Escape the post Christmas 'winter blues' and join us in Santa Cruz de Tenerife with some great food, relaxation and wonderful music.
We stay for seven nights at the beautifully restored 5* Grand Hotel Mencey, voted #1 hotel in Santa Cruz by Tripadvisor and set back from the ‘Rambla’ de Santa Cruz. The hotel is an oasis of calm and tranquility – ideal for a winter break – and has a wonderful swimming pool. Across the Rambla is the beautiful Parque Garcia Sanabria from which the mainly pedestrianised ‘Calle’ and ‘Pasaje’ wind through the historic centre of the capital.
For 2017 all of our rooms are Deluxe Garden View category with balcony or terrace.
Santa Cruz, Capital of the Canary Islands, is very much the ‘secret’ Tenerife. 90% of guests arriving at the airport turn left and head for the concrete jungle of the south coast. Those few that head north are rewarded with a charming city that retains an ‘old town’ feel yet is full of life, excellent restaurants and plenty of shopping. The city has the old port area (which is now a mix of shops, cafes, galleries etc) and set behind the old town (in a semi-circle from the left side to the right side of town) is the Rambla of Santa Cruz. This was the avenue of the smart and aristocratic set high above the port and today is a mix of old money villas and home to the Grand Hotel Mencey.
Santa Cruz has it's own 'white sand' beach (imported from the Spanish Sahara!) with excellent fish restaurants just fifteen minutes from the centre of town on the local bus. The modern tram takes you all the way to the old capital of La Laguna which is a really lovely town and interesting to explore.
A marvel of modern Spain are the new concert halls and opera houses that have appeared since the turn of the millennium. Santiago Calatrava's magnificent 'Auditorio de Tenerife' opened in 2003. The Canary Islands Festival is well establised as one of the premiere classical music festivals of Europe and one of the few that takes place in the winter.
During our stay we will have two half day walking tours of Santa Cruz and La Laguna and two excursions by private coach, on one day visiting some of the beautiful gardens of the island and the second traversing the island to the moon-like Mount Teide National Park.
The journey from Santa Cruz to Mount Teide is one of the great drives of the world as you climb first through semi-tropical vegetation, then through a beautiful pine forest emerging from the ‘Corona Forrestal’ around 5,000ft and continuing along the spine of the mountain, occasionally above the cloud!. The drive affords wonderful views to both sides of the island.
The musical programme:
13th January Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria
Josep Pons conducting
Arnold Schoenberg Gurrelieder
The Guardian said of ‘Gurrelieder’ “Surely there’s an irony in the fact that some of the sweetest love music ever written was penned by the man blamed for the collapse of romanticism. Before he headed off into irrevocable atonality, a young Arnold Schoenberg made sure he had beaten the romantics at their own game and created Gurrelieder as a resoundingly ultimate two-hour mega-cantata comprising 11 French horns, four harps, eight flutes – basically imagine a standard symphony orchestra and double it, then add three male choruses, a mixed choir and six vocal soloists”.
Tonight the distinguished Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria is joined by the Czech Philharmonic Choir and an outstanding line up of soloists including Irene Theorin – soprano (best known for her outstanding Wagnerian portrayals of Isolde & Brunnhilde) and the wonderful Austrian tenor Nikolai Schukoff.
14th January This evening we have a performance in La Laguna of a piano suite written in 1911 ‘Goyescas’ by the Spanish composer Enrique Granados. The work ‘The Gallants of Love’ was inspired by the painting of Goya. Tonight’s performance features the Valencia born soprano Isabel Rey and tenor Manuel Gomez-Ruiz.
18th January Katia & Marielle Labeque
Igor Stravinksy Right of Spring – arranged for two pianos & percussion
Bella Bartok Sonata for two pianos & percussion
Our final performance of the week features the French piano duo Katia & Marielle Labeque in what I am sure will be a sparkling and exciting programme!
Confirmed flight times – reserved seats and 20kg baggage allowance
Thursday 12th January Manchester – Tenerife 1325 – 1800 Ryanair
Thursday 19th January Tenerife – Manchester 1355 – 1825 Iberia/Vueling
Deposit £500 with balance due by 25th November.
