Vasya Oblomov. Fri. March 2
Vasya Oblomov from Rostov-on-Don is not your regular hip-hop artist. Most of his songs are actually a commentary on current political and social issues in Russia. You can sometimes even tell whether the song was written recently or describes events that took place several years ago. He released his latest album last year entitled “Dolgaya i neschastlivaya zhizn” (A Long and Unhappy Life) and made a hit video with popular Russia’s #1 journalist/blogger Yury Dud to a song called “Nesti Khernyu” (Talk BS). Expect both old and new material at the 16 Tons concert.
1 Ulitsa Presnensky Val. Metro Ulitsa 1905 Goda. www.16tons.ru
Nina Karlsson
Fri. March 2
Nina Karlsson is an indie pop female act hailing from St. Petersburg. She recorded her first album in English, but then switched to Russian. Nina’s currently working on her new album, “Rechitativ” (Recitative) and her concert at Gogol Center will include a lot of new material. Nina Karlsson’s music is a mix of indie-rock, pop and jazz, which is sometimes compared to the 1990’s popular girls band Kolibri.
8 Ulitsa Kazakova. Metro Kurskaya. +7 (499) 262 9214. en.gogolcenter.com
Jenufa
Fri. March 2
This weekend Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Academic Music Theater premieres Leos Janacek opera “Jenufa,” which is quite popular in Europe, but is seldom performed in Russia. It was first produced in Brno in 1904 and is often called the “Moravian national opera.” “Jenufa” (Her Stepdaughter in Czech) is a drama of Greek tragedy proportions placed in a turn of the century Moravian village. “Jenufa” was the opera that made Janacek a world-famous composer.
17 Ulitsa Bolshaya Dmitrovka. Metro Chekhovskaya. +7 (495) 723 7325. stanmus.com
Hamlet/Collage
Sat. and Sun. March 3-4
Hamlet/Collage is the first Moscow production by Robert Lepage, a critically acclaimed theater and film director from Canada. Staged at the forward-looking Theater of Nations, it’s a new take on a Shakespearean classic, which uses state-of-the-art video technologies to enhance the performance. The action takes place within a changing cube-like construction, and all the roles are played by Evgeny Mironov, a prominent theater and film actor as well as artistic director of the Theater of Nations.
3 Petrovsky Pereulok. Metro Chekhovskaya. +7 (495) 629 3739. theatreofnations.ru
Beethoven
Sun. March 4
“Beethoven” is the latest productions of Praktika, one of Moscow’s most experimental theaters. It’s a one-man show, with actor Yury Mezhevich playing both the composer and various characters from his life, including Mozart. Penned by one of Russia’s most prominent contemporary playwrights, Valery Pecheikin, “Beethoven” takes place in a fake museum devoted to the composer’s life, but tries to unmask this pillar of classical music and show him as a real human being.
30 Bolshoi Kozikhinsky Pereulok. Metro Mayakovskaya. +7 (495) 544 5545. www.praktikatheatre.ru
