Dean Dalton Tours

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Dean Dalton Tours

Exclusive music and art tours Dean Dalton Tours specializes in music and art tours to Europe, with an occasional adventure to more exotic places.
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All of our group tours include a substantial number of opera, ballet, symphonic, and chamber music concerts in the evenings, enriched by daytime sightseeing with expert guides who focus on art, architecture, and history. In addition to offering our tours directly to individual travelers, we plan and execute tours for non-for-profits, including Houston Public Radio, Mercury Baroque, the University

of St. Thomas, and the Houston Ballet. We also offer private, custom-designed tours to Romania and Hungary for groups of not more than five travelers. Dean Dalton Tours, LLC, is owned and operated by Dean Dalton and Zsofia Sztranyiczki. We personally plan, manage, and es**rt all of our tours.

08/06/2024

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07/25/2024

Chocolate mousse Bavarian style - a dessert out of this world!

07/23/2024

An added surprise at the Herrenchiemsee Festival: alpenhorn music set against a magnificent sunset, during the intermission of yesterday's Baroque concert!

07/23/2024

We attended a diverse program of Baroque music in the Hall of Mirrors of the Herrenchiemsee Palace. The extra added attraction at intermission was alpenhorn music, set against a magnificent sunset. Several concertgoers were wearing traditional Bavarian dresses.

07/22/2024

A ferry took us to Herrenchiemsee to visit King Ludwig II's last project, modeled on Versailles: a showcase of his adoration of French absolutist monarchs. What was fascinating for us to see was not only the opulent interiors of the palace and the gardens but the bare bricks: the structural skeleton of the grand building, which remained incomplete at the monarch's premature death. Alas, pix were not allowed inside.

07/21/2024

On our way to Lake Chiemsee (known as the "Bavarian Sea"), we passed by picturesque alpine villages and farms. We stopped at Linderhof Palace, the only one of King Ludwig II's buildings finished in his lifetime: an intimate rococo interior with beautiful surroundings. Lunch was at a traditional Bavarian inn, off the tourist track.

07/20/2024

Backstage tour of the Seebühne, the floating stage of the Bregenz Festival. What an experience to walk on the stage and see up and close what goes into building complex sets!

07/20/2024

Backstage tour of the Seebühne - the floating stage on Lake Constance, all set for the production of "Der Freischütz."

07/19/2024

Rossini's early serious opera Tancredi, together with l'Italiana in Algeri, made the composer's reputation. The production that opened on Thursday evening in the indoor Festspielhaus adapted the tragic Ferrara version (the original for Venice had a happy ending) to create a commentary on the evils of patriarchal traditions, intolerance, and authoritarianism which worked very effectively . . . and, as the production team doubtless intended, made some in the audience more than a little uncomfortable. Rossini aided and abetted in the effort, by casting the title character for a female mezzo (not countertenor), which gave the producers a perfect vehicle for turning Tancredi into a woman and the forbidden relationship into a le***an one. While none of the principals was a "star" singer, all acquitted themselves well and the conductor, Yi-Chen Lin kept the proceedings moving along and "on the tracks," despite a chorus that tended to want to set their own tempi.

07/19/2024

Liechtenstein, sandwiched between Switzerland and Austria, is the "good stuff" between two slices of bread. Its current prosperity, on one hand, is due to its smallness and insignificance on the world map; on the other, locals' ingenuity turned the poor farming country into a world leader in high-tech products in the fields of machine building, construction, and food industry. We had an excellent guide dressed in the colors of the national flag, which we also displayed in our group pictures! Vaduz, its capital, is full of exciting, quirky modern sculptures, as the pictures will show. Lunch was exquisite!

07/18/2024

A visit to the northeastern side of Lake Constance, including the most beautiful baroque church on the shore, Meersburg, and Lindau. Both towns are resplendent with medieval charm, lively squares, and picturesque alleyways, offering magnificent lake views.

07/18/2024

A lovely day on the south side of Lake Constance took us to Konstanz, famous for its council that ended the Western Schism by deposing or accepting the resignation of the papal claimants and by electing Pope Martin V, and to Mainau Island, owned by the Bernadotte family from Sweden (who still reside in the castle complex today). A vibrant botanical oasis, the Flower Island is home to a stunning array of flowers and trees, plant sculptures, a floral water cascade, and a floral relief of Bodensee (Lake Constance).

