Some of the best seats at London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, will cost just £10 (near $18.40) for the 2004-2005 season, thanks to a sponsorship deal with Travelex. One hundred top-price stalls and stalls circle tickets will be made available every Monday, 1½ hours before a performance. In some cases, this will mean a saving of up to £165 on the price of a ticket.
We asked any of you who attended a concert, a recital or any music or dance performance or stage production outside of the US in the last couple of years to tell us how you learned about it and how you obtained tickets. The responses this month, comprising part seven in this ongoing series, are about events attended in the United Kingdom.
European Christmas markets have enchanted me since I bought my first carved wooden nutcracker at one in Nürnberg in 1962 while teaching in Germany. Since retiring, I have gone six years in a row to these festive markets, which are open during the Advent season. On a “Rhine Winter Voyage” aboard AmaCello, Dec. 2-14, 2011, I was there with AmaWaterways (Chatsworth, CA; 800/626-0126).
The Universal Forum of Culture is taking place in Barcelona, Spain, until Sept. 26, 2004. The 4½-month international festival is presenting 423 concerts and 170 musical groups plus street performances, circus, art exhibitions (including Terra Cotta Warriors of Xi’an), international markets, dance, theater and a nightly celebration. Conferences and debates will be open to the public, many with audience question-and-answer sessions. Translation services are available.
It is taking place primarily at the newly built convention center, park and marina complex.
The Canterbury Festival takes place this year Oct. 9-23. There will be concerts in Canterbury Cathedral and opera, dance and drama in the Marlowe and Gulbenkian theaters, not to mention a range of jazz and folk music, street theater and children’s events, plus exhibitions, walks and talks.
For festival info, phone (01227) 452853, fax (01227) 781830 or e-mail info@canterburyfestival.co.uk.
We highly recommend the France-and-Italy opera trip offered by the International Council for Cultural Exchange, or ICCE (426 South Country Rd., Ste. 1, Brookhaven, NY 11719; phone 800/690-4223, e-mail info@icce-travel.org).
On our trip, April 19-May 1, ’03, there were only four of us plus our excellent trip leader, David Shengold, who was very knowledgeable about music and art and spoke both Italian and French. The 2004 price of this tour, including air from New York, is $4,598.
We asked any of you who attended a concert, a recital or any music or dance performance or stage production outside of the US in the last couple of years to tell us how you learned about it and how you obtained tickets. The responses this month, comprising part six in this ongoing series, are mostly about events in Croatia and Hungary.
Well before you travel somewhere, browse the Internet to learn what you can about upcoming events.
I had traveled in Romania with the choreographer Theodor Vasilescu on his annual folk-dance tour in 2009. A group of us were eager to dance in Romania again in summer 2011, but Theodor was not available.
I recalled seeing (while researching a trip to Bulgaria) trips to Romania listed on the website of Penguin Travel (St. Orpheus 9, 1421 Sofia, Bulgaria; e-mail info@penguin.bg).
In August ’03, my husband and I took a wonderful 12-day trip to Russia with Lexcorp Cruise & Tour Marketing (3401 Investment Blvd., Ste. 3, Hayward, CA 94545-3819; phone 800/578-3401). They have over 20 years’ experience in travel.
What looks simply like a series of concrete steps descending into the Adriatic Sea at Zadar, Croatia, is actually a pipe organ that is played by the waves and wind. Located in the city’s Riva section, along Istarska Obala street, the 230-foot-long Sea Organ (morske orgulje) incorporates seven groups of five polyurethane pipes tuned to two chords and opening onto the sidewalk. There is no cost to visit.