Passport Picks

Editor’s Choice

Marriage and Other Nightmares

The Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Center is an incubator for young opera singers whom Vishnevskaya nurtures from talented conservatory graduates into budding opera stars. After a two-year course of study that includes choreography, foreign languages, and solo singing lessons with the best Russian teachers, Vishnevskaya’s charges leave the nest and head for the Bolshoi or even La Scala. The access to a real stage Vishnevskaya provides her students is one of the most professionally valuable parts of their training: Each season they stage a new production, with eminent directors on the guest list. This year’s program, entitled “Marriage and Other Nightmares,” is dedicated to the 19th-century writer Nikolai Gogol and the Russian composers who were inspired by his work. The program includes compositions by Mussorgsky (The Marriage and The Fair at Sorochyntsi), Tchaikovsky (Cherevichki), Rimsky-Korsakov (May Night), and Shostakovich (The Nose).

Cultural Crossroads: ROZA MIRA ‘08

Photo Lyalya Kuznetsova

Throughout its history, Russia has been a crossroads between East and West. So it is fitting that this November, Moscow will host the Roza Mira [Rose of the World] Forum for the third time. Roza Mira is a cross-cultural, multi-disciplinary event that brings together artists from the six member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization — China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Participants of the collaborative project are drawn from rural areas and urban centers alike and represent various branches of the visual and performing arts, both traditional and contemporary. Highlights of this year’s forum, which will be held at venues throughout the city, include photographer Lyalya Kuznetsova’s exhibit “Beyond Bukhara,” along with an exhibit of Central Asian Socialist Realism curated by Beijing Museum of Modern Art Director Viktor Lu and original music by Sofia Gubaidulina.

Bravo, BRAVO!

Formed back in the early 1980s when its lead guitarist, Yevgeny Khavtan, was still a university student, the Russian band Bravo has had its ups and downs over the decades along with the country: changes in frontmen, moments of turmoil and official disapprobation, lean times as well as times of popular and creative plenty. The band isn’t big on birthdays, but every so often one comes along that warrants special celebration with a unique, one-time program with new arrangements of old hits and premieres of new songs. This month Bravo will mark its 25th anniversary with just such a show at the State Kremlin Palace, Europe’s largest indoor concert hall, where guests will be treated to an appearance by former band member Zhanna Aguzarova. As time goes by and we all get older, Bravo, it seems, keeps giving fans something new.

Balts Brainstorming in Moscow

Classmates Renars Kaupers, Janis Jubalts, Gundars Mausevics, and Kaspars Roga started Brainstorm in 1989 and spent much of the 1990s conquering the hearts of fans in their native Latvia and the other Baltic countries with their folk-rock hybrid sound. The band earned international popularity in 2000 when they finished third in that year’s Eurovision Song Contest with their song “My Star.” That exposure earned their album Among the Suns airplay in many countries, and subsequent singles such as “Maybe,” “Colder,” “A Day before Tomorrow,” and “Th under without Rain” became popular in much of Europe, receiving play on MTV’s and VH1’s European channels. Brainstorm’s music is light, their lyrics thoughtful and poetic. And as they are not frequent visitors to Moscow, they are not easy to catch live. So don’t miss the chance to feel this Baltic breeze now.

R&B Festival

Occasionally, R&B artists visit Moscow while on tour, but it’s a first for Olimpiysky Sports Complex to be hosting so many stars on a single night: Busta Rhymes, Akon, Kelly Rowland, Keri Hilson, and Timbaland himself, who will be presenting his new album, Shock Value 2. To be sure, Timbo’s come a long way since his debut in the 1990s with Timbaland & Magoo. By the beginning of this decade, his signature sound had become a standard not only in the R&B world but for all kinds of popular music. With four Grammys under his belt and six singles having reached the top of Billboard’s Hot 100, the singer/songwriter/rapper/record producer has collaborated with everyone from Madonna to Bjork to Limp Bizkit. Given his passion and reputation for great shows, the Moscow concert is sure to be something to see and hear.