An internationally renowned art museum and one of the most significant architectural icons of the 20th century, the Guggenheim Museum is at once a vital cultural center, an educational institution, and the heart of an international network of museums.
Visitors can experience special exhibitions of modern and contemporary art, lectures by artists and critics, performances and film screenings, classes for teens and adults, and daily tours of the galleries led by experienced docents.
Founded on a collection of early modern masterpieces, the Guggenheim Museum today is an ever-growing institution devoted to the art of the 20th century and beyond.
Q: Are baby strollers or backpacks permitted in the museum?
A: All backpacks, large toddler carriers, double-sided strollers, jogging strollers, large umbrellas, and bags or packages larger than 16 x 16 inches (40 x 40 cm) must be checked. All bags are subject to inspection. Visitors may check these items in the coatroom.
Q: Is there a coatroom?
A: The coatroom is located on the ground floor of the museum. All backpacks, large umbrellas, strollers and bags and packages larger than 16 x 16 inches must be checked in the coatroom. You must present your Admission Ticket prior to checking your belongings.
Q: Are visitors permitted to sketch in the museum?
A: Pencils, sketchbooks, and notebooks are permitted. However, pens, paints, and easels are not permitted.
Q: Is there a place to eat in the museum?
A: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum's Frank Lloyd Wright designed building, the Wright is now open for lunch, Friday through Wednesday from 11:30 am to 3:30 pm. The bar menu is served until 5 pm, and Sunday Brunches are served from 11 am to 5 pm. Dinner service will begin in mid-January. Make reservations by calling 212 427 5690. You may also visit Cafe 3, located in the Kandinsky Gallery on Annex Level 3. It is open Friday through Wednesday from 10:30 am to 3 pm.
Museum Hours
Sun-Wed 10am 5:45 pm
Fri 10am 5:45 pm
Sat 10am 7:45 pm
Closed Thurs, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day
Some galleries may close prior to 5:45 pm Sun-Wed and Fri (7:45 pm Sat)
Madame Larina, Olga and the nurse are finishing the party dresses and gossiping about Tatyana’s coming birthday festivities. Madame Larina speculates on the future. Girls from the neighbourhood arrive and play an old folk game: whoever looks into the mirror will see her beloved.
Lensky, a young poet engaged to Olga, arrives with a friend from St Petersburg. He introduces Onegin, who, bored with the city, has come to see if the country can offer him any distraction. Tatyana, full of youthful and romantic fantasies, falls in love with the elegant stranger, so different from the country people she knows. Onegin on the other hand, sees only a coltish girl who reads too many romantic novels.
Scene 2 Tatyana’s bedroom
Tatyana, her imagination aflame with impetuous first love, dreams of Onegin and writes him a passionate love letter, which she gives to the nurse to deliver.
SECOND ACT: Scene 1 Tatyana’s birthday
The provincial gentry have come out to celebrate Tatyana’s birthday. Onegin finds the company boring. Stifling his yawns, he finds it difficult to be civil; furthermore he is irritated by Tatyana’s letter, which he regards merely as an outburst of adolescent love. In a quiet moment, he seeks out Tatyana and, telling her that he cannot love her, tears up her letter. Instead of awakening pity, Tatyana’s distress merely increases his irritation. Prince Gremin, a distant relative, appears. He is in love with Tatyana, and Madame Larina hopes for a brilliant match; but Tatyana, troubled with her own heart, hardly notices her kind relative. Onegin, in his boredom, decides to provoke Lensky by flirting with Olga, who lightheartedly joins in the teasing. But Lensky takes the matter with passionate seriousness. He challenges Onegin to a duel.
Scene 2 The duel
Tatyana and Olga try to reason with Lensky, but his high romantic ideals have been shattered by the betrayal of his friend and the fickleness of his beloved; he insists that the duel take place. Onegin kills his friend.
THIRD ACT: Scene 1 St Petersburg
Years later, Onegin, having travelled the world in an attempt to escape from his own sense of futility, returns to St Petersburg, where he is received at a ball in the palace of Prince Gremin. Gremin has married, and Onegin is astonished to recognise, in the stately and elegant young princess, Tatyana, the uninteresting little country girl whom he once turned away. The enormity of his mistake and loss engulfs him; his life seems even more aimless and empty.
Scene 2 Tatyana’s boudoir
Onegin has written to Tatyana, revealing his love and asking to see her, but she does not wish to meet him. She pleads in vain with her unsuspecting husband not to leave her alone this evening. Onegin comes and declares his love for her. In spite of her emotional turmoil, Tatyana realises that Onegin’s change of heart has come too late. Before his eyes, she tears up his letter and orders him to leave her forever.
Opera in three acts by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written in English by the poet W.H. Auden, is based on a series of eighteenth-century engravings by William Hogarth.
