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What's worth getting on a plane to see this summer? Whether it's Ewan McGregor finding his inner Sky Masterson in a London revival of "Guys and Dolls" or a highly anticipated production of "Tristan and Isolde" at Bayreuth, the stages of Europe offer plenty of enticements for the cultural-minded traveler.
Here are some of the season's top picks from correspondents and critics:
FESTIVALS: Something for Everyone
The Edinburgh International Festival and the Festival d'Avignon are always among highpoints of Europe's summer arts season. Although Edinburgh's full program will only be announced March 17, the rich fare of theater, ballet, opera and concerts on offer from Aug. 14 to Sept. 4 will include the complete plays of J. M. Synge from Ireland's Druid Theater Company, and Noh theater from the Association for Japanese Noh Plays. Tickets cost $8 to $78, at $1.35 to the euro, with a limited number of seats available at $6.75 an hour before every performance. Information: www.eif.co.uk or (44-131) 473-2001.
Two of these weeks will coincide with the still larger Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with its dizzying array of funky and avant-garde theater, held this year between Aug. 7 and 29; www.edfringe.com, (44-131) 226-0026. Ticket prices and schedules will be announced June 9.
Avignon's theater jamboree, from July 8 to 30, will bring together theater companies from across Europe and far beyond. Among star names are the Belgian avant-garde director Jan Fabre and the American choreographer William Forsythe, who will present "You Made Me a Monster," with his new company. Romeo Castellucci, an Italian director, will stage two original productions, "Crescita XII Avignon" and "Crescita XIII Avignon." Information: www.festival-avignon.com. Tickets: $6.75 to $44.50, from www.fnac.fr or (33-4) 90.14.14.14.
Less familiar is the Helsinki Festival, which will announce its final program April 5. Running this year from Aug. 19 to Sept. 4, it is Finland's largest gathering of creators and performers, presenting music of every kind as well as dance, theater, cinema and art exhibitions. Admission ranges from free to $66 from (358-600) 900-900. Information: www.helsinkifestival.fi.
Equally ambitious is Amsterdam's annual Holland Festival (www.hollandfestival.nl), this year from June 1 to 26. Its program will include Robert Wilson's "2 Lips and Dancers and Space," to be performed by the Netherlands Dance Theater III, whose members are all over 40. The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra will offer several symphonic concerts, but a novelty will be a presentation of "Remembrance of Things Past," a four-part stage adaptation of Marcel Proust's masterpiece by the Ro Theater. Tickets: Free to $108, from www.ticketservice.nl or (31-20) 2621-1288.
ALAN RIDING
LONDON THEATER: Plenty of Big Names
There are several contenders for the title of Britain's greatest living theatrical knight - Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi, Antony Sher - but there's no doubt that Sir Michael Gambon comes strongly into the reckoning. And that explains why there'll be huge interest in the comic role this very serious actor will take in a revival of both parts of Shakespeare's "Henry IV," opening at the National Theater on May 4.
What sort of Falstaff will Sir Michael be? Surely not just a bearded merry-maker with a drinking problem nor just a ne'er-do-well Santa. With the National's artistic director, Nicholas Hytner, in charge of staging, we should expect Prince Hal's fat friend to have emotional as well as physical weight - and melancholy, even despair, to enrich the humor. At $1.96 to the pound, tickets are $19.60 to $49, from (44-207) 452-3000 and online at www.nationaltheatre.org .uk.
Two other musicals will fight for headlines. At the Victoria Palace on May 11, Stephen Daldry opens a stage adaptation, complete with a score by Elton John, of the film that brought him fame: "Billy Elliot," the tale of a working-class boy who defies his background to become a dancer. Tickets: $34 to $98 from (44-870) 895-5577 or www.billyelliotthemusical.com.
And on June 1 at the Piccadilly, another fine young director, Michael Grandage, brings us the first London revival of "Guys and Dolls" since 1982. Mr. Grandage promises a staging that concentrates as much on acting as on singing and dancing, which is why, he said, he's cast Ewan McGregor ("one of the boldest actors I know") as the gambler Sky Masterson. With the Broadway and television star Jane Krakowski joining him as Miss Adelaide, the aim is a production of Frank Loesser's musical that combines energy, fun, craft and class. Tickets are $39 to $108 from www.theambassadors.com/piccadilly and (44-870)060-0123.
