Independent Opera, La Fenice, Venice

Arblaster & Clarke offer tailor-made, unescorted breaks all with first class Opera tickets to the great Italian Opera house La Fenice with hotel accommodation in central Venice 4* hotel within easy walking distance of the Opera house. This can be with or without flights, depending what suits you best.

It is hard to overstate the historic importance of Venice’s opera house, La Fenice. Five of Verdi’s great operas including La Traviata were first performed here, and that was after its baroque heyday or when one great belcanto opera after another by Rossini and his contemporaries was produced here. The beautiful but small opera house of La Fenice, so tragically destroyed by fire a few years ago has been lovingly restored; indeed connoisseurs say that the acoustics are better than ever. Since then it has definitely hit its stride with interesting and varied programmes and imaginatively staged productions. This year looks particularly good.

We can get tickets to these Operas long before the tickets have gone on sale to the general public, and when they appear to be ‘sold out’; we can sometimes obtain the tickets for you.

We have access to the best seats and boxes and even to tickets to otherwise ‘sold out’ performances. From time to time A&C offer escorted Opera & Wine tours based in Venice.

Opera Packages available from Arblaster & Clarke:

(see below for dates, prices and cast lists).

Includes: 2 nights staying in a central 4* hotel in Venice
First Class tickets to a performance at Teatro La Fenice
Venice pocket guide
Arblaster & Clarke’s restaurant notes and Opera synopsis

Approximate Price per person £525 – £785. (Subject to exact hotel room & ticket prices)
Upgrades normally available to Superior rooms or 5*.

Opera	Cast	Performance Dates
Lou Salome di Richard Strauss Director: Lothar Zagrosek	Lou Salome Angeles Blancas Gulin or Georgia Stahl II Friedrich Nietzsche / A bird-man (Zarathustra) Claudio Puglisi Paul Ree / A servant Gian Luca Pasolini Mathias Schulz Rainer Maria Rilke Friedrich Carl Andreas Roberto Abbondanza Malwida von Meysenbug / Ms von Salome ‘Julie Mellor Hendrik Gillot / Professor Kinkel Marcello Nardis A servant II / A contemporary who traveled Alexander Bressanello	January 2012: 21,24,26,28
Cosi fan tutte di Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Director: Damian Michieletto	Fiordiligi Maria Bengtsson (16,21,26,28/2 & 1/3) Elena Monti (19,24/2 & 3/3) Dorabella Jose ‘Maria Lo Monaco (16,21,26,28/2 & 1/3) Paola Gardina (19,24/2 & 3/3) William Markus Werba (16,21,26,28/2 & 1/3) Arduini Alessio (19,24/2 & 3/3) Ferrando Marlin Miller (16,21,26,28/2 & 1/3) Leonardo Cortellazzi (19,24/2 & 3/ ) Despina Catherine Tuna (16,21,26,28/2 & 1/3) Regula Muehlemann (19,24/2 & 3/3) Don Alfonso Andrea Concepts (16,21,26,28/2 & 1/3) Tittoto Luke (19,24/2 & 3/3)	February 2012: 16,19,21,24,26,28 March 2012: 1,3
Die Dreigroschenoper di Kurt Weill Director: Luca De Fusco	Polly Peachum Gaia Aprea Macheath (Mackie Messer) Massimo Ranieri Jenny Lina Sastri of caverns	March 2012: 7,8,9,10,11
La Sonnambula di Vincenzo Bellini Director: Bepi Morassi	Count Giovanni Battista Parodi, Rodolfo Amina Jessica Pratt Elvino Shalva Mukeria	April 2012: 21,24,28 May 2012: 17,20,22,25
La Boheme di Giacomo Puccini Director: Francesco Micheli	Rudolph Gianluca Terranova / Khachatur Badalian Marcello Seung-Gi Jung Mimi ‘Kristin Lewis Musetta Francesca Sassu	May 2012: 11,12,13,16,18,19,23,24,26,27,29
Carmen di Georges Bizet Director: Omer Meir Wellber	Jose – Stefano Secco / Luca Lombardo Carmen – Beatrice Uria Monzon / Katarina Giotas Micaela – Alexia Voulgaridou / Virginia Wagner	June 2012: 21,22,23,24,26,27,28,29,30 July 2012: 1,7,10,12
The Elixir of Love di Gaetano Donizetti Director: Bepi Morassi	Adina Desiree Rancatore Nemorino Celso Albelio	July 2012: 6,8,11,13,15
La Traviata di Giuseppe Verdi Director: Robert Carsen	Violetta Valery Patrizia Ciofi Alfredo Germont Antonio Poli Giovanni Giorgio Germont Meoni	September 2012: 1,2,4,5,9,13,15,19,20,22,26,28,30
Rigoletto di Guiseppe Verdi Director: Daniele Abbado	The Duke of Mantua Celso Albelio Rigoletto Dimitri Platanias © Guild Desir and Rancatore	September 2012: 14,16,18,21,23,25,27,29

To Book

Please email us or phone us on 0044 (0)1730 263111.

The booking procedure is as follows:

• Please click on the ‘Register Interest’ button below and send your details and the dates that you would like to travel (The dates shown and hotels mentioned are subject to availability).
• We will call or email to discuss hotels and other aspects of your trip with you.
• If you wish to go ahead with the trip we will check availability for you on receipt of a credit or debit card number as a guarantee.
• The deposit of £350 per person will be debited immediately if the dates are available as requested, this then becomes a confirmed booking. The balance is due ten weeks before departure.

Travel: Meet at Destination

We recommend that you book your own flights into Venice Marco Polo airport, be aware that low cost airlines advertising Venice airport sometimes refer to Treviso airport which is significantly further outside the city than Marco Polo airport (approximately 40 minutes).

You may prefer to catch the Eurostar to Paris followed by an overnight train to Venice Santa Lucia train station, a direct journey with no changes. For overnight trains you can book 4 months before date of departure – for other trains three months beforehand, please visit the Rail Europe website for options: www.raileurope-world.com

Water taxi transfers and additional Opera tickets / nights can also be arranged. A Water Taxi transfer from Venice Airport to the hotel, one way £165 per transfer including assistance at the airport.

It is also possible to reach the hotel by bus to the railway station, then public vaporetta. Full details will be provided with your final itinerary.

Given the flexibility we offer in arranging a spectacular Opera break, we strongly suggest you register your interest or call the office and discuss the travel options with us. It may be that you wish us to book accommodation and flights, or perhaps you will only require the Opera tickets and a hotel, this is why no exact price is stated.

Extend your stay

We are happy to arrange for extra nights at your hotel at £185 per person based on double / twin rooms. Please call to discuss or email using our ‘Register your interest’ button below.