Scene 1
Das Rheingold begins with a 136-bar unmodulating prelude based on the chord of E flat that is meant to represent the eternal unchanging motions of the River Rhine (it is known that Richard Wagner got the tune for the Prelude/Vorspiel of Das Rheingold while being half asleep) and is (Erickson 1975, p.94) the best known drone piece in the concert repetory. The music grows in power, and the curtain rises. At the bottom of the River Rhine, the three Rhinemaidens (Woglinde, Wellgunde, and Flosshilde) play with one another. Alberich, a Nibelung dwarf, appears from a deep chasm and tries to woo them. Struck by his ugliness, the Rhinemaidens mock his advances, and Alberich grows angry. He notices a golden glow coming from a nearby rock, and asks what it is. The Rhinemaidens tell him about the Rhinegold, which their father had told them to guard: one who renounces love can make out of it a magic Ring, which will let its bearer rule the World. They think they have nothing to fear from the lustful dwarf, but Alberich has been embittered by their mockery. Cursing love, he seizes the gold.
Scene 2
Wotan, ruler of the Gods, is asleep on a mountaintop with Fricka, his wife. Fricka awakes and sees a magnificent castle behind them. She wakes Wotan and points out that their new home has been completed. The giants built the castle on behalf of Wotan, and in exchange Wotan has offered them Freia, the goddess of love. Fricka is worried for her sister, but Wotan is confident that they will not have to give Freia away.
Freia enters, terrified, followed by the giants Fasolt and Fafner. Fasolt demands payment for their finished work. He points out that Wotan's rule is sustained by the treaties carved into his Spear, one of which is his contract with the giants. Donner (god of thunder) and Froh (god of spring) arrive to defend their sister, but Wotan stops them: he cannot stop the giants by force and renege on their agreement.
To Wotan's relief, Loge the fire god makes an entrance; Wotan has been placing his hopes on Loge's cunning finding a way out of the bargain. Loge tells them that Alberich the dwarf has stolen the Rheingold, and made a powerful magic Ring out of it. Wotan, Fricka, and the giants all begin to lust after the Ring, and Loge suggests that they can steal it from Alberich. Fafner demands it as payment instead of Freia. The giants depart, taking Freia with them as hostage.
Freia's golden apples had kept the Gods eternally young; with her absence, they begin to age and weaken. In order to win Freia back, Wotan is forced to follow Loge down into the earth, in pursuit of the Ring.
At this point there is an orchestral interlude that "paints" the descent of Loge and Wotan into Nibelheim. One of the most striking features of the interlude is when the orchestra fades out and gives way to 18 tuned anvils (marked in the score with specific pitches), beating out the Nibelung theme to represent the toiling of the enslaved dwarves.
Scene 3
In Nibelheim, Alberich has enslaved the rest of the Nibelung dwarves. He has forced his brother Mime, a skillful smith, to create a magic helmet, the Tarnhelm. Alberich demonstrates the Tarnhelm's power by turning himself invisible, the better to torment his subjects.
Wotan and Loge arrive and happen upon Mime, who tells them about Alberich's forging of the Ring and the misery of the Nibelung under his rule. Alberich returns, driving his slaves to pile up a huge mound of gold. When they have finished, he dismisses them and turns his attention to the two visitors. He boasts to them about his plans to rule the World. Loge tricks him into demonstrating the magic of the Tarnhelm by transforming into a snake, then a toad. The two gods quickly seize him, and bring him up to the surface.
Scene 4
On the mountaintop, Wotan and Loge force Alberich to exchange his wealth for his freedom. They untie his right hand, and he uses the ring to summon his Nibelung slaves, who bring the hoard of gold. After the gold has been delivered, he asks for the return of the Tarnhelm, but Loge says that it is part of his ransom. Finally, Wotan asks him to surrender the Ring. Alberich refuses, but Wotan seizes it from his finger and puts it on his own. Alberich is crushed by his loss, and before he leaves he lays a curse on the Ring: until it returns to him, whoever does not possess it will desire it, and whoever possesses it will receive unhappiness and death.
Fricka, Donner, and Froh arrive and are greeted by Wotan and Loge, who show them the gold that will ransom Freia. Fasolt and Fafner return, carrying Freia. Reluctant to release Freia, Fasolt insists that there must be enough gold to hide her from view. They pile up the gold, and Wotan is forced to relinquish the Tarnhelm to help cover Freia completely. However, Fasolt spots a final crack in the gold, and demands that Wotan yield the Ring. Wotan refuses, and the giants prepare to abduct Freia.
Suddenly, Erda the earth goddess, the world's wisest woman, appears out of the ground. She warns Wotan of impending doom, and urges him to avoid the cursed Ring. Troubled, Wotan surrenders the Ring and sets Freia free. The giants start dividing the treasure, but they argue over the Ring. Fafner clubs Fasolt to death, and leaves with all the loot. Wotan, horrified, realizes that Alberich's curse has terrible power.
At last, the Gods prepare to enter their new home. Donner summons a thunderstorm to clear the air. After the storm has ended, Froh creates a rainbow bridge that stretches to the gate of the castle. Wotan leads them across the bridge to the castle, which he names Valhalla. Fricka asks him about the name, and he replies that its meaning will be revealed.
