Czech Republic
Prague - Spring Festival
From 22 May to 26 May 2024
Price

From €6,500 per person

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    Welcome to Prague! The Czech capital bewitches visitors with its spectacular Gothic architecture, marvellous royal castle and famous Charles Bridge. The “city of a hundred spires” buzzes with cultural activity, especially during the Prague Spring Festival.

     

    For more than 70 years, this legendary event has welcomed the world’s greatest musicians, offering exceptional concerts in the city’s most magical venues. In addition to the Convent of St. Agnes, the lion’s share of attention is devoted to the sublime Rudolfinum, a neo-Renaissance jewel.

     

    For the 2024 edition, the guest list for Prague Spring is dizzying: in just a few beautiful spring evenings, you’ll have the opportunity to hear Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho (winner of the prestigious Chopin Competition in 2015) and the finest of the young generation of Czech musicians, all in exceptional venues.

     

     

    Long live the spring in Prague!
    The program
    Clementinum
    May 22, 2024
    Totally yours
    May 22, 2024
    Karlovy Vary & Cristallerie Moser
    May 23, 2024
    Recital Seong-Jin Cho
    May 24, 2024
    Matinee in the convent
    May 25, 2024
    Recital Quintette Alinde
    May 25, 2024
    WEDNESDAY MAY 22, 2024 - ARRIVAL IN PRAGUE

    Free arrival in Prague.

    Suggested flight: 10.05am from Paris Roissy Charles de Gaulle – 11.45am arrival in Prague (AF1382)

     

    Welcome and private transfer to Prague for those having booked the recommended flight.

     

    Lunch on arrival while your luggage is taken to your hotel.

     

    After lunch, we begin our tour of the Old Town with a visit to the Clementinum, home to the National Library. Other splendors of this imposing complex include the Astronomical Tower and the Chapel of Mirrors, with its flamboyant splendors. Mozart was a regular visitor to the Church of St. Nicholas. During your visit to the Library, you’ll come face to face with priceless manuscripts.

     

    Check-in at your hotel, then off to St. Anne’s Church:

     

     

    TOTALLY YOURS

     

    Polish Radio Choir

    Krzysztof Penderecki: Song of the Cherubim

    Krzysztof Penderecki: Agnus Dei

    Henryk Górecki: Totus tuus Op. 60

    Henryk Górecki: Kurpie Songs Op. 75

    Stanisław Moryto: Kurpie Songs

    Roman Maciejewski: Kurpie Songs

    Martin Smolka: The Name Emmanuel

    Bohuslav Martinů: Czech Madrigals H 278

     

    Since its creation in 1948, the Polish Radio Choir has established itself as one of Europe’s elite ensembles. The choir has premiered countless important works, and it is this prodigious repertoire that the singers will perform in this exceptional concert. The program includes masterpieces by Penderecki and Gorecki, including the famous Totus tuus (written for Pope John Paul II’s visit to Poland in 1987, and which gives the concert its title “All yours”), but also – Prague Spring obliges – gems by Czech composers such as Martinů and Martin Smolka, arguably today’s greatest Czech composer.

     

     

    Dinner after the show.

     

    Night at the hotel.

    THURSDAY MAY 23, 2024 - DAY IN BOHEMIA

    Breakfast in hotel.

    Day trip to Karlovy Vary in Bohemia.

     

    Wrapped in thick forest, 50 km northeast of Marianske Lazne, Karlovy Vary appears in an amphitheatre of hills, shaped in a narrow valley on either side of the Tepla (“hot”) river. The most famous of the Czech Republic’s thirty-four spa towns boasts an International Film Festival that attracts a plethora of leading actors every July.

     

    The birth of the town is linked to a 14th-century legend. Chasing a deer, Bohemia’s King Charles IV stumbled upon a geyser of boiling water and noticed its healing qualities on his wounded dog. The monarch then decided to build a spa town in his name (Karlsbad, which means “Charles’s bath” in German).Au XVIe siècle, le médecin Vaclav Payer n’hésitait pas à prescrire l’absorption quotidienne de cinquante tasses de ses eaux.

     

    In addition to being a popular spa town, also favoured by Georges Clemenceau who, every summer from 1891 to 1913, travelled here on the Orient-Express to treat his gout and diabetes, we’ll be taking a private tour of the Cristallerie Moser.

     

    This House of Crystal offers the finest crystal. Since 1857, Moser has been creating luxurious glassware, prized by the likes of Queen Elizabeth II, King Mohammed V, the Royal Palace of Bahrain and other distinguished personalities. Because of its quality and prestige, Moser is one of the most collectible crystal brands.

     

    Return to Prague and dinner in the Malá Strana district.

     

    Overnight at your hotel.

     

    FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2024 - PRAGUE

    Breakfast at the hotel.

     

    After breakfast, we’ll enjoy the exceptional panorama from the terrace of Strahov Monastery. A private visit to the monastery’s bookshop is reserved for you. Next, the sanctuary of Our Lady of Loreto, known as Loreta, is a place of pilgrimage with the relic of the Virgin’s home, and its dazzling monstrance set with 6222 diamonds. As for the sublime St. Vitus Cathedral, it contains the famous St. Wenceslas Chapel, with its glittering, gilded walls.

     

    After lunch, we’re back on top! Prague Castle sits on a hill above the old town, and its riches are inexhaustible. The expression “the city of a hundred spires” takes on its full meaning when you look out over the panorama, a city of golden reflections akin to a vision from a fairy tale. In the morning, we’ll visit three of Prague’s major buildings.  First, the Royal Castle overlooking the Moldau, a veritable city within a city, containing countless palaces, museums and the famous Golden Alley of colorful houses, where Kafka lived in 1916.

     

    Rest at the hotel before heading to the Rudolfinum‘s magnificent Dvorak Hall.

     

    8pm, Rudolfinum :

     

    SEONG-JIN CHO RECITAL

     

    Seong-Jin Cho Piano

    Maurice Ravel : Menuet antique

    Maurice Ravel: Sonatina

    Maurice Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit

    Franz Liszt : Années de pèlerinage, Second year: Italy, S 161

     

    No one was expecting him… And yet, when Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho won the prestigious Warsaw Chopin Competition in 2015, his victory seemed like a foregone conclusion. Since this dazzling triumph, Seong-Jin Cho has signed an exclusive contract with the legendary Deutsche Grammophon label and confirmed in venues around the world that he is one of the finest pianists of his generation. After a debut concert at the Prague Spring in 2016, the musician returns with a magnificent, subtly organized program. The works of Ravel and Liszt have much in common: the former’s delightful Sonatine and sombre Gaspard de la Nuit are matched by the latter’s refined, poetic Années de Pèlerinage.

     

    Return to the hotel after the show and dinner on your own (room service available).

    SATURDAY MAY 25, 2024 - PRAGUE

    Breakfast at the hotel.

     

    Departure for St. Agnes Convent

     

    At 11 a.m., at Saint-Agnès Convent:

     

    MATINEE IN THE CONVENT

     

    Vilém Vlček : Cello

    Denis Linnik : Piano

     

    Leoš Janáček: Fairy Tale for cello and piano

    Robert Schumann: Fantasiestücke Op. 73

    Thomas Demenga: Efeu

    Benjamin Britten: Sonata for Cello and Piano in C major Op. 65

     

    First of all, there’s the venue. St. Agnes Convent, Prague’s oldest Gothic building, hosts this concert by the recent winner of the Bělohlávek Prize: cellist Vilém Vlček. In this exceptional setting, the young Czech musician joins forces with pianist Denis Linnik to create a musical arch spanning several centuries. A fairytale atmosphere bathes the works of Janáček and Britten, in a setting that is, once again, fairytale-like.

     

     

    Lunch after the concert, and afternoon in Nové Město.

     

    5pm, at the Carolinum :

     

    RECITAL QUINTETTE ALINDE

     

    Anna Talácková : Flute

    Barbora Trnčíková : Oboe

    David Šimeček : Clarinet

    Kryštof Koska : French horn

    Petr Sedlák : Bassoon

     

    Maurice Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin

    Pavel Haas: Wind quintet op. 10

    Antoine Reicha: Wind quintet in D minor Op. 100 No. 2

     

     

    It’s not widely known in France, but the Czech Republic is one of the best musical countries in the world. While the country’s musicians tend to make their careers more in Germany or Great Britain, there is a veritable profusion of exceptional soloists, conductors and musical ensembles. Founded in 2019, the Alinde Quintet belongs to this formidable young generation determined to conquer the world. Recalling the illustrious ties between France and the Czech Republic, the quintet performs Ravel’s Tombeau de Couperin and Pavel Haas’s Wind Quintet. Bridging the gap between these two great composers is the endearing figure of Antoine Reicha, a native of Prague who emigrated to Paris in the early 19th century to become one of the great musicians of Louis-Philippe’s reign.

     

     

    Farewell dinner after the show.

     

    Return to hotel and overnight stay.

    SUNDAY MAY 26, 2024 - DEPARTURE FROM PRAGUE

    Breakfast at the hotel.

     

    Free departure from Prague.

    Suggested flight time: 12:35 p.m. from Prague. Arrival at Paris Roissy Charles de Gaulle at 2.25pm (AF 1383)

    Your accomodation
    Augustine Hôtel Prague ***** – 4 nights

    Housed in several wings of a 14th-century monastery (part of which is still reserved for orders), this 5-star hotel is a haven of peace in the heart of Prague. Set at the foot of the castle, in the Malá Strana district, this is a very special address. It still exudes the spiritual spirit of the monastery. The former monks’ cells now form some 100 rooms. The spirit of asceticism has disappeared in favor of comfort (excellent bedding), and under the vaults covered with 19th-century frescoes or in the lovely garden planted with trees, you can enjoy a rare experience.

    Price per person
    Package with the Hotel Augustine Prague *****

    Basic package in double room Premium Château View: €6,500

    Basic package in single room Premium Château View: €9,390

     

    The price of this trip includes: accommodation in a Premium double room with Château view and breakfast for 4 nights • tourist tax • visits and transfers mentioned in the program • all meals (drinks included) except dinner on May 24 • category I show tickets • 1 La Fugue guide • La Fugue surprises • repatriation assistance.

     

    The price of this trip does not include: international flights – dinner on May 24 – tips – extras.

     

    Accompanied stay on site.

    Information about this trip
    In charge of the destination
    Pauline Heckly
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