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The Puccini Opera Festival

Lucca 5 nights Price from £2,648 per person
Departs: 09 Aug 2023, 23 Aug 2023
Departs: 09 Aug 2023

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Giacomo Puccini was born into a musical family in Lucca on 22 December 1858. As a boy Puccini sang in the choir of the Cathedral of San Martino and later received his musical education at the conservatory in Milan. His first opera, Le Villi, was performed in 1884. For the next forty years, until his death in 1924, Puccini composed operas which today are still the most performed works on the stages of the world’s opera houses. From mid-July to mid-August each year the Puccini Festival is held in Torre del Lago near Lucca on the peaceful shores of Lake Massaciuccoli.

 

What's included

...when you travel with Kirker

  • Return flights
  • Five nights’ accommodation with breakfast
  • Four dinners
  • First category tickets for all three performances as described
  • All sightseeing, entrance fees and gratuities
  • The services of the Kirker Tour Leader and local guide

Itinerary

  • Day 1 - Albergo Celide

    We fly to Pisa airport and transfer to Lucca where we stay for five nights at the 3* Albergo Celide, located just outside the city walls.
  • Day 2 - Lucca & Torre del Lago

    Today we begin with a walking tour of Lucca. Highlights include the Duomo where four generations of Puccini's forebears were organists, and the Church of San Michele in Foro where Puccini was a chorister, another fine example of Pisan Romanesque architecture. This afternoon we visit the villa at Torre del Lago where Puccini lived and worked before staying on for dinner and the opera.
  • Day 3 - Villa Garzoni & the Teatro Vetriano

    Today we visit the Villa Garzoni, with its dazzling water cascades. Before returning to Lucca, we will visit the smallest public theatre in the world – the Teatro Vetriano, located just outside the city in the Lucchese Hills. Built in 1890 and donated to the community by an enlightened farmer, the theatre was saved from ruin by FAI – the Italian equivalent of our own National Trust.
  • Day 4 - Lucca

    The morning is spent visiting the Romanesque church of San Frediano and the Villa Guinigi which houses an important collection of local and regional art works. Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca in 1858 and later today we’ll visit his birthplace, now a museum dedicated to the composer’s life and music. 
  • Day 5 - Pistoia

    This morning we drive to Pistoia, a lovely small town whose fortunes were eclipsed by its more powerful and wealthier neighbours, Lucca and Florence. We will explore the compact historic centre and visit the cathedral of San Zeno, the Baptistery with its typical Tuscan Gothic green and white striped marble. There will be time to enjoy a coffee in the historic Café Valiani – Puccini often stopped by for a caffè macchiato. 
  • Day 6 - Departure Day

    We are collected from the hotel and transferred to Pisa airport for our return flight.

Flight Details

Flights with Easyjet:

Depart Gatwick at 12.25 arrive Pisa at 15.40
Depart Pisa at 16.15 arrive Gatwick at 17.30

Departure Dates and Prices

09 Aug 2023

Status Limited

Price from£2648

Single Supp.£397

Call 020 7593 2284

23 Aug 2023

Status Available

Price from£2648

Single Supp.£397

Book Now Enquire
Patrick Bade

Patrick Bade

Tour Leader

More Info
Charlie Hall

Charlie Hall

Tour Leader

More Info

Music Programme

10 & 25 August: La bohème
This is the world’s most popular and best loved opera. The poet Rodolfo is visited by his neighbour, the seamstress Mimi. They fall in love and embark on a bitter-sweet doomed love affair.  Unbeknown to Rodolfo, Mimi is terminally ill. In the most heart-wrenching scene in all opera, Mimi expires on her bed. The music tells us that she has died with a series of searing chords as Rodolfo sobs uncontrollably, all hope of love extinguished.


11 August: Turandot
An icy and imperious princess’s heart melts against her will when Calaf beats her at her own game and she discovers love and passion.


12 & 26 August: Il Tabarro by Puccini &
Duke Bluebeards’s Castle by Bela Bartok
First performed on 14 December 1918 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, Il Tabarra is set on a barge on the River Seine tells the story of the poor and struggling people of Paris. It forms the first of Puccini’s magnificent trio of one act operas, Il trittico (The Triptych), which also includes Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi. A grim verismo story of barge-owner Michele and his wife Giorgetta, who has an affair with Luigi. Michele becomes aware of his wife’s infidelity and strangles Luigi, hiding his dead body under his cloak - il tabarro - and revealing the corpse in a macabre denouement.
Il Tabarro is being performed as the first half of a double-bill with Duke Bluebeard’s Castle by Béla Bartók. First performed on 24 May 1918 at the Royal Hungarian Opera House in Budapest, this short opera is based on the French literary tale La Barbe bleue by Charles Perrault, and features just two singing characters.


24 August: Madama Butterfly
The tragic story of Cio-Cio-San who is betrayed by Pinkerton, a cynical American naval lieutenant who returns to Japan to take away their son.

To make an enquiry please speak to one of our experts on 020 7593 2288, or enquire online

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