Loge, who knows that the end of the Gods is coming, does not follow the others into Valhalla; and, far below, the Rhinemaidens mourn the loss of their gold. The curtain falls.
The opera which is based on a text by René Pollesch will be stage directed by Christoph Schlingensief.
Conductor: Daniel Barenboim Director: Christoph Schlingensief Set Designer: Thomas Goerge Costume Designer: Aino Laberenz Light Designer: Voxi Bärenklau, Olaf Freese Director's Assistance: Anna-Sophie Mahler Chorus Master: Eberhard Friedrich
You are picked up in you hotel and whisked to Prague Castle where the Lobkowicz Palace is located at the east entrance.
Leaving the cab you reach the Palace in about 5 mins. First you visit the museum-the collection that William Lobkowicz and his family has assembled together again is nothing short of miraculous.
The history behind the Palace and the exquisite artwork on display is amazing. The current owner of the castle, together with his family, talk you through a fascinating journey of their ancestor's history on the Audioguide.
Following the impressive museum visit you may enjoy a delicious snack in the Palace Cafe with a breathtaking view of Prague (with 10% discount but not included in the tour price) and afterwards you move to an adjacent room for an hour classic concert (flute, viola and piano).
The concert starts at 13.00. The tour is over with the concert. The visit of Lobkowicz Palace for many is a "must see" place in Prague.
Times: Daily at 10am
Present you voucher to the taxi driver and then to Lobkowicz Palace box office.
A violent storm has driven Daland’s ship several miles from his home on the Norwegian coast. Sending his crew off to rest, he leaves the watch in charge of a young steersman, who falls asleep as he sings a ballad about his girl (“Mit Gewitter und Sturm”). A ghostly schooner drops anchor next to Daland’s ship. Its captain steps ashore and, with increasing despair, reflects on his fate (“Die Frist ist um”): Once every seven years he may leave his ship to find a wife. If she is faithful, she will redeem him from his deathless wandering. If not, he is condemned to sail the ocean until Judgment Day. When Daland discovers the phantom ship, the stranger, who introduces himself as “a Dutchman,” tells him of his plight and offers gold and jewels for a night’s lodging. When he learns that Daland has a daughter, the Dutchman asks for her hand in marriage. Happy to have found a rich son-in-law, Daland agrees and sets sail for home.
Act II
Daland’s young daughter, Senta, is captivated by the portrait of a pale man in black—the Flying Dutchman—while her friends sit spinning under the watchful eye of Mary, Senta’s nurse. The girls tease Senta about her suitor, Erik, who is not a sailor but a hunter. When the superstitious Mary refuses to sing a ballad about the Dutchman, Senta sings it herself (“Traft ihr das Schiff im Meere an”). The song reveals that the Dutchman’s curse was put on him for a blasphemous oath. To Mary and the girls’ horror, Senta suddenly declares that she will be the one to save him. Erik enters with news of the sailors’ return, and Mary and the others hurry off. Erik reminds Senta of her father’s intention to find her a husband and asks her to plead his cause, but she remains distant (“Mein Herz, voll Treue bis zum Sterben”). Realizing how much the Dutchman’s picture means to her, he tells her of a frightening dream in which he saw her passionately embrace the Dutchman and sail away on his ship. Senta exclaims that this is what she must do, and the despairing Erik rushes away. A moment later, the Dutchman enters. Senta stands transfixed. Daland quickly follows and asks his daughter to welcome the stranger, whom he has brought to be her husband (“Mögst du, mein Kind”). After he has left, the Dutchman, who is equally moved by the meeting, asks Senta if she will accept him as her husband (Duet: “Wie aus der Ferne”). Unaware that she realizes who he is, he warns her of making a rash decision, but she ecstatically vows to be faithful to him unto death. Daland returns and is overjoyed to learn that his daughter has accepted the suitor.
Act III
At the harbor, the villagers celebrate the sailors’ return with singing and dancing (Chorus: “Steuermann, lass die Wacht!”). Perplexed by the strange silence aboard the Dutchman’s ship, they call out to the crew, inviting them to join the festivities. Suddenly the ghostly sailors appear, mocking their captain’s quest in hollow chanting. The villagers run away in terror. Quiet returns and Senta enters, followed by the distressed Erik. He pleads with her not to marry the Dutchman, insisting that she has already pledged her love to him (“Willst jenes Tag’s”). The Dutchman, who has overheard them, loses all hope of salvation and goes toward his ship. Senta tries to stop him but he explains that since she has not yet proclaimed her vows before God, she will escape eternal damnation—the fate of those who betray him. His crew prepares to cast off and he declares that he is the Flying Dutchman of legend. Senta ecstatically replies that she knows who he is. As the ship pulls away, she throws herself into the sea, crying that she is faithful unto death.
Please exchange voucher at the box office at the State Opera on the day of the performance.
NOTE: Performance times can change at short notice, ensure to check up prior to performance.
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