• Introduction
• Itinerary
• Practicalities

Through an extraordinary process of transformation, Berlin is now one of the most exciting cities in Europe. In the last fifteen years or so it has acquired one of the world’s greatest concentrations of first-rate contemporary architecture, and massive works of civic improvements and restoration have revealed the patrimony of historic architecture to be among the finest in Central Europe. Art and antiquities of the highest international importance are now displayed in magnificently restored or newly-built galleries.

And while this flurry of activity brought the city to the brink of bankruptcy, belt-tightening has not yet led to the long-threatened closure of any one of its three opera houses. Nor has there been a reduction in expenditure on the Berlin Philharmonic, perhaps the best orchestra in the world. Berlin remains one of the few cities where outstanding performances can be virtually guaranteed.

This tour begins with Rossini’s The Barber of Seville at the Staatsoper, an eighteenth-century building which will shortly close for several years. There follow an evening at the Deutsche Oper with Richard Strauss’s Ariadne and a magnificent finale with the Berlin Phil, Sir Simon Rattle and Mitsuko Uchida at the Philharmonie, their striking home designed by Hans Scharoun in 1956.

There are daily talks by a musicologist, Professor Jan Smaczny, and morning walks with cultural historian and Berlin resident Tom Abbott. Afternoons are left free.