Listings: Beijing

STAGE

Presented by the Shanghai Dongfang Youth Dancing Troupe, the drum dance Dragon's Voice will entertain audiences with traditional Chinese songs and dances.

7:30 pm, March 26-28

Tianqiao Acrobatic Theater, 95 Tianqiao Market Street, east end of Beiwei Lu, Xuanwu District

6303-7449

William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet will be staged by Britain's TNT Theater, one of the world's foremost touring companies. Performed in English with Chinese subtitles, it follows on the heels of successful productions of Macbeth and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Founded in 1980, TNT's repertoire include Shakespeare's classics and adaptations from contemporary playwrights. Artistic director Paul Stebbings tries to represent the spirit and style of a classic era.

7:30 pm, March 28-30

Capital Theater, 22 Wangfujing Dajie

6524-9847

Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini's great musical work Turandot, which is based on an old Chinese legend, is on at the National Center for the Performing Arts. Director Chen Xiyi, composer Hao Weiya and choreographer Gao Guangjian endow the classic opera with more Chinese elements. The show commemorates the 150th birthday of the great composer.

7:30 pm, March 21-26

Opera Hall of the National Center for the Performing Arts, west of Tian'anmen Square

5883-6800

Taiwan singer Chyi Chin and his older sister Chyi Yu, who shot to stardom in 1988 after Angel and Wolf, will be back in Beijing with their familiar melodies. They will sing hits such as Chyi Yu's Oliver, Smile Face, The High-heel Shoes in September and Chyi Chin's Wolf from the North, Winter Rain, Memorial Day and Cliff. They will also perform duets such as The Windflowers.

* 7:30 pm, March 29

* Capital Gymnasium, Baishiqiao Lu, Haidian District

* 6833-5552

Veteran singers Liu Bingyi, Nie Jianhua, Sun Liying and others will present classic songs, including A Beautiful Legend, Colorful Cloud and Ode to Red Plum.

7:30 pm, March 28

Beijing Concert Hall, 1 Beixinhuajie, Xicheng District

6605-700

Accompanied by the Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Mozart's Requiem will be performed by the Norway Opera Bergen chorus.

7:30 pm, March 22

Forbidden City Concert Hall in Zhongshan Park, Northwest of Tian'anmen Square

6559-8285

In the musical Hello Kitty Dream Fantasy, the princess and prince of the universe, Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel, are emissaries of the Universe Carnival, to Earth. With their friends, they bring love and music. This awakens the Emperor of Darkness. Finally, they conquer the darkness and restore happiness to everyone on Earth.

7:30 pm, March 21-23

Opera House of People's Liberation Army, 60 Deshengmennei Dajie, Jishuitan, Haidian District

6406-9999

The Beifang Kunqu Opera House begins its season of performances in Beijing. The program includes The Fatal Opera, Peony Pavilion and Lanke Mountain. Established in 1957, the opera house boasts of its repertoires and outstanding performers.

7:30 pm, until March 22

The Great Theater of China Nationalities, 49 Fuxingmennei Dajie, Xicheng District

6602-2530

The Chinese Acrobatics Group, established in 1950, has toured more than 80 countries, won numerous international awards and has helped foster friendships between China and other nations. Its performance includes traditional acrobatics, a circus show, magic, old Beijing folk plays and more. The show blends music, dance, local opera and martial arts.

7:30 pm, daily

Tiandi Theater, Dongsi Shitiao, 100 m north of Poly Theater, Chaoyang District

6416-9893

CONCERTS

The China Philharmonic Orchestra will present a concert at the Beijing Concert Hall featuring the Ukrainian viola maestro Maxim Rysanov and Chinese soprano Rao Lan. Yu Long (pictured right), Artistic Director of China Philharmonic Orchestra, will take the baton.

In the first half, Rysanov will play Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variation arranged for viola and Max Bruch's viola concerto, on a Giuseppe Gaudagnini (1780) viola. The second half will feature Mahler's Symphony No 4 and soprano Rao will anchor the vocal part.

Rysanov is undoubtedly one of the world's best and most charismatic viola players. Originally from the Ukraine, he is now based in London after having studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and at the Central Special Music School in Moscow.

With a wide repertoire from baroque to late romantic, Chinese soprano Rao is now an active singer in Europe. She was discovered by violinist Helmut Stern who was touring China under Herbert von Karajan with the Berlin Philharmonic. She then studied music in Frankfurt and Munich where she graduated with a Master's degree. She has won several international competitions, including first prize in the Lieder competition in Vienna and the singer's development prize "German Lied" in Frankfurt/Main.

7:30pm, March 23

Beijing Concert Hall, 1 Beixinhuajie Street,

Xicheng District

400 650 9911, 5166-2663

To commemorate the 110th birth anniversary of late premier Zhou Enlai, a concert will be held at the Great Hall of the People. Established artists Guo Lanying, Yin Xiumei and Dai Yuqiang will perform an ode to the great man.

7:30 pm, March 28

Great Hall of the People, west of Tian'anmen Square

6417-7845, 6608-1188

Young Montenegrin pianist Ratimir Martinovi studied under piano master Kemal Gekic and has over the past three years participated in 350 concerts, in Europe, Asia and America. For his latest performance he will play Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Brahms' Variations and Fugue on the theme by Handel Op 24, Cesar Franck's Prelude, Fugue et Variation Op 18.