BENEDICT NIGHTINGALE
OPERA: A Rare Performance
Though there will be no premiere of a new opera at the prestigious Salzburg Festival in Austria this summer, news will still be made with a new production of a seldom heard, historically significant and intriguing work, "Die Gezeichneten." This opera in three acts by the Austrian composer Franz Schreker was first presented in Frankfurt in 1918 and will open in Salzburg on July 26.
Born in 1878, the irascible and impassioned Schreker was an important champion of modern music who, among many achievements, conducted the premiere of Schoenberg's formidable "Gurrelieder" in 1913. Persecution by the Nazis in the 1930's probably hastened his death in 1934 in Berlin. But in his day, Schreker's operas, notably "Die Gezeichneten" ("The Marked Ones"), engrossed the public and prompted debate. Set in 16th-century Genoa, it concerns the travails of a crippled, hunchbacked young nobleman who tries to present a gift to the people of his city: a fantastical island park. This production is directed by Nikolaus Lehnhoff and conducted by Kent Nagano (tickets: $20 to $445).
For something completely different at Salzburg, a new production of Verdi's "Traviata" directed by Willy Decker opens Aug. 7 ($30 to $48). Tickets and information: www.salzburgfestival.at; (43-662) 804-5500.
At Bayreuth in Germany, a hallowed destination for those Wagner lovers who manage to snag prized tickets, there is a new production by the provocative Swiss-born director Christoph Marthaler of "Tristan und Isolde" (opens July 25). Whatever Mr. Marthaler's take on the opera turns out to be, the cast seems a sure bet. Tristan is to be sung by Robert Dean Smith, the Kansas-born heldentenor who has been hailed at Bayreuth since he first sang there in 1997; Isolde is the alluring Swedish soprano Nina Stemme. The dynamic Eiji Oue conducts. Information: www.bayreuther-festspiele.de; (49-921) 78780.
ANTHONY TOMMASINI
ART EXHIBITS: A Biennale Summer
This is a Venice Biennale summer, which for some art worldlings says it all. Actually, commercial art fairs are the cool place to see hot new art these days. High on youthful élan, they plunk themselves down for a few days, roll out the eye-candy, suck in the cash and they're gone. By comparison, a big international exhibition like the Biennale, which lumbers into place and then sits there doing nothing for months, seems a bit geriatric. Still, the mammoth Venice show, which returns for the 51st time from June 12 to Nov. 6, is a major event, and the art industry will turn up in force, at least at the opening, to preen, network and gripe.
For the first time, the show will be directed by women, María de Corral and Rosa Martínez. Both are Spanish; both are seasoned international curators; both have been scrupulous in the past about including equal numbers of men and women in their shows. So all of that sounds promising. Information: www.labiennale.org/en and (39-041) 521-8846.
For an art experience more or less guaranteed to deliver the goods, though, "Van Gogh Draftsman: The Masterpieces," at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, seems like a good bet (July 1 to Sept. 18). The Dutch artist was a fantastic draftsman, his line as rhythmic and reactive as a cardiograph reading. And his drawings aren't souped-up and hysterical, the way his paintings sometimes are. Information: either www.vangoghmuseum.nl or (31-20) 570-5200.
Early-bird travelers to Europe, by the way, can see paintings in "The Hague School and Young van Gogh" through May 16 at the Gemeentemuseum, in The Hague, through May 29. See www.gemeentemuseumcom, or call (31-70) 338-1121.
Among other summer events with potential, there's "Summer of Love: Art of the Psychedelic Era" at Tate Liverpool, May 27 to Sept. 25. The 1960's have been on everyone's mind in the past few years. But so far almost nobody has had anything interesting to say about the late 20th century's most interesting moment. Maybe this show will; www.tate.org.uk/liverpool or (44-151) 702-7400.
A Sigmar Polke survey appears at the Kunsthaus in Zurich in late spring (April 8 to June 19). He's the real Great German Contemporary Painter that people keep saying Gerhard Richter is. Information: www.kunsthaus.ch and (41-1) 253-8484.
Finally, at the Grand Palais in Paris through June 27, there's "Indian Brazil: Art of the Indigenous People of Brazil." What that means, exactly, in terms of objects and ideas, I'm not sure. But I would certainly like to find out. Information: www.rmn.fr/galeriesnationalesdugrandpalais or (33-1) 44.13.17.30.
HOLLAND COTTER
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