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The tour took place in the last week of May with the orchestra split into two groups, one travelling entirely by coach, the other flying to Poland.
The coach party set off early on Saturday morning, while my group flew from East Midlands Airport at a much more reasonable hour the following morning. We arrived in Wroclaw early Sunday afternoon and were taken on a brief tour of the city by our guide Agnieszka, who was to remain with us for the rest of the week. The five star hotel was very luxurious, with slippers, bathrobe and a bathroom with a telephone next to the toilet!
The coach party arrived later that afternoon and we were all taken to the Raclawice Panorama, a large circular building whose inner wall is covered with a fantastically detailed painting of a battle between Polish insurgents and the Russian army. This was followed by dinner at the Spiz Restaurant.
The next morning, we were taken on a walking tour of Wroclaw by Agnieszka and a fellow guide, "Waclaw from Wroclaw", which included the University Museum with the fabulously decorated Leopoldinum Hall. The ancient university is situated on one of the many islands which fragment the broad and majestic river Oder into many channels. The university had a special point of interest for our orchestra. In 1876 the university, then of Bresslau, conferred an honorary doctorate on Johannes Brahms in the Great Hall and he repaid the compliment by dedicating the Academic Festival Overture to the university and students everywhere.
After lunch, we moved on to Kudowa Zdroj, a town close to the Czech border, where we stayed for the next two nights at another excellent hotel in very pleasant surroundings. After settling in, we were taken to a nearby farm for a demonstration of local handcrafts such as bread-making and pottery followed by a barbeque where we got to cook sausages over an open fire ourselves.
Tuesday morning was spent at Bledne Skaly (Wandering Rocks), having enormous fun clambering over and squeezing between tightly packed stones named after the objects that they supposedly resemble: table, ship, box office (?) etc. Definitely not one for the seriously overweight! In the afternoon we rehearsed for the evening's concert at Kudowa's Town Theatre, where we performed Sibelius' Finlandia, Grieg's First Peer Gynt Suite, Brahms' Academic Festival Overture & Elgar's Enigma Variations to a select but appreciative audience who rewarded us with a standing ovation.
The next day we left Kudowa and crossed the border into the Czech Republic. After arriving at our hotel in Prague, we went on a guided tour of the old part of the city with a verbose guide who bombarded us with information about the City Gate, Astronomical Clock, Charles Bridge etc. at very great length. The day concluded with a superb meal at a local brewery/restaurant "Novometsky Pivovar" (good eating was a notable feature of this tour).
On Thursday the orchestra visited Jablonec nad Nisou for our second concert. This was better attended and just as enthusiastically received by the audience who gave us the second standing ovation of the tour, earning them two encores: Finlandia & Nimrod.
After breakfast, the coach party began the long journey home, leaving the rest of the orchestra to spend a free day exploring Prague and its surroundings, including Kutna Hora, Prague Castle, the Cathedral, the Smetena, Dvorak & Mozart Museums and the Czech Music Museum with its impressive collection of old instruments.
We arrived at Prague Airport early in the evening for our flight back home, only to be delayed for a couple of hours by a strike in Italy. Prague Airport is definitely not the most stimulating place to be stuck in. We finally touched down on British soil at nearly one o'clock in the morning.
By contrast, the coach party got home ahead of schedule, having caught an earlier ferry than planned. Jammy devils.
Thanks as usual to Pat, Jenny and everyone else involved in organising the tour for making it so enjoyable with such excellent accommodation, food and sight seeing. If the next tour is only half as good, I can hardly wait.
