Stage Russia Smile Upon Us, Lord Vakhtangov Theatre, Moscow: Rimas Tuminas’ adaptation of two novels by fellow Lithuanian, Grigory Kanovich, is a dreamy, ruminative, comedic road trip, centering around the parlous fortunes of Eastern European Jews at the start of the 20th century. A period piece that carries a modern conscious, Smile Upon Us, Lord (more…)

The temple dancer Nikiya and the warrior Solor fall deeply in love, igniting heated passions and murderous intrigues when the Rajah and his daughter Gamzatti discover their forbidden love. La Bayadere is one of the greatest works in classical ballet history – a story of love, death and vengeful judgment, set in India. Dazzling sets and costumes, with one of the most iconic scenes in ballet, the “Kingdom of the Shades,” illuminate the tragic tale of the temple dancer Nikiya’s doomed love for the warrior Solor, and their ultimate redemption. A must-see theatrical event.

Tenor Javier Camarena and soprano Pretty Yende team up for a feast of bel canto vocal fireworks—including the show-stopping tenor aria “Ah! Mes amis,” with its nine high Cs. Alessandro Corbelli and Maurizio Muraro trade off as the comic Sergeant Sulpice, with mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe as the outlandish Marquise of Berkenfield. Enrique Mazzola conducts.

On her sixteenth birthday, Princess Aurora falls under the curse of the Evil Fairy Carabosse and into a deep slumber lasting one hundred years. Only the kiss of a prince can break the spell. A resplendent fairytale ballet, The Sleeping Beauty features scores of magical characters including fairies, the Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots, and a beautiful young Princess Aurora performed by Olga Smirnova, a “truly extraordinary talent” (The Telegraph). This is classical ballet at its finest.

In what is expected to be a Wagnerian event for the ages, soprano Christine Goerke plays Brünnhilde, Wotan’s willful warrior daughter, who loses her immortality in opera’s most famous act of filial defiance. Tenor Stuart Skelton and soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek play the incestuous twins Siegmund and Sieglinde. Greer Grimsley sings Wotan. Philippe Jordan conducts.

Stratford Festival on Film Shakespeare’s Coriolanus directed by Robert Lepage Located in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, the Stratford Festival is North America’s largest classical repertory theatre company. Named on many 2018 year-end critics “best of” lists, the Stratford Festival’s “riveting” and “exhilarating” (The New York Times) production of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, has been called “the show of (more…)

In the 1920s, The Golden Age cabaret is a favorite nightly haunt. The young fisherman Boris falls in love with Rita. He follows her to the cabaret and realizes that she is the beautiful dancer “Mademoiselle Margot,” but also the love interest of the local gangster Yashka. With its jazzy score by Dmitri Shostakovich and its music-hall atmosphere featuring beautiful tangos, The Golden Age is a refreshing and colorful dive into the roaring ’20s. A historic ballet that can be seen only at the Bolshoi!

Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads the classic John Dexter production of Poulenc’s devastating story of faith and martyrdom. Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard sings the touching role of Blanche and soprano Karita Mattila, a legend in her own time, returns to the Met as the Prioress.