UNITED KINGDOM SUMMER PEARLS: London's architectural gems along the banks of the Thames
MUSIC: Europe's best pop and rock gatherings
BAGPIPES: The plaintive sounds of Scotland
SUBMARIUM: Journey to the bottom of the sea FESTIVALS: Fun in the sun in West Belfast
MORE ..
FRANCE and SWITZERLAND VULCANIA: Blow your top at France's volcano park
ART: Berthe Morisot, the unknown Impressionist
FESTIVALS: Aix-en-Provence has it all
ART: The Barbizon School painters come to life
ART: Take a stroll through medieval gardens of delight
MORE ..
SPAIN, PORTUGAL, ITALY and GREECE SALAMANCA: The city splashes out on culture
MUSIC: God's rock stars: the singing Greek monks
FOOD: Italy's unusual culinary delights
FILM: Great outdoor viewing in Rome
MORE ..
GERMANY and BENELUX HORTICULTURE: The world blossoms at Floriade
BRUGGE: Belgium's second city shines
ART: Berlin's homage to multiculturalism ART: The best of the world's artists on show at Documenta 11 DANCE: Czech twin ballerinos steal the show in Hamburg MORE ..
CENTRAL and EASTERN EUROPE ART: Yugoslavia's modern art museum is back
ART: A retrospective of Samizdat art and writing from the Communist bloc
GRAZ: Austria's little-known city of culture
MORE ..
THE NORDIC REGION DESIGN: Denmark celebrates Arne Jacobsen
MUSEUM: Get a blast from the past at Stalin World
STOCKHOLM: Welcome to the Venice of the North
MUSIC: Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes on tour MORE ..
PLUS LISTINGS: Other things to see and do in each region
Amphitheaters, a cappella, alps and Argentina
SWITZERLAND: Expo. 02. is described as a "gigantic party" — five themed exhibition areas, one of them a ship linking to others on the shores of the Three Lakes region; 1,800 events; 4.8 million visitors; one huge artificial cloud; total immersion in a bloody 15th century battle; and the chance to get married for 24 hours. Some party!
May 5-Oct. 20 • www.expo.02.ch
PARIS: Applause for William Christie's mission with Les Arts Florissants to usher French baroque music out of obscurity has rattled rafters around the world. With the critics still on fire over his take on Monteverdi's Ulysses, the forecast for this premiere of Haydn's The Seasons at the Cité de la Musique is hot.
June 19-20 • tel: +33 (0)1 44 84 44 84
• www.arts-florissants.com
AUBAGNE: Go walking to experience the spectacular and
unforgiving beauty of the area described by Marcel Pagnol in
Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources. Make like Gerard Depardieu,
and don't forget to carry some water!
Until July 1 • tel: +33 (0)4 42 03 49 98
• www.aubagne.com
AVENCHES: An 8,000-seat amphitheater is a magical setting
for the annual open-air Opera Festival. How better to celebrate
Switzerland than with a rare performance of Rossini's William
Tell? Based on a German drama, first staged in Paris, played
here by the Turin Philharmonic, about a national hero who probably
never existed.
July 5-19 • tel: +41 (0)26 676 9922 •
www.avenches.ch
VERBIER: A reputation for risk taking and its setting
in the Swiss Alps make the Verbier Festival a vertiginous musical
treat. Among those hot-dogging it this year: conductor James
Levine playing a four-hand piano recital with Evgeny Kissin
and vocal gymnast Bobby McFerrin conducting improvisations (!)
with the festival's youth orchestra and any other stars in town
with an evening to spare.
July 19-Aug. 4 • tel: +41 (0)27 771 82 82
• www.verbierfestival.com
PRESQU'ILE DE CROZON: A sliver of the Brittany coast that feels like an island is a fitting home for the 3rd Festival du Bout du Monde. Listen close and you can hear the sounds of Cuba (Compay Segundo), India (Susheela Ramen) and Nigeria (Femi Kuti).
Aug. 10-11 • tel: +33 (0)2 98 27 00 32
• www.festivalduboutdumonde.com
ARLES: Lovers of "sword and sandals" movies will be unable to resist the annual Festival du Film Peplum in Arles, which is held outdoors in the city's Roman Theater. Program still to be announced but think Spartacus and Sergio Leone. Chariot parking restricted.
Aug. 19-24 • tel: +33 (0)4 90 93 19 55
•www.arles.org
And a last tango in ...
MONTPELLIER: A quickstep is needed for tickets to Montpellier's
first ever Festival de Tango Argentin next week. Films, exhibitions
dancing in the park and performances by top Argentine perfomers
Eduardo Cappussi, Mariana Flores, Hernan Obispo and the Tango
Andorinha Sextett all the way from Dresden.
May 17-20 • tel: +33 (0)4 67 66 01 74
• www.montpellier-tangosud.fr.tf
