Autumn Theater Festivals
In each season one can find festivals in Moscow. November is rich with experimental projects: Dance Inversion and NET Festival are both presenting the latest trends from Europe and USA in ballet and theater.
The first invites modern ballet groups from France, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Portugal and the USA. Modern dance like any other kind of modern art is a way to express individual styles, create new combinations, and put together Eastern and Western traditions.
The NET festival first took place in 1998 in Moscow, initiated by the group of theatre critics and was supposed to present to Russian public modern productions from Europe and Russia. Since then it has grown to international level and discovered the new wave of Russian theatre directors: Evgenyi Grishkovets, Olga Subbotina, Kirill Serebrennikov, Ivan Vyrypaev. This year among the participants there are theatre groups from France, Switzerland, Norway, Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania and Spain. All the performances are in the original languages with subtitles in Russian.
Chanel: Art as a Universe
Could you ever imagine an arts exhibition with a smell of a perfume? A luxurious perfume. Chanel… Chanel perfumes are now in the air at the Pushkin museum. The Chanel Foundation suggested the idea, and the curators from the Pushkin Museum easily turned it into an international exhibition project involving exhibits from the Tate Gallery, Pompidou Center, Tretyakov Gallery and the Moscow Kremlin Museum. The concept of the exhibition is based on the color and texture notions that inspired Coco Chanel; Black, Red, Gold, Sand and Tweed. The Black section features the fitted black dress, which became one of Coco Chanel’s trademarks. Red stands for Chanel’s favorite lipstick color, Gold for Venetian domes and gilded mosaics. The tweeds allude to the English period in Chanel’s life. The haute couture dresses and accessories are placed with background of ancient Russian icons, works by Gainsborough, Constable, Renoir, Picasso, Rodchenko and photographs by Man Ray. Coco Chanel was a true artist who created an individual artistic style through color, shape and fabric textures.
Art as a Universe Pushkin Fine Arts Museum Till November 21, 10:00–19:00 except Monday |
Time of the Balkans
At his very first concert in Moscow one could not but feel desperately bad at mathematics when one choir singer emerged after another bagpipe player on stage after a fierce-looking timpanist started a rhythm which on the one hand is unfamiliar and well known from somewhere inside. This is the Weddings and Funerals Orchestra uniting more than 50 musicians, headed by Goran Bregovic, that made the whole world feel joy and sorrows with the peoples of the Balkans and dance to their rhythms…
Goran Bregovic was born in Sarajevo, studied violin at the conservatory and admitted his love for rock n’roll by forming “The White Button” group at the age of sixteen. Since then he has composed for such varied artists as Iggy Pop and Cesaria Evora. Together with the fi lm director and musician Emir Kusturica Bregovi became known internationally for his scores for the latter’s films (Time of the Gypsies, Arizona Dream, Underground – Palme d’Or at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival).
Nowadays Bregovi interprets his own music touring around the world with his orchestra and mix of the Gypsy and Slavic rhythms.
Goran Bregovic and Wedding and Funerals Orchestra USZ Druzhba, Luzhniki November 17, 18, 20:00 |
Il Divo: Opera Stars in the Kremlin
Il Divo stands for “Star” in Italian and is indeed one of the brightest events in world popular music in recent years. Four talented singers from different countries perform opera arias along with lyric songs of Tony Brexton, Frank Sinatra and Ennio Moricone in one concert. Their tours are anticipated all over the world. They sell their albums by the millions. The huge success is certainly due to the fusion of the four exceptional voices. David Miller (tenor, from the USA) has a Masters Degree in Opera Theatre, sang leading roles internationally for 10 years and was on Broadway in Baz Luhrmann’s La Boheme. Sebastien Izambard (pop singer from France) is the only self-taught singer, an accomplished songwriter who plays guitar and piano and produces for many other French artists. Urs Bühler (tenor, from Switzerland) started singing with a hard rock band, then at the Salzburg Festival and Netherlands Opera. Carlos Marin (baritone, from Spain) a star of the opera scene is based in Madrid and was renowned for his work in many operas such as La Traviata and La Boheme.
Il Divo Concert State Kremlin Palace November 29, 19:00 |
Fight Without Rules
Ledovy Dvorets (Ice Palace), recently constructed in Moscow, has already hosted the Ice Hockey World Championship. On November 30 it will turn itself into an international boxing arena for the strongest teams of the two countries – Russia and USA – to fight without rules, making a show for thousands of people. The names of the participants make sure that this is going to be an unprecedented match; eight different matches to be more precise. The first one will face Roman Zentsov who is in the world’s top 10 heavy-weight boxers, and the American star Erik Pele. The second fight – in medium weight is between Andrey Semyonov and Tim McKenzie. The other matches will feature Konstantin Glukhov vs Zulu, Vladimir Zenin vs TBA, Vladimir Kuchenko vs Jerome Smith, Alexandre Shlemenko vs Diego Vistosky. Two ladies from two continents are going to fi nd out who is the best: Julia Berezikova is going to face Jessica Aguilar.
International Boxing Arena Ledovy Dvorets at Khodynskoe Pole November 30, 19:00 |
Baltic Wave
“Baltic JaZZ” has become an annual festival. The participants are the best representatives of the European jazz elite. The festival will open in Kaliningrad (November 9-11). The special guest of this part of the festival is Anna Maria Jopek, who is hailed by the press as a “singing diamond.” St. Petersburg (November 12-13) will hear the improvisations by the multinational jazz band “JazzKamikaze,” as well as the duet of the famous German pianist Uli Lents and French saxophonist Franscois Jeanno. Moscow will be presented with a parade of celebrities: Helsinki Trio, Lars Danielsson (Sweden), Ulf Wakenius (from the Oscar Peterson Quartet) and the most excellent trumpet player Nils Petter Molvaer. On top of it all is a performance by a legend of Scandinavian Jazz; Palle Mikkelborg. He has been a key personality in the development of European jazz since the early ‘70’s. He worked with Miles Davis on the “Aura” album which received two Grammies in 1989. In 2001 the musician was awarded the Nordic Music Prize (NOMUS).
Helsinki Trio, Lars Danielsson, Palle Mikkelborg – November 15, 19:00 Cool & Jazzy, Ulf Wakenius, Nils Petter Molvaer – November 16, 19:00 Moscow International House of Music |
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