The trip “Sea and Music” actually offered not only a lot of music and crystal clear sea, but also “more” of everything. The unique atmosphere on board enables music lovers to have unforgettable days. In addition to rehearsals and concerts by the Wr. Philharmonic also gave solo concerts: Matthias Fletzberger played with Ramon Vargas, Thomas Hampson and the “Clarinotts”, among others.

The Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on the cruise: “After a four-year break, Springer's label“ Musik & Meer ”has succeeded almost perfectly this year: Tenor Ramón Vargas comes on board for the Mexican señoras, and the Chinese Ma Xiaohui for the Far East parliamentary group. a star on a strange lute instrument called the erhu; for the German-speaking friends of the cultivated songs the mezzo-soprano Bernarda Fink. Global stars are conductor Zubin Mehta and baritone Thomas Hampson anyway.

The former joins for a concert in Livorno, the latter for one in Barcelona and a recital on board with the pianist Matthias Fletzberger, somewhere between Ibiza and Palma. And on top of that, the Philharmonic Orchestra brought Dominique Meyer with them. He is the director of the Vienna State Opera, which is more important to Austrian music lovers than the Federal President and which makes poor Meyer the object of desire for Viennese court council widows during the trip.

And of course the classical pilgrims get their money's worth. All concerts are extremely worth listening to, the artists are definitely worth their fees, and a visit to the lavishly decorated concert hall in Barcelona is worthwhile. For true Philharmonic fans, however, it is these rare moments that they are happy to pay for such a trip: For example, when Thomas Hampson writes personal dedications to his glorified female fans in the program for more than an hour. Or when an admirer of Zubin Mehta succeeds on a similar occasion in plucking an earthly hair from the adored maestro with tweezers.
'We have no reservations,' says Thomas Hampson, 'we don't live in a bubble.' "