Jeremy Oakley
Post script from a coach traveller:
In May 2008 LSO set out on a concert tour of Poland and the Czech Republic. Early start essential, 5 30 at Mayflower Church Hall sees the orchestra gathering to load instruments and luggage for the 2 day journey to Wroclaw, pronounced Vrotswav (formerly Bresslau). Their route went via Dover, Calais and on across the flat fields of Belgium via Antwerp, across a small section of Holland and into Germany. Cross the mighty Rhein at Duisburg through the Ruhr region to the half way point Dortmund for a good night's rest. The second day starts early as there are 500 miles to cover. At Kassel the route turns south through Hessen then east again through Thuringen, the emotional and geographical heartland of a now united Germany. A medieval fortress, the Wartburg, stands high above the motorway at Eisenach. This is deeply significant. Martin Luther spent several months in hiding here after his trial in Worms. The full panoply of church estate was brought against him but he would not recant and the protestant faith was born. He used his time in the Wartburg to translate the bible into everyday German. The Wartburg is the home of the medieval singing contest and is the setting for Richard Wagner's Tannhauser. Eisenach is also the birthplace of J S Bach, one of Europe's greatest musicians. Onward past Weimar, cultural capital of the good old Germany. This is the one time home of Goethe, Schiller, Liszt and Wagner. On a hillside above the town, a huge stone monolith is easily visible - a reminder of the "twelve dark years". It marks the Buchenwald concentration camp where tens of thousands of enemies of the Nazi regime were worked to death or worse. On through Saxony, across the Elbe and past the beautiful state capital of Dresden. Before leaving Germany, a half hour enforced break courtesy of 2 very apologetic customs police. Sorry, driver, documents not quite in order, pay 192 euros to proceed. Across the Neisse and into Silesia, the first province of Poland. Settlements become sparser. The land starts to take on a slightly unkempt look. Only 2 hours left to Wroclaw. Our hotel is the Radisson in the Old Town. It is here that we join forces with the rest of the orchestra who had flown direct from East Midlands Airport. They may have got there earlier than we did but did they have as much fun?
Sam Dobson
Arrival in Europe
Following a tiring but relatively trouble-free journey to our hotel, located in a small town near Dusseldorf, we were treated to a substantial buffet meal at the hotel on our arrival.
Bonn and Petersburg
The coaches took us to Bonn and as it was Sunday most of the shops were shut, but it was still possible to find good food at one of the many cafés and restaurants, or even in the market place where numerous stalls were selling foods from around the world in front of a live music stage. Most of the orchestra met for the start of the Beethoven tour, which then split into two groups for a short tour on foot of the old city centre and entrance into the Beethoven museum house. I was in the first group and our guide told us the history of Beethoven's family and his involvement in Bonn as we walked around the city centre. What stuck most in my mind was that almost all the historic buildings we looked at had been partially or completely rebuilt to the original drawings, since our guide made a point of telling us that seventy percent of Bonn had been bombed in the second world war, including the cathedral, and grand university buildings. Our tour concluded in the Beethoven house where we walked through each room listening to our guide telling us about the history attached to the many artefacts including paintings, sculptures, old musical instruments, music scores, and even Beethoven's death mask.
Late in the afternoon our coaches took us up to Petersberg, situated on one of the many steep hills that overlook Bonn from the east banks of the Rhine. The delicious tea and cake was well received, and afterwards we took in the views over Bonn and the surrounding area from the high vantage points around the hotel.
In the evening we were free to entertain ourselves, and a number of us found a local restaurant to have dinner. As had been the case since arriving in Germany, the food and drink was much enjoyed.
Krefeld and concert
Our tour coaches took us to the Friedenskirche in Krefeld to offload our instruments before we were taken on a guided coach tour around the town, and given an insight into the history and industries of Krefeld. After finding a place to eat and returning to the church, the orchestra came together for the afternoon rehearsal.
Between the rehearsal and the evening concert we had been invited to attend a reception hosted by the Mayor of Krefeld at the town hall. Mayor Karin Meincke gave an eloquent and well-prepared welcoming speech in English and invited members of the orchestra to sign the town hall visitors' book before we moved on to the refreshments.
The concert was fully attended by an appreciative audience, including Lord Mayor Gregor Kathstede. The orchestra started well, supported by two local professional double bass players, and marked performances from our brass and woodwind sections. With the audience warming to our performances of 'Overture to Oberon', 'In the Steppes of Central Asia', and 'Three Bavarian Dances', we paused for the interval and returned for a thrilling rendition of Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony. This was evident particularly from the spontaneous applause and shouts of "Bravo!" after the rousing third movement, followed swiftly by the more tortured and sombre fourth movement. As an encore, we had prepared Elgar's Nimrod, and our audience welcomed the opportunity to applaud once more to finish the evening.
