Seryozha
Dec. 21
“Seryozha” is one of the major premieres at the Moscow Art Theater this season. The production by Dmitry Krymov, who recently left the School of Dramatic Art, is based on both Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” and Vasily Grossman’s “Life and Fate.” The play was written by prominent contemporary poet Lev Rubinshtein. As with all Krymov’s productions, expect the unexpected, as his performances usually have little to do with the original and everything with director’s own vision.
3 Kamergersky Pereulok. Metro Okhotny Ryad. mxat.ru
Tantsy Minus
Dec. 21
Although Tantsy Minus’ height of popularity was in the late 1990s and the first decade of the new century, Vyacheslav Petkun’s band is still going strong. The band’s last release, an EP called “Tri” (Three), came out just one year ago. Come to their concert at 16 Tons to sing along to the greatest hits “Gorod” (“City” - an ode to his hometown of St. Petersburg) and the somewhat cheesy “Polovinka” (“my other half”).
6/1 Ulitsa Presnensky Val. Metro 1905 goda. 16tons.ru
Chizh & Co
Dec. 22
If you are feeling nostalgic for 1990s Russian music, the Chizh & Co concert at the Mumy Troll Bar is right up your alley. Chizh & Co are pop-rock veterans most famous for their perennial hit entitled “Vechnaya Molodost” (Eternal Youth), the lyrics to which many Russians know by heart. Come and join the singalong.
7 Tverskaya Ulitsa. Metro Okhotny Ryad. mumiytrollbar.com
VEU 2019
Dec. 22
VEU stands for “Evening of Esthetic Joys” and it’s probably one of the best New Year’s pre-parties this season. Sub-headed “Satan’s ball,” in reference to the party in Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel “Master and Margarita,” will take at a famous venue that is not usually a party spot: the House of the Unions (Dom Soyuzov). This 18 th century classical building was originally a manor house and then belonged to the Assembly of Nobility. In the 20th century it also served as a funeral parlor for Soviet leaders including Lenin and Stalin. Promo group Esthetic Joys, responsible for one of the best summer festivals Bosco Fresh, will organize surprise live performances and DJ sets all night. For more information and to register, go to the event’s Facebook page.
1 Ulitsa Bolshaya Dmitrovka. Metro Okhotny Ryad, Teatralnaya
Baroque
Dec. 25-26
”Baroque“ is a co-production by embattled artistic director of Gogol Center Kirill Serebrennikov, who’s been under house arrest for more than a year, and choreographer Yevgeny Kulagin, known for several productions at Gogol Center. Billed as a “music manifesto,” it’s basically a mash-up of various genres: pieces by Baroque composers (Handel, Bach, Vivaldi), texts by French philosophers written in 1960s, as well as scenes from such films as “American Beauty” and “Zabriskie Point.”
8 Ultisa Kazakova. Metro Kurskaya.en.gogolcenter.com
Savely Sorin at Nashi Khudozhniki Gallery
Until Jan. 27
Nashi Khudozhniki (Our Artists), a gallery that specializes in late 19th - early 20th century Russian art, keeps rediscovering semi-forgotten turn of the century artists. This time it’s Savely Sorin (1878–1953), part of the so called “first wave” of immigration. After the 1917 revolution Sorin moved to Paris and then to the United States. Known primarily as a portrait painter, Sorin was extremely prolific. While abroad, apart from painting his fellow Russian immigrants, he was commissioned to portray prominent American businessmen and even members of the British royal family.
2 Pereulok Sechenovsky. Metro Park Kultury, Kropotkinskaya. kournikovagallery.ru
