Prologue

 

I will leave Sydney on 27^th May 2003 for St Petersburg via Bangkok and Helsinki. My plans are to stay 30 days in Russia at the time when President Putin is welcoming all the important heads of state, like Bush and Chirac from all over the World. You will have noticed that once again poor little Johnny Howard is left out, but I’ll try and represent if not him, but the Aussies. There will be some there other than me, because Opera Australia is organising a tour for people to partake in the sole performance of the Ring Cycle. I am happy to say that I have ordered my tickets direct from the Kirov and Valentina and I will be there on 13^th, 14^th, 16^th and 18^th. In 1999 Joy and I attended the Ring’s performance in Adelaide and I hope for an equally unforgettable magic in St. Petersburg.

 

While there I also have tickets for a number of other opera’s two of which (Prince Igor and Boris Godunov) are Russian and I am looking forward to some spectacular bass voices. With two ballets, one of which is a cubist Nutcracker (!) I hope that I will not have a cultural over exposure.

 

From Russia I will go to my brother’s place in Suffolk, UK and than I am visiting my father’s cousin in New York State. From there I will be off to Los Angeles, where I recently discovered a second cousin, who used to live just 150 meters away from us, but who was 19 when I was just a boy of 13. Her husband and she have kindly arranged a visit to the Hollywood Bowl for a concert performance of La Traviata.

 

From L A I will be going straight to New Zealand where I am planning to rent a car, visit a cousin in Hamilton, stay a couple of days with my brother & sister-in-law in Taupo and finally stay with my sister-in-law in Auckland. I should be back in Sydney on 23^rd July and will have nothing to do except read my mail, throw most of it in the WPB and get ready for a performance of Salome in the Sydney Opera House on the 25^th.

 

To see if my trip progressed in accordance with my plans please click below for my trip reports:

 

Report on Russian Trip

Report on UK Trip

Report on USA Trip

Report on NZ trip

 

Please click on the titles below to see some pictures of my trip.

 

               Russia                  Week 1    -    Week 2    -    Week  3    -    Week 4

                                             England

                USA,                    New York    -    Los Angeles

                New Zealand      Te Kauwhata    -    Taupo    -    Auckland

 

To see details of my 2002 trip CLICK HERE