Aachen and concert
Our trip to Aachen took us to the Kurpark buildings to offload our instruments, and as the weather was unpredictably rainy an indoor stage was set up. Before the afternoon concert we had some time to explore Aachen town centre, and after discovering the extraordinary cathedral we found a place for lunch.
For this concert we performed a shorter one-hour programme with no interval, missing out the first and last movements of the symphony. This was a much more relaxed performance but just as enjoyable, with the audience consisting of local people, and friends and relatives of orchestra members, including a number of small children. The enthusiasm of the audience again prompted the performance of Nimrod.
For the evening, an orchestra meal had been arranged at a large restaurant in Dusseldorf, and we proceeded through rush hour traffic and road works into the city. There was some confusion with the waiting staff as to who wanted which meal, but eventually everybody received their food and beer and we settled into enjoying the meal.
Departure for England
We loaded the coaches for the final time and left the hotel where we had enjoyed food, drink, and pool over the previous four nights. The journey home took us near to Delft in Holland where an hour's break had been planned. Due to a late departure and traffic we decided to carry on to the ferry port with only a short stop at a service station.
The crossing to Harwich was particularly rough and as we were being thrown from side to side, and plates in the restaurant crashed off tables, I began to summarise the tour.
A combination of good organisation, welcoming hosts, good music and the gaining of new friends in the orchestra had made this the most enjoyable tour I had been on since joining the orchestra eight years ago. No doubt we will be organising another tour for two years' time and I'm looking forward to it already.
Tom McClure
The Leicester Symphony Orchestra made its third overseas tour at the end of May 2004. The venue was Paris. Some 53 members of the orchestra went plus spouses/partners/friends. Travel was by two single deck coaches with large instruments (including the timpani) and luggage in the holds underneath. The hotel was an Ibis conveniently situated near the Eiffel Tower and was quiet and comfortable. Central Paris is very attractive with its uniform apartment blocks and tree lined roads. The tall office buildings are all confined to the La Defense area away from the centre.
The two concerts went well. The programme was Mozart's "Ave Verum Corpus" and Bruckner's 4th Symphony. The concerts were performed in churches, the first in the impressive St Roch church near the Louvre, the second in the American Cathedral on one of the avenues off the Champs Elysee. The concerts were free and the first was full to standing room only! The retiring collection took £500. The American Cathedral was a more intimidating building (and it had 3 armed soldiers outside and a security guard vetting baggage) but a moderate audience turned up. Both audiences were very appreciative and sat silently throughout the Bruckner. On leaving the building several said the performance was magnificent. The resonant acoustic gave a tremendous sound.
There were 3 optional excursions: a boat trip on the Seine in a Bateau Mouche, a day trip to the Chateau at Chantilly and nearby town of Senlis, and a day trip to Monet's house and garden at Giverny. All were very popular and interesting. The enjoyable orchestra meal was held at a restaurant in Montmartre during which several short speeches were made including one by Martin Gilding, who was retiring from the position of first horn.
The only hiccup on the whole tour was with the travel there and back. The coach itself was comfortable but clerical errors by the coach company led to us not being allowed on to our intended ferry both ways and having to wait for the next one - on the return journey this was in a secure compound!
As usual on these occasions a lot was packed into the 5 days and with the early start and two late nights it took many of us a couple of days to recover!
Thanks are due to all the organisers, especially Pat, Sam, John, Mac and Kirsten who made it all possible.
Mike Lord
I became a 'groupie' about two years ago. Until then, I could only stare in awe and wonder, first, from the cheapest seats in the body of the hall, and on later occasions as I graduated to a vantage point in the balcony. The thrill of seeing and hearing an orchestra was immense. A soloist (especially piano) added a special dimension. More than sixty years on, I can recall so many memorable performances of various orchestras and soloists, including our very own LSO. Moisewich, Eileen Joyce, Cifford Curzon, Sir Malclom Sargeant, Sir John Barbirolli and many other names denied to me by a fading memory.