07/18/2024

Hoch lebe Liechtenstein!

07/15/2024

In the town of 111 oriel windows, all competing with one another in ornamentation, and the place where a wall once separated the Catholic abbey from the Protestant city surrounding it. St. Gall's Abbey's rococo library is a stunning, intimate space, with magnificent burnished woodwork, undulating balconies, and ceiling frescoes. It is also unusual due to two rare objects, a replica of a 16th c. terrestrial and celestial globe and an Egyptian mummy.

07/14/2024

We've had several days of delightful chamber music in an intimate space with excellent acoustics, at the foot of the Alps. We could attend as many as 4 concerts, and we managed to squeeze in a Jewish tour of Hohenems plus visits to intriguing little museums dedicated to Schubert, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, and the Nibelungen saga.

07/13/2024

A nice stroll in Vorarlberg’s capital, beautifully located at Lake Constance (Bodensee), Europe’s third largest lake, followed by another special lunch.

07/12/2024

Off to a good start! Folks arriving as scheduled into Munich, bags all here, and the first outstanding meal on our way to Bregenz! Prost/Cheers to a great tour!

07/04/2024

https://mailchi.mp/2c106ba54ee9/celebrating-independence-day

06/02/2024

Our last day in Paris took us to the 16th Arrondissement to discover Musée Marmottan and the Louis Vuitton Foundation. It was an added plus to view Monet's beloved water lily pond and gardens on canvas after having visited Giverny a few days before. A nice surprise was Berthe Morisot, one of the unsung sheroes of Impressionism, as well as Gehry's fascinating "sailboat" building and the art site-specific installations inside from artists like Olafur Eliasson and Ellsworth Kelly. Farewell lunch was another meal to remember!

05/19/2024

Classical ballet at its best: Adolphe Adam's "Giselle." A delightful evening of grace, emotion, and technique.

05/19/2024

A fascinating visit to a château not far from Paris, owned by several prominent families. Its last resident, the Duke of Aumale (son of the last French king Louis-Philippe) rebuilt the part destroyed in the Revolution to house his great collection of paintings (just to name a few: Fra Angelico, Raphael, Poussin, Watteau, Delacroix). The famous Chantilly cream is said to have been invented in the castle kitchens... which we tried at a country restaurant nearby: a meal that will be remembered by all!

05/16/2024

An intense evening with virtuoso young conductor Klaus Mäkelä, who was recently appointed the music director of the Chicago Symphony (the youngest ever in its 133-year history).

05/15/2024

An exceptional evening at the Théâtre Des Champs-Elysées with today's most exciting crop of Baroque specialists! Others headed to the Philarmonie for a piano recital by Hélène Grimaud, which was equally fabulous.

05/15/2024

An enlightening tour in the 16th arrondissement of Paris acquainted us with Art Nouveau as exemplified by Hector Guimard, and modernism by Le Corbusier, whose Villa La Roche expresses his radical philosophical (purist) statement of architecture.

05/13/2024

We spent a lovely morning at the house museum of Claude Monet, with its famous water lily ponds and colorful gardens, designed by Monet himself. Then we took a stroll through Vétheuil, on the banks of the Seine, where Monet lived for 3 years, with easy access to his "houseboat" serving as a floating studio. We capped off the visit with an excellent lunch, off the beaten path.

05/12/2024

Excellent evening at Opera de Paris! A sold-out performance of Charpentier's "Médée" with Les Arts Florissants conducted by William Christie. David McVicar's production, set in WW II era, is colorful, witty, and creatively choreographed. Beautiful singing throughout!

05/11/2024

Gorgeous day to discover ancient and Gothic Paris with our brilliant lecturer!

05/03/2024

Paris: Last-Minute Opportunity! - https://mailchi.mp/419be6418909/paris-last-minute-opportunity

04/13/2024

There are not enough adjectives to describe the feeling of walking through one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Stunning, beautiful, inspiring, spectacular, majestic, astounding, breathtaking ... and the list can go on!

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1904 Banks Street
Houston, TX
77098

Website

http://www.deandaltontours.com/

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Chocolate mousse Bavarian style - a dessert out of this world!

An added surprise at the Herrenchiemsee Festival: alpenhorn music set against a magnificent sunset, during the intermission of yesterday's Baroque concert!