Big names (Richard Eyre, Willard White). Classic works (Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, Verdi's Falstaff, Britten's The Turn of the Screw). Great weather. Fabulous food. A pastoral setting in the South of France. Who could ask for anything more? Aix-en-Provence. July 6-29
www.festival-aix.com





The Aussie rockers' eight-country stadium tour starts in the U.K. on June 8, where they'll be backed by Offspring and Megadeth. Rest of tour continues throughout Europe through June 24.
The former boy toy is now 42 and the mother of two. But Mrs. Guy Ritchie is still the hottest pop act around, which is why tickets to her July 4 concert at London's Earl Court (the expected highlight of a European tour kicking off in Barcelona on June 9) are going for up to $700 on Ebay.
www.madonnamusic.com

Kafka's Metamorphosis set to flamenco and a hip-hop version of Carmen are just two examples of the eclectic offerings at this year's festival (June 28-July 25). Classical also meets contemporary in Joëlle Bouvier's adaptation of Antigone and tango nights with the Nueva Compañia Tangueros. Marseilles, France. www.festivaldemarseille.com

Jazz fills this medieval village in southwest France Aug. 2-15. Joining Marciac regular Wynton Marsalis are Diana Krall and the Afro-Cuban All Stars. Marciac, France. www.marciac.com



Working with a mostly Russian cast, Cheek by Jowl company director Declan Donnellan scores a triumph with his revelatory production of this 1831 Alexander Pushkin play. On tour in Europe, with stops including London from June 12 to 16 and the Avignon Festival from July 11 to 18.

The Dane has sex appeal — the prince poses naked on the play's posters — in this Polish production (with French subtitles) directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski at the Avignon Festival July 17-20. Avignon, France. www.festival-avignon.com



"Italian Landscapes: The Outdoor Painters 1780-1830" (to July 9). The work of European artists who made the Grand Tour of Italy with folding stools, sketchbooks and sunhats. Part of an Italian season in Paris running until July 22. www.paris.org/Musees/GPalais

"Twenty Centuries in Cathedrals" (June 29-Nov. 4). Paintings, sculptures, stained glass and other treasures from French cathedrals. Reims, France. www.monum.fr

(July 4-Aug. 19). The theme is anonymity: standardized cities, faces hidden, distorted or captured in passing. Arles, France. www.rip-arles.org



The Bordeaux Opera Ballet presents an updated version of Coppélia (June 15-19) — the story of a mad scientist trying to bring a mechanical doll to life — by transposing it to small-town America circa 1950 and naming the young hero Fonzy. Then Germany's Tanztheater Wuppertal contemporary dance company performs to folk music from Italy, Bolivia, New Orleans and music from the 1930s (June 27-30). Paris. www.chatelet-theatre.com

Rudolf Nureyev's dynamic version of Roméo et Juliette with a score by Sergei Prokofiev (June 3-16) Opéra Bastille, Paris. www.operadeparis.fr