THE TOUR INCLUDES: - Top category seats for 7 performances as listed - 9 nights deluxe accommodations at 4 & 5-star hotels in the city centres (Parma: Stendhal; Milan: Grand Hotel; Venice: Hotel Luna Baglioni) - Full breakfast daily, 4 lunches and 3 dinners - custom (private) city tours, including the most important historical and architectural sites, galleries and museums - private Airport-Hotel transfers - tour direction by an Aria Tours director - a comprehensive tour handbook containing travel info, performance synopses and a detailed daily itinerary Cost: $6995 US Single Supplement: $1425 US Deposit: $2500 Balance due: July 17, 2008

OPTIONS FLIGHTS We will be happy to make any flight arrangements, including reward travel with your preferred carrier, for $75 per person. Inbound flight should be booked to Bologna or Milan, with outbound from Venice. TOUR ADDITIONS The itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and desires. Please call us to discuss any changes or amendments you wish to make. INSURANCE We strongly recommend that all tour members purchase cancellation insurance upon registration. We can assist you with this, though you are welcome to purchase a policy at your own discretion. If you would like information on the policies offered by our supplier, please contact us for details, or click HERE for an insurance brochure and application.

It is difficult to describe how truly special each segment of this tour is. In Emilia-Romagna—the province of Verdi, Toscanini, Pavarotti, Freni—we walk where each walked, and hear the strains of Verdi's works where he himself heard them. We also enjoy the region's cuisine to the full, as did Verdi, famously so (and the rest as well, to be sure). In Milan, we attend two performances at opera's mecca, Teatro alla Scala, and we stay at the Grand Hotel et de Milan, where Verdi maintained an apartment until his death (and it remains very much as it was when he occupied it). We will visit the maestro's final resting place in Milan, and we will enjoy private tours of La Scala and the Church of Santa Maria della Grazie, where we behold Leonardo's Last Supper. And finally, in Venice, as though simply attending a performance at the exquisite La Fenice were not enough, we will enjoy a private performance there, of Nabucco, followed by a gala dinner in the Sale Apollinee. The private performance by the La Scala String Quartet that we will enjoy at Teatro Malibran makes the experience even more exclusive. This tour, a veritable Verdiad, is almost an embarrassment of riches. Almost.

Mid-way between Milan and Bologna and straddling Via Emilia is Parma, nestled in the fertile valley of the Po River in the heart of the richest of all Italian provinces, the Emilia-Romagna. Parma rose in influence and power in the 16th century as the seat of the Farnese duchy, and is still one of the most prosperous cities in Italy. With a rich history and culture that radiates far beyond the boundaries of its city limits, Parma is a city of art as well as music, home for Antonio Allegri, better known by his artist's name Correggio, and birthplace of Francesco Mazzola, or Parmigianino. The city's 12th century Duomo, whose magnificent frescoed dome was painted by Correggio, is flanked by a 13th century Gothic bell tower and an exquisite pink marble baptistery. The recently renovated baptistery, adorned with statues and reliefs by Benedetto Antelami, has been called "the greatest and most original work of the Italian Romanesque." Despite these and other notable claims to fame, Parma is synonymous with Italian cuisine at its finest. This is, after all, the capital of Italy's famous "food valley" where Prosciutto di Parma ham and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese reign supreme.

Three times in its history, Milan had to rebuild after being conquered. The Milan we visit today thoroughly enjoys its hard earned role as Italy's richest and second largest city. Wealthy and cosmopolitan, the Milanesi enjoy a reputation as successful businesspeople, embracing tradition, sophistication and ambition in equal measure. Teatro alla Scala, the Grand Dame of Italy's opera houses, re-opened after a restoration in December, 2004 and is once again the cultural highlight of the city. It now boasts a dazzling auditorium and a brand-new technologically advanced stage to match its enchanting atmosphere. Originally built between 1776 and 1778, "La Scala" was to become in the 19th century a symbol of the Risorgimento, the struggle for Italian unification, largely through its link with the life of the great composer Giuseppe Verdi. His stirring arias, often not-so-veiled references to yearnings of the oppressed, became patriotic calls-to-arms. La Scala is now one of the meeting points for Milan's élite. Seats are coveted internationally, and the repertoire is distinct in that, even though it often programs the Italian opera classics, it also champions unusual gems.

Venice is one of the world's most thoroughly unique destinations; a city that inspires even the most worldly of travellers. Quite simply, "La Serenissima" is unlike anywhere else on the planet, with a collage of 116 islands connected by 409 bridges, where cars are banned and everyone, including postmen and the police, goes by boat. History is writ large in this northeastern Italian city, and when visitors ease through the morning mists on empty canals or study the grandiose buildings rising up on all sides, it is easy to slip back through the centuries, to the time of the Doges - the omnipotent rulers whose influence spread well beyond the Venetian Lagoon. From the beginning of the 19th century, La Fenice acquired a European reputation. Rossini mounted two major productions in the theatre and Bellini had two operas premiered there. Donizetti, fresh from his triumphs in Milan and Naples, returned to Venice in 1836, after an absence of seventeen years. Giuseppe Verdi's association with La Fenice began in 1844, with a performance of Ernani during the Carnival season. Over the next thirteen years, the premieres of Attila, Rigoletto, La Traviata and Simon Boccanegra took place there. A fire savaged La Fenice in 1996, but after various delays, reconstruction began in earnest in 2001. In 650 days, a team of two hundred plasterers, artists, woodworkers, and other craftsman succeeded in recreating the ambience of the old theatre's 19th century style at a cost of some 90 million Euros.

