The Bolshoi
Bolshoi means "big" in Russian. It is also the name of Moscow's grand Greek Revival opera house, home to both a ballet and an opera company.
The auditorium, with perhaps half the capacity of the Metropolitan Opera, is at once intimate and awesome. Walls covered in ruby silk damask woven on custom-built looms surround plush velvet armchairs of the same color. The boxes and tiers are painted white, their bas-reliefs of acanthus leaves, lyres, and cherubs burnished with gold leaf.
Upstairs, a chandelier the size of Brazil presides over a gigantic parquet-floored room. A peripheral walkway of Oriental carpets guides visitors as they promenade at intermission, sipping Russian champagne and sampling Russian ice cream.
212/758-1162 0r 7-095/292-9986.
The Mariinsky Theater
With its pale, pale blue (some call it aquamarine; others, turquoise), silver, and gold interior, the theater, formerly known as the Kirov, is one of the jewels of St. Petersburg, a city of architectural jewels. Here danced Anna Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinsky, George Balanchine, Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov. A house museum celebrates their careers and a hundred others, including that of Tchaikovsky, whose Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty were first presented here.
7-812/144-1211, fax 7-812/314-1744.
Vienna State Opera
The wine-red and gold Vienna State Opera house is one of the most lavishly appointed, decorated with sculptures, paintings, tapestries, and frescoes. The institution dates to the 17th century, but this particular auditorium, on Vienna's Opernring, opened in 1869 with a performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni—still the opera to see here.
This year the company began its celebration of the 150th anniversary of Johann Strauss's death with a New Year's Eve performance of Die Fledermaus (one of the hardest opera tickets to come by anywhere). Every February, a parquet dance floor is installed in the auditorium for the annual Opera Ball—and the orchestral accompaniment is by the Vienna Philharmonic.
43-1/514-44-2653.
Teatro Massimo
The Teatro Massimo of Palermo will be familiar to Francis Ford Coppola fans and opera lovers alike. It was on its very steps that the director staged the shooting of Sofia Coppola, who played the last Corleone don's daughter in The Godfather, Part III.
A splendid specimen of Beaux-Arts style, the theater opened in 1897, 23 years after its construction had begun. Closed since the seventies for renovations, the theater was fully refurbished in time for the 1997 season.
The Teatro Massimo also has a summer locale, the Teatro di Verdura, an outdoor theater that seats 2,000. The setting is the garden of the 18th-century Villa Castelnuovo, filled with fountains and perfumed with jasmine vines. At sunset, a huge espalier of moonflowers intensely scents the air.
39-091/605-3315.
David Daniel has written for Vogue, The New Yorker, and the Wall Street Journal, and is currently at work on a book about Van Cliburn.
Season Highlights
Paris Opéra New production of Rameau's Platée (Apr. 28-May 10). Metropolitan Opera Company premiere of Susannah, by 20th-century American composer Carlisle Floyd (Mar. 31, Apr. 3, 6 ,9, 13, 16, 22). Sydney Opera House New productions of Puccini's La Bohème (July 20-29) and Verdi's Don Carlo (Aug. 9-29). War Memorial Opera House Wagner's Ring cycle, staged by theater director Andrei Serban: Rheingold (June 9, 15, 20, 25); Die Walküre (June 10, 19, 23, 27); Siegfried (June 13, 22, 26, 30); Götterdämmerung (June 14, 16, 19, July 3). Bass Performance Hall Tosca (Mar. 12-14). La Scala Verdi's La Forza del Destino (Mar. 2-June 5), conducted by music director Riccardo Muti. The Bolshoi Rachmaninoff's Francesca da Rimini (in repertory). The Mariinsky White Nights Festival of opera and ballet (June). Vienna State Opera Don Giovanni by Austria's musical wunderkind, Mozart (Mar. 31, Apr. 4, 7). Teatro Massimo Verdi's Ernani (May 26-June 5). Tickets can be booked by calling or faxing the numbers at the end of each entry.
—Mario R. Mercado
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