Life & Arts

Guiseppe Verdi’s world famous Aida is coming back to the legendary Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. This opera classic comes in four acts and tells the story of Aida, an Ethiopian princess enslaved by the Egyptians.  The Egyptian military commander Radamès is torn between having to choose between his love for her and loyalty towards his ruler.

Erarta is the largest global project in Russian contemporary art. In a two part series, Erarta’s Director of Communications, Anastasia Blokhina, took the time to speak with thinkRUSSIA about the project’s vision, the Russian contemporary art market, and exciting Russian art events ahead.

Can you describe the Erarta Museum and Galleries to me briefly, and explain why they are unique from other galleries in Russia and other galleries around the world?

Since 2004, the Moscow World Fine Art Fair has brought together top art from around the world and Muscovites hungry to view and purchase exceptional art.

Despite a brief pause in recent years, the show came back in 2012 to a great deal of enthusiasm in Moscow’s fine art community, and demonstrated a renewed commitment to showcasing the finest available collections. In late November, the show will return once again to Moscow for its 7th edition.

Miss Universe started out in 1952 as a local beauty contest in Long Beach, California. Over the years, the contest has grown to become one of the world’s most important beauty pageants, attracting millions of viewers each year. Miss Universe is also a charitable platform that focuses on a number of causes and campaigns to raise awareness around the world.

Food will be in everyone’s mind in St. Petersburg as the city will welcome for already the 22nd consecutive year one of Russia’s largest food fairs. “Peterfood” is the single most important fair of this type in the Northwestern part of the country and provides for an outstanding platform for food professionals to meet each other and discuss about their business during these three days of food high mass. The event brings together manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, groceries and other types of companies of the food sector.

This year will be the 20th edition of the Art-November International festival. The festival is spread throughout the entire month of November and is held in several locations across the Russian capital.

Russian film director Fyodor Bondarchuk is no stranger to the movie business. As one of Russia’s most famous and successful contemporary film directors he won seven awards for his movie called the “9th Company,” which went on to become the most profitable Russian movie at the box office in 2005.

With the Sochi Games approaching, the Olympic spirit is alive and well: Russian documentary filmmaker Sergei Miroshnichenko is joining the excitement by shooting the official film of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. “Rings of the World” will highlight key elements of the Sochi Olympics, from new sports technology to longstanding Olympic values to the growing role of women at the Games.

“I would like to improve my mastery of the Russian language. I understand almost everything and this language is of great importance to me,” says Helene Fischer, currently one of the most successful singers in Germany.

For many countries, the International Music Day (IMD) held in the beginning of October is a day well worth celebrating as it brings people together in an evening of musical festivities. Across the Northern Hemisphere, it is also one of the last outdoor festivals before the cold winter really kicks in. For the first time this year, Russia hosted its own citywide festival in Moscow called “Night of Music.”