T H E L U X U R Y T R A V E L E R

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Editor's notes . . .

SWISS to Start Service to SFO Bay Area

New York, NY - December 1st, 2009, Today, SWISS announced new long-haul service between San Francisco and Zurich six times a week offering Bay Area passengers the opportunity to enjoy Swiss hospitality and feel right at home when flying to Switzerland and beyond to any of our 76 worldwide destinations. Use this link to visit SWISS online . . .

or, use this link to visit the weblog at Luxury Traveler for full release information . . .

Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert 2010 with Georges Prêtre

The Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert 2010 will be conducted for the second time by the French conductor Georges Prêtre. For the past 47 years Georges Prêtre has conducted regularly in Vienna, and his work with the Vienna Philharmonic has encompassed this same time period. Due to the television and radio broadcasts in more than 70 countries, the New Year's Concert is in terms of its international coverage the largest classical music event in the world. Follow this link for further information Editor's note: check you local PBS listings for broadcasts of the Vienna New Year's Day Concert.

Paintings of the Biedermeier Period

Pinting of a Young Lady

Vienna, Austria -- A festival for friends of the Biedermeier is offered by the Vienna Museum with its exhibition of masterpieces of Austrian art between 1815 and 1848. On view are paintings by important painters – such as Friedrich von Amerling, Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Peter Fendi, Josef Danshauser, Rudolf von Alt and Adalbert Stifter.

The most popular subjects of the Biedermeier period are in the show - from portraits to everyday scenes and masterly still lifes to light-drenched landscapes . Be impressed by detailed nature studies as well as the humorous-anecdotal narrations and moralizing melodramas. The 60 or so paintings and graphic works include well-known pieces as well as the occasional rarity from the museum's inventory. Some arts-and-crafts objects give insight into the everyday life of the Biedermeier period.

The exhibition makes it particularly clear how Biedermeier painting combines the detailed reproduction of reality with an idealistic imagination . Indeed, the apparent idyll often hides the tensions of that time. Only gradually did new topics such as life on the land , poverty and wealth in the city, popular piety and natural experiences near to and far from the environs of Vienna become popular. Venue: Wien Museum Karlsplatz, 4., Karlsplatz Dates: January 17, 2010 Follow this link for more information . . .

Photo: Young lady at the dressing table, 1840, Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller Oil on wood

Francis Bacon A Terrible Beauty | Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane

The Basel Theatre is "Opera House of the Year" The professional journal "Opernwelt" from Berlin has voted the Basel Theatre "Opera house of the year" in a critics' survey. Therewith the title goes to Switzerland for the first time ever. The diversity of the repertoire and the ensemble work of Switzerland's largest three-category theatre (drama, opera and ballet) were particularly acknowledged

Recently Rediscovered Velázquez Painting Featured in New Exhibition at Metropolitan Museum

Velázquez Rediscovered, a special exhibition opening November 17 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, will feature a newly identified painting by Velázquez, Portrait of a Man, formerly ascribed by the Museum to the workshop of Velázquez and recently reattributed to the master himself following its cleaning and restoration. It will be shown alongside other works from the Museum's superior collection of works by the great Spanish painter.

Exhibition Dates: November 17, 2009 – February 7, 2010
Exhibition Location: European Paintings, Gallery 16, 2nd floor

Lake Geneva Region, Gastronomic Destination Par Excellence! The 2010 GaultMillau Guide has rewarded eleven establishments, welcomes ten new ones and gives special recognition to Pierrick Suter by voting him “Romand of the year”(Swiss French). The Lake Geneva Region (Canton of Vaud) demonstrates once again that it is Switzerland’s prime gastronomic region and one of Europe’s areas most densely populated with excellent restaurants. More info forthcoming . . .

Passenger comfort soars to new heights on Air France as Premium Voyageur makes its first flight!

On Sunday 25 October, Air France began operating the first aircraft featuring the Premium Voyageur cabin on its Paris-Charles de Gaulle - New York-JFK route. This new seat offers 40% more space in a new private cabin, at very competitive fares. The seat, with a width of 43cm and reclining to 123°, is fitted with a fixed shell to preserve the intimacy of each passenger. Air France is the first European airline to offer a reclining seat inside a fixed shell in an intermediary cabin.

The Premium Voyageur seat will be progressively introduced on all Air France long-haul flights operated by Boeing 777, Airbus A340 and A330 aircraft. This new cabin is currently available on flights to six destinations: Beirut, Hong-Kong, New York, Beijing, New York, Singapore and Tokyo.

This link is to updates on fine arts & antiques on the Vernissage page

Art Palm Beach is Working with Goedhuis Contemporary on an Important Contemporary Chinese Art Exhibition and Panel Discussion. The UK’s foremost national art and antiques fair and a major showcase for 103 members of the British Antique Dealers’ Association. The 18th Fair will take place from 17- 23 March 2010 housed in a purpose-built pavilion in the exclusive location of the Duke of York Square, off Sloane Square, London