THE ITINERARY

Friday, October 17...Depart
Departures from North America to either Milan or Bologna. Flights can be arranged by Aria Tours for a $75 per person fee. Those arriving early have an opportunity to attend a performance of Giovanna d’Arco at Teatro Regio in Parma.

Saturday, October 18...Parma
Arrive in Bologna or Milan, where you will be met and transferred to the Hotel Stendhal in Parma, close to Teatro Regio and all centrall attractions. Once settled into your room, the afternoon is free to rest or explore on your own. This evening, we gather for introductions and enjoy a Welcome Dinner at the hotel's La Pilotta restaurant.

Sunday, October 19...Parma — Performance in Cremona
Following breakfast, included at each hotel daily, we depart for Cremona, where we enjoy a brief guided tour (Piazza del Commune, Museo Stradivariano) and a matinée performance. After our tour, we dine at the elegant Ristorante Il Violino prior to our 3:30 curtain for Donizetti’s Don Pasquale at Teatro Ponchielli. Return to Parma afterward.

Monday, October 20...Parma
Late morning we meet for a guided tour of Parma, including the wonderful Romanesque Cathedral, Benedetto Antelami’s Baptistry—one of the greatest Romanesque buildings in all of Italy, the Verdi Monument, Toscanini's birthplace and Teatro Regio. Following an afternoon at leisure, we attend a performance of Rigoletto at Teatro Regio.

Tuesday, October 21...Parma
Touring in Modena, including a visit to the grave of Luciano Pavarotti in the Montale Rangone cemetery. Lunch at Hosteria Giusti in Modena. This evening we attend a performance of Il Corsaro at Teatro Verdi in Busseto.

Wednesday, October 22...Parma — Milan
After breakfast, we check out and depart by private coach for Milan, stopping first for a guided tour of Busseto. We visit Verdi’s modest birthplace at Le Roncole, the Casa Baresi (home to a collection of Verdi memorabilia), and Sant'Agata and the Villa Verdi, to which the Maestro retired with his wife, Giuseppina Strepponi. Upon arrival in Milan, we check in at the Grand Hotel et de Milan. Steps from La Scala, the Grand was Verdi's city home from 1872 until his death in 1901 (during our stay, I will take the group for a brief visit to Verdi's apartment, pictured at left, preserved much as it was when he lived there). After settling in, we meet for an early dinner at the hotel's stellar Ristorante Don Carlos, one of the finest restaurants in Milan. It has a charming, Old World atmosphere and fabulous service. We then make the short walk to Teatro alla Scala for our evening performance of Le nozze di Figaro.

October 23...Milan
After a morning at leisure, we meet in the afternoon for a guided tour of Milan featuring, amongst other sites, the magnificent Duomo, the Casa di Riposo—the lovely home endowed by Verdi to house "retired" musicians, and the Church of Santa Maria della Grazie to view da Vinci's The Last Supper. We end the tour at Peck, one of the world's greatest grocery stores, where we can select some of the best confections (and wine...) available anywhere. This evening we return to La Scala for a performance of La Dame aux camelias, John Neumeier's balletic adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' novel of the same name (which also inspired Verdi's La traviata). Roberto Bolle stars. Music by Frédérik Chopin.

October 24...Milan — Venice
After breakfast and check out, we transfer by private coach to Venice, stopping in Padua for a brief tour of the Scrovegni Chapel and its famous Giotto frescoes, completed in 1305. Lunch included in Padua at the refined Ristorante Belle Parti. Arrive in Venice late afternoon and check in at the 5-star Hotel Luna Baglioni, ideally located near St. Mark's Square. This evening, we gather and depart for Teatro Malibran and private performance featuring the La Scala String Quartet.

October 25...Venice
Late morning, we gather for a guided walking tour of Venice, featuring some expert insight into the San Marco district and the area near the Rialto Bridge. The discussion will focus on Venice's mythic past, its relation to Constantinople and the Eastern world, and the rise and fall of "La Serenissima"—the "Most Serene Venetian Republic." We will see some of the more recognizable sights, such as Palazzo Ducale and St. Mark's Square, but we will avoid the crowds in favour of local flavour. The tour will conclude with lunch at La Rivetta, where the gondoliers stop for their midday meals. This is a true slice of historic Venice--not standard tourist fare. This evening we are privileged enough to be invited to a private performance of Nabucco at Teatro La Fenice, followed by a Gala Dinner in the Sale Apollinee inside this most spectacular of opera houses.

October 26...Venice
Following an evening to remember, enjoy the day at leisure in Venice. We will offer an optional tour to Dorsoduro and San Polo, featuring Ca' Rezzonico and the Scuola di San Rocco ($225 with lunch). Tonight we gather one last time for a Farewell Dinner at the elegant Ristorante Canova in our hotel.

October 27...Departures
Following breakfast, hotel-airport transfers are included.