News

Films by Todd Solondz, Ralph Fiennes and Andrei Konchalovsky as well as an adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s White Nights, starring Daniel Brühl, are among 12 projects to be supported by Russia’s Ministry of Culture this year.

Solondz, Fiennes and Bekmambetov are set to join director colleagues Avdotya Smirnova, Bakur Bakuradze, Cedric Klapisch, Igor Voloshin, Ilmar Raag and Sam Rockwell in shooting episodes of the omnibus film Petersburg: A Category Of Feelings.

The project, which is to be produced by Lenfilm Studio in cooperation with Sergey Selyanov’s St Petersburg-based production powerhouse Ctb Company, will invite the filmmakers to present their views of the “Venice of the North” through emotions or qualities whose first letters make up the city’s name: Pleasure, Effort, Trust, Envy, Repose, Shrewdness, Bravery, Uncertainty, Refuge and Glee.

The idea for the project originates from Selyanov, and one of the episodes will be directed by actor-director-producer Fedor Bondarchuk who is also serving as the...

They are always up for an evening out, and on Monday (September 23) stars of all kind came out for the Metropolitan Opera season opening in New York City.

Dressed to the nines in a classic brown dress with a matching cape, Brooke Shields strode past the shutterbugs camped outside the Opera House on her way inside, while Diane Kruger wasn’t far behind in a black and white gown with a bright pink belt.

Also on hand for the cultural event were Mischa Barton in a black tuxedo dress accented with a blue belt, and Heather Graham in a dazzling floor-length lacy teal gown with a feathered train.

Beginning its 129th season, the famous Lincoln Center staple opened with a performance of Tchaikovsky's “Eugene Onegin.”...

Striking Russian opera singer and wife of Mstislav Rostropovich, she was made an 'unperson' during the Soviet era

The soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, who has died aged 86, coloured her performances of opera, and especially of Russian song, so beautifully that full comprehension was not essential for enjoyment. Of course, once you did understand the words, you realised how much meaning she brought to them.

Possessed of a striking physical presence with lustrous dark hair, she was such a natural actor that she became the star of her generation at the Bolshoi opera company in Moscow, forging artistic relationships with the stage director Boris Pokrovsky and the conductor Alexander Melik-Pashaev. And – appropriately for a performer who sang with all the skill of an instrumentalist – for more than half a century she was married to Mstislav Rostropovich, not just a great cellist, but also a considerable conductor and pianist.

Their marriage – her third...

The Observer's critics pick the season's highlights, from the Misanthrope to Johnny Marr, Lulu to Lichtenstein, H7steria to Hitchcock. What are you most looking forward to? Add your comments below and download a pdf of the calendar here

December | January | FebruaryDecember

1 Film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (3D)

Well, not so very unexpected. Every move has been tracked by fanboys, from the casting of Martin Freeman as Bilbo and Benedict Cumberbatch as the dragon Smaug to the return of the king, Peter Jackson, to take over directing from Guillermo del Toro. But Middle-earth (or, as it's sometimes known, New Zealand) is back for the next three Christmases.

3 Pop Scott Walker

The avant-garde Walker Brother returns with his first album since 2006's The Drift. Not for the faint-hearted, Bish Bosch finds the former romantic hero deep in dystopian territory, at once sonorous and rigorous.

3 Classical H7steria

World premiere of...

What has the Leveson inquiry revealed about Jeremy Hunt's taste in art? Did he get to Take That? And how big an N-Dubz fan is he?

On Monday, culture secretary Jeremy Hunt tweeted "With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come (Gratiano, Merchant of Venice)", a celebratory quote for Shakespeare's birthday. On Tuesday, "Is this a dagger which I see before me?" might have seemed more appropriate.

Perhaps surprisingly, only two of the emails released by the Leveson inquiry this week indicated that Hunt had an interest in the arts beyond the Murdochs' BSkyB takeover bid. One, from News Corp's public affairs executive Frédéric Michel to James Murdoch, reported grabbing the culture secretary "before he went in to see Swan Lake" to discuss the bid. In another, sent later that year, Michel plaintively asked Hunt's special adviser Adam Smith whether Ed Vaizey's refusal to meet News Corp while the...

Avoid Glastonbury, a Star Trek convention, any film with a II, III or IV in the title and the London Marathon

✒I was touched by the story about the woman who, on turning 60, decided to do 60 things she had never done before. Some were simple, such as tackling a sudoku, others more tricky, like getting on to Eggheads. But it struck me that what would be really helpful would be a guide to 60 things not to do before you die. I can think of plenty.

Go to Glastonbury. Why? Middle-class people wading through mud, looking at Bono, of all people, performing 200 yards away. And stinking loos. No thanks. Or a Star Trek convention. Please!

Buy a ticket for any film with a II, III or IV in the title, with the exceptions of Godfather II, or The Madness of George IV.

Queue overnight to get into Wimbledon and see half...

There are all sorts of outdoor events to choose from this summer, be it gig, classical concert, film showing or theatre production

Film4 Summer Screen, London

From 27 July-7 August, the courtyard at Somerset House will host cinema evenings on an open-air screen with DJ sessions beforehand. Picnics are encouraged. The Big Blue and The Apartment are in the schedule.

Leeds Castle Open Air Classical Concert The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra plays an evening concert on 16 July in the castle gardens. The programme includes Verdi's Rigoletto, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin and Elgar's Enigma Variations. Picnic tickets, £34.

Green Man festival, Wales This alt folk event attracts a laid-back crowd and decent acts, which include Fleet Foxes and Iron And Wine. From 19-21 August in Glanusk Park, Brecon Beacons.

Shakespeare's Globe, touring There's nothing worse than bad theatre, but you're in safe hands with the Globe. They're performing Hamlet around the country...