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 hot ticket at this year's festival is director Deborah Warner's powerful modern-day take on Beethoven's Fidelio. Peter Hall does double duty with a revival of Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream and a new production of Verdi's Otello. Glyndebourne, England; through Aug. 26 www.glyndebourne.com

Montserrat Caballé is among the luminaries on hand to mark the 15th anniversary of this festival. Running from July 14 to Aug. 23, the program includes works by Donizetti, Strauss, Puccini and, yes, Verdi, with the ubiquitous Requiem. Peralada, Spain. www.festivalperalada.com

Recitals by leading Czech, European, Asian and American pianists from July 8 to 21 are performed in the impressively preserved Masquerade Ballroom. Greece's Janis Vakarelis plays Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, Brahms, Shostakovich and Prokofiev on opening night. Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic. www.czechmusic-festival.com

Over the years, music lovers who have trekked to a small Welsh village have seen the British debuts of such opera greats as Pavarotti and Domingo. This year's lineup includes soprano Angela Gheorghiu on July 8. Llangollen, Wales. www.international-eisteddfod.co.uk

Die Meistersinger with Robert Holl opens the festival on July 25; closing night (Aug. 28) features Poul Elming in the title role of Parsifal, with the Ring Cycle sandwiched in between. Meanwhile, some of the best action can be found offstage, where a feud has broken out between Wagner's heirs over the future direction of the festival. Bayreuth, Germany. www.bayreuther-festspiele.de

Prominent artists, among them James Levine, collaborate with tomorrow's stars here. July 20-Aug. 5; Verbier, Switz. www.verbierfestival.com



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

Now in its 26th year, what's been called the world's greatest indoor jazz festival features 220 performances by the likes of Herbie Hancock, Dianne Reeves, George Benson, the Buena Vista Social Club and Miriam Makeba. The Hague, the Netherlands; July 13-15
www.northseajazz.nl

This year the festival (July 6-21) celebrates its 35th anniversary with a program that includes Herbie Hancock, B.B. King and Celia Cruz as well as P.J. Harvey, Talvin Singh and Beck. Montreux, Switzerland. www.montreuxjazz.com

It's a homecoming party on July 7 for Oxford's Radiohead and Supergrass. Oxford, England. www.radiohead.com

The "Portuguese Woodstock" (July 13-15) welcomes Neil Young, Ben Harper and Beck. Vilar de Mouros, Portugal. www.vilardemouros.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.

Nearly 100 years after its premiere at this same venue, J.M. Synge's The Playboy of the Western World returns for a run from July 10 to Aug. 11. A highly anticipated revival of Brian Friel's Translations opens on Aug. 1. Dublin. www.abbeytheatre.ie

Harold Pinter, who turns 70 in October, returns to the stage — this time as an actor — in Dublin's Gate Theatre production of his 1984 play. New Ambassadors Theatre, London; July 3-7.

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



Located on the site of the former Imperial Stables, this vast cultural complex, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Leopold Museum and the Kunsthalle, will soon be among the largest in the world. First stage opens on June 28, second part on Sept. 15.
www.mqw.at

Amplified by 80 works not included in an earlier show at London's Royal Academy, this retrospective of the 16th century artist and his contemporaries returns to the country of Caravaggio's birth. At Rome's Palazzo Venezia until July 31.

"Rembrandt's Women" (June 8-Sept. 2, then to London's Royal Academy, Sept. 22-Dec. 16). Mother, wife and mistress in the 17th century Dutch painter's art. Edinburgh. www.natgalscot.ac.uk

"Two Golden Ages: Masterpieces of Dutch and Danish Painting" (June 16-Sept. 16). The influence of the Dutch Golden Age (17th century) on painters of Denmark's Golden Age (19th century). Amsterdam. Under 18 free. www.rijksmuseum.nl

"Taking Positions: Figurative Sculpture and the Third Reich" (to Aug. 26). The human form by sculptors who flourished in Hitler's Germany and lesser-known creators isolated from the regime. Leeds, England. Free. www.leeds.gov.uk

"Disasters of War" (through June 17, then June 25-Sept. 17). Francisco de Goya's 1808-14 series of anguished etchings showing Spain ravaged by the Napoleonic Wars. Madrid. www.mcu.es/prado

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

World Press Photo Exhibition (June 25-July 11). Two hundred award-winning photos from the past year. The Hague, Netherlands. www.worldpressphoto.nl

Oil tycoon Gulbenkian's fabulous collection of paintings, sculpture, furniture, tapestries, jewelry and ceramics, from ancient Egyptian to Art Nouveau, reopens on July 20. Sundays free. Lisbon. www.gulbenkian.pt

"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

"Vermeer and the Delft School" (June 20-Sept. 16). Johannes Vermeer and Pieter de Hooch helped make the Dutch town of Delft an artistic center in the late 1640s. London. Free. www.nationalgallery.org.uk

"Pieter Breugel the Elder" (to Aug. 5). Almost all the graphic work of this 16th century Flemish painter. Rotterdam, the Netherlands. www.boijmans.rotterdam.nl

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

"Echo of the Scream" (June 17-Sept. 15). How Munch's painting influenced such artists as Warhol and Bacon. Oslo. Tel: +47 23 24 14 00; www.munch.museum.non castello gardens and venice arsenal Venice Biennale (June 10-Nov. 4). Brings together young unknowns and established stars. Venice. www.labiennaledivenezia.net



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

Founder Gian Carlo Menotti turns 90 this year and in his honor the Roman Theater plays host to a global array of dancers and dance troupes, including the Paul Taylor Dance Company from New York, the Royal Danish Ballet (performing to works by Bach, Mahler and Stravinsky) and India's Madhu Gopinath. June 28-July 15. Spoleto, Italy. www.spoletofestival.it

As part of the festival's 50th anniversary celebration, the world-renowned Kirov Ballet from St. Petersburg, Russia comes to Granada with performances of Chopiniana, Le Spectre de la Rose and Rubies (July 5 and 7 — returns only). Those looking for a little more passion can catch Tribuna del Flamenco accompanied by singer Rafael de Utrera and guitarist Juan Diego (July 2, 4 and 6). Granada, Spain. www.granadafestival.org