Two premium tickets to see Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in Munich this summer plus one night in a “Superior Room” at the five-star Hotel Bayerischer Hof

Donated by Elisabeth van de Gtampel

Opera and Aiglon have associations going way back. Delaware housemaster and history teacher Robert “Bertie” Boas used to write program(me) notes for notable classical recordings and take students to Milan and Turin to see operas. Then there was Dame Joan Sutherland’s brilliant gala benefit recital in 1971, while her son, Adam Bonynge, was at the school. Students and parents of that era also may remember the time Dame Joan was in a “singing duel” with an unwitting parent at an end-of-term service. No windows rattled, but heads did turn when a mother seated next to La Stupenda—but with no idea who she was—tried (embarrassingly) to go toe-to-toe with her during the singing of a hymn. Mrs. Bonynge drew herself up, took a deep breath, and settled the matter, much to everyone’s relief.

And so this wonderful Bavarian getaway package is right on brand. Elisabeth has donated two premium tickets to see one of Wagner’s epic masterpieces at this summer’s Munich Opera Festival, on July 31 (a Wednesday). The marathon performance starts at 4:00 p.m. and lasts almost six hours (high-brow binge watching). There are three intermissions. The venue is the magnificent neo-classical National Theater, boasting the third-largest stage in the world, after Paris’s Opéra Bastille and Warsaw’s Grand Theater. In fact, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg premiered there, in the original auditorium, in 1868. The seats are in a tenth-row stall, at the right end of the row, making for an easy exit should the need arise. During the intermissions, you’ll have to “do the done thing” and step out onto the beautiful “Opernplatz” with your flute of champagne and canapés (which you might want to pre-order at the bar downstairs to avoid an intermission crush).

The Cast:

Hans Sachs—Wolfgang Koch
Veit Pogner—Christof Fischesser
Kunz Vogelgesang—Kevin Conners
Konrad Nachtigall—Christian Rieger
Sixtus Beckmesser—Martin Gantner
Fritz Kothner—Michael Kupfer-Radecky
Balthasar Zorn—Ulrich Reß
Ulrich Eißlinger—Dean Power
Augustin Moser—Thorsten Scharnke
Hermann Ortel—Levente Páll
Hans Schwarz—Peter Lobert
Hans Foltz—Kristof Klorek
Walther von Stolzing—Jonas Kaufmann
David—Allan Clayton
Eva—Sara Jakubiak
Magdalene—Okka von der Damerau
Nachtwächter—Milan Siljanov

Bayerisches Staatsorchester
Chorus of the Bayerische Staatsoper

Impressive five-star digs at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof

You can check in to your “superior room” at the five-star Hotel Bayerischer Hof at 3:00 p.m. That gives you an hour to get ready and make the five-minute walk to the opera house. Breakfast the next morning in the hotel dining room is not included, but you can choose to book it for €49 per person. Or you can opt to stroll over to Schumann’s Tagesbar for an ample breakfast at a more modest price.

If you’re planning to spend a few days in the Bavarian capital, you might want to check out some other Opera Festival performances: Donizetti’s comic opera L’elisir d’amore at the National Theater on the 30th (7:00 p.m.) and “A Festival Baroque Concert: The World of Bach” at the Alte Pinakothek—one of Europe’s must-see art museums. That program begins at 8:00 p.m. on the 29th.

For more information on the entire Munich Opera Festival program, click here.

The price of the Wagner in Munich package is €950. But the performance is sold out, so… we hope to be scalpers! To register to bid, click here.