Saint-Petersburg Excursions

Today, on 22nd of March, The Days of Italy have opened in the Northern Capital of Russia. As part of activities, that will pass throughout the whole year 2011, the citizens of St.Petersburg will be able to attend the thematic evenings, devoted to the culture, language, movies, travel and cuisine of Italy. There will be held the presentations of Italian books and meeting with the Italian writers. During the spring school holidays, the city will host the festival of children's books "Viva Italia", a literary and musical celebration "A visit to Signora Rodari", and, the children of St. Petersburg will take part in a drawing contest and an interactive tour - "That's how I see Italy". The program "Days of Italy in the House of Books" will finish in the autumn with several fashion shows. As it was noted at the press conference, by the Consulate General of Italy, Mr. Faiti Salvadori, the purpose of action is to give an idea of what is best in Italian culture. "The concept of culture too long, it does not end on the works of Pushkin and Dante Alighieri. Culture includes the production of a range of goods - clothes, wine, shoes, the invention of original recipes - he said. - In addition, we present gourmet foods, that is complex of all that can boast of Italy, also demonstrate a high level of Italian companies that operate in St. Petersburg ".

British rock band Deep Purple, playing in the genre of hard rock, March 20, will perform at the Ice Palace in St. Petersburg. The band was formed in 1968 under the name of Roundabout, but soon it was changed to Deep Purple. These legendary musicians are one of the founders of hard rock. During the 40-year history, the cast of the band has changed several times, but they always stood at the top. In different years, Deep Purple performed with such stars as Glenn Hughes, David Coverdale, Tommy Bolin, Joe Satriani. The unfading interest to the creativity of Deep Purple by the fans of the former Soviet Union was clearly demonstrated during an unprecedented tour of the cities of Russia and Ukraine several years ago. And now, the band had once again decided to visit Russia, and on March 21, they will take the stage of the Ice Palace.

The exhibition of the Spanish Museum Prado in the State Hermitage museum is one of the main events of the program of Year of Spain in Russia and the Year of Russia in Spain. It is opened from 25 February to 29 May 2011. The careful selection of paintings for the exhibition in the Hermitage museum, include the works of the most famous artists of Western Europe and Spain - Jheronimus Bosch, Raphael, Pieter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Titian, Paolo Veronese, Jacopo Tintoretto, Nicolas Poussin, Claude Lorrain, Luca Giordano, El Greco, Jos? de Ribera, Diego Vel?zquez, Bartolom? Esteban Murillo, Francisco. The visitors will be able to see 66 art works from the famous Madrid museum in the Nikolaevsky Hall of the Winter Palace. This is the biggest and most representative exhibition from the Prado Museum, that was ever organized outside Spain.

A new restaurant of Italian and Mediterranean cuisine, had opened not long ago at the Hotel Aston on Vladimirsky prospect. It is housed in a building of the early XIX century. The restaurant's interior is made in the Venetian style: vaulted ceilings, intricate chandeliers, mirrors in massive frames. The restaurant chef - Omar Castellani has come from Italy, where he worked in the several own restaurants. In the menu of Villa Aston, Omar Castellani offers the traditional recipes of Italian and