a small international choir, serenades us
privately in the church. Our festive dinner at Es Turó in the
nearby village of Fornalutx follows a private concert of music and
dance by Abeniara, a Mallorcan folk group.
w e d n e s day, a p r i l 2 0
Adios to Spain!
A flight back to the mainland from Palma then goes on to Boston
for an afternoon return.
Co st
10-DAY TOUR (per person in double occupancy): $5,185
Single Supplement: $ 885
EXTENSION (per-person in double occupancy): $1,735
Single Supplement: $155
GROUP AIRFARE (round trip from Boston): $997
A deposit of $1,100 reserves your place ($600 donation to
WGBH, $500 deposit to The Grand Tour Travel Company)
Balance due Friday, January 14, 2011.
Co n tact
Call Elizabeth Hagyard at 617.300.5747 to reserve your place
on the tour with a credit card deposit, or send checks for the
deposit amount to:
WGBH LearningTours–Spain 2011
One Guest Street • Boston, MA 02135 • Attn: Mary Toropov
Registration materials and further information will be
provided upon receipt of deposit, or can be downloaded from
wgbh.org/learningtours/spain.
Questions? Call 617.300.3505.
LearningTours
YOUR TRAVEL HOST: CATHY FULLER
Since winning the
Boston Symphony
Orchestra’s Young
Artists Competition at 16, Cathy
Fuller has been a
staple of the Boston
classical music
scene as a performer, educator, and
radio host.
She has been a professor of piano on the faculties of the University of Massachusetts/Lowell, Clark University, and the Longy
School of Music, and Classical Director and host at NPR affiliate
WICN in Worcester, and World Classical Network. She is currently the host of 99.5 All Classical’s Classical Music with Cathy
Fuller, and produces weekly live classical performances.