7 pm, March 21

Peking University Concert Hall, Peking University, Haidian District

6275-2279

World renowned Cellist Wang Jian has toured around Asia, Europe and America over the past few decades. His performance blends a classic repertoire with oriental elements.

7:30 pm, March 23

National Center for the Performing Arts, west of Tian'anmen Square

5883-6800

Violinist Liu Yunzhi and pianist Sheng Yuan will perform Beethoven's works. Programs include Piano Sonata No 8 Op 13 in C Minor, Capriccio Rondo Op 129 in G Major and Violin Piano Sonata No 2 Op 30 in C Minor.

7 pm, April 5

Peking University Concert Hall, Peking University, Haidian District

6275-2279, 6275-9637

Exhibitions

Utopia - A Picture Story, a collection of works on silk by mostly female artists from Utopia, an Aboriginal community in Australia's Northern Territory, is on display at the National Art Museum of China. The batik works tell the stories of the Dreaming, the creation epics that originally shaped the landscape. They respect for traditional law. The collection is on loan from Western Australia's Holmes Court Collection.

9 am-5 pm, until March 30

National Art Museum of China, 1 Wusi Dajie, Dongcheng District

6401-7076

Danish artist Michael Kvium's solo show, Perversion and Madness, Anger and Joy, captures his style, which is influenced by the great Spanish masters Velzquez and Goya. He develops his own figurative art language, refined at a time when neo-expressionism and neo-primitivism were the dominant styles in Europe.

9am-4pm, until April 6

Today Art Museum, 32 Baiziwan Lu, Chaoyang District

5876-9690

Ma De's photographs have been grouped into conceptual art since the debut of his Time and Speed, a series completed in 1998. The latest series features a collage in which Ma cuts two portraits of the same scene. He then pastes them together, overlapping parts to emphasize self-exposure.

1-8 pm, March 23

Hanmo Art Gallery, 2 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District

6435-8922

Wang Luyan's solo show, The Other Side of Totality, exposes the inner designs of sawing machines, guns, screws, wristwatches, scissors and bicycles.

10 am-6 pm, until March 26

JoyArt, 4 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District

8167-9255

Liu Zhengyong, Wu Xin and Yu Shitao participate in the exhibition The Purely Desire. The common feature of the three artists is their impressionist touch spontaneous composition of the subject matter.

10 am-5 pm, until March 27

Shinshan Gallery Beijing, 4 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District

Feng Feng's recent oil painting series, Two and a Half Dimensional Strata, is filled with a bright color schemes and balanced brushwork. He always uses the tones of metal, including golden, silver and vermilion, to emphasize vitality and strength. The works are based on a study of Chinese characters, religion, literature, calligraphy and engravings.

11 am-6 pm, March 15-28

The Fifth Element Gallery, 4 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District

6432-1338

Zhang Dawo's ink paintings are abstract and hint at calligraphy. Zhang also borrows elements from dance, music and architecture. Born in Shaanxi province in 1943, Zhang majored in Chinese literature. His unique style is based on his research into calligraphy.

10 am-7 pm, until March 23

Creation Gallery, North end of Ritan Lu, Chaoyang District

8561-757

Xia Xing uses such images as apples, peach blossoms and dogs to convey his post-modernist ideas in classic compositions. Du Jie employs variations of lines to capture the wave effect of water. The color scheme of ultramarine, cobalt, and blue, when combined with black, creates an elegant effect that seems to be cloaked in dim sunlight.

11 am-6:30 pm,

until March 29

Meile Gallery, 104, Caochangdi, Chaoyang District

6433-3393

Selected works of ink master Hu Peiheng (1962-92) are on show. In his early years, Hu imitated Ming- and Qing-style ink-and-wash paintings and later learned Western oil techniques under a Belgian artist. Some of his works are elaborately composed, with refined brushstrokes, and others are finished with ink and heavy lines.

9 am-5 pm, until March 31

Museum of Beijing Fine Art Academy, 1 Liulitun Beili, Chaoyang District

6502-5171

Veteran artist Lin Chunda's oil paintings combine Impressionism with traditional Chinese brush techniques. In an effort to present three-dimensional effects, Lin employs overlapped stipple effects and lines.

9 am-5 pm, until March 21

National Art Museum of China, 1 Wusi Dajie, Dongcheng District

6401-7076

Retrospective show Fish in Art invites six artists, who paint, engrave, take photographs and use video. Li Tianyuan uses simple compositions and subdued colors to convey Taoist ideas. Under Zhu Jin's brush, the fossil images of fish allude to the contradictions of modern people.

10 am-5 pm, until March 23

West Bank Art, 2 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District

Vanguard artists from China and Europe will hold a group show. It will feature digitally-morphed photos, video works, and mixed media works from such prominent contemporary artists as Wang Qingsong, Miao Xiaochun, Marina Abramovic, and Jorma Puranen.

10 am -6 pm, until April 18

China Blue Gallery, 7 Yigou Kongjian Buildings, 16A Baiziwan Lu, Chaoyang District

8774-6332

(China Daily 03/21/2008 page20)