The musical highlights of the Paris trip were the two stirring performances of the Bruckner Symphony No. 4. Ten days before departing for France, the conductor, Nicholas Daniel, had delighted a sizeable Leicester audience with this mammoth work. Enthusiastic French audiences filled first, the Eglise St. Roch to overflowing, and later, La Cathedrale Americane, to hear the orchestra, led by the dedicated, concentrated, and demonstrably animated Nicholas Daniel, give two outstanding renditions of this inspiring symphony. The brass section features prominently in this work, giving the conductor the opportunity to display his full range of athleticism and control, as he demanded total commitment from them. None of the orchestra was spared his attention as he prodded, carressed and cajoled them into action. Not that they needed motivating since they have played so often under the baton of this very talented musician. I viewed the scene with the same feeling as always. I cogitated, I reflected, sometimes watching individuals, then sections and then through misty eyes, the whole of the orchestra. Those of us who have no special musical talent, save that of appreciation; what is it that we look for on each occasion? We need a conductor with a touch of showmanship, able to produce grand gestures with endless energy when required, switching instantly to gentle sensitive control. Nicholas Daniel has all of this and more. The orchestra, who at best, would expect to be called 'a talented bunch of amateurs', are much more than this. Their musical skills encroach heavily into the professional sphere, such that all of them could 'give up their day job'.
We 'groupies' were able to socialise with them during the trip, sharing many delightful hours as we cruised the Seine, viewed Monet's Garden in Giverny and visited the beautiful chateau and gardens in Chantilly. They wore their denims, trainers, sandals, assorted hats, all in colours of the normal ordinary world but when they donned their formal wear and took to the musical platform they seemed to be magically, musically transformed. We like our musicians like that!
Where to next?
Frank Wolloff
As part of the Leicester Symphony Orchestra's 80th Anniversary celebrations and as a contribution to the Queen's Golden Jubilee, the Orchestra visited Strasbourg, Leicester's twin city. The Twinning Association in Leicester provided some financial help and the Strasbourg Twinning Association's help was vital in arranging two concerts, one at the Reithalle, Offenburg in Germany and the other at the Salle des Fêtes in the centre of Strasbourg. The Orchestra, with guest leader Julia Barker and Nicholas Daniel, the Orchestra's new conductor, performed Imperial March (Elgar), Hansel and Gretel Overture (Humperdinck), Adagio for Cor anglais and strings (Mozart), Cockaigne (Elgar), Slavonic Dance No.8 (Dvorak) and Symphony No.3 (Brahms), to great acclaim at both venues.
The concerts were not without their problems - three members (including 2 horn players - half of the section) had to fly out on the day of the first concert (rather than travel by coach with most of the Orchestra). Unfortunately they missed the flight but nevertheless arrived, via Geneva and the efficient Swiss/German railways, with 40 minutes to spare!
The tour was not merely a musical event but had a social content and this included a free introductory sight-seeing boat trip around the Strasbourg waterways and free entry to the Museum of Modern Art, both kindly arranged by the Strasbourg Twinning Association. The waterway trip encompassed not only the sights of the old city, but also the modern buildings of Strasbourg, notably the European Parliament building and the buildings of the other European institutions which displayed spectacular modern architecture.
There were opportunities to explore Strasbourg and the surrounding countryside, both as a group and independently. The nearby Vosges region of Alsace is attractive and includes many beautiful towns and villages. As part of the exploration, the Orchestra's coach followed the "wine route" through the Alsace vineyards, culminating in a tour of the Klipfel vineyard with wine-tasting, recommended by the Twinning Association.
The final event in Strasbourg was an evening meal at a quaint but very efficient restaurant, over-looking the river Ill at the heart of old Strasbourg: not only did the restaurant provide an excellent meal for about 70 Orchestra members but also high-class entertainment by an amazing violin/accordion duo and a charming French chanteuse. Two members of the Orchestra could not resist the limelight and rendered a Stanley Holloway monologue, followed by a song, to the delight of the diners (not only the Orchestra members!). The short speech at the meal was restricted to votes of thanks - to those organising the tour, the players (including several Leicester players not regular members of the Orchestra), our long-suffering coach driver, Mike and, not least, the Twinning Association whose help was invaluable and contributed in no small measure to the success of the tour.
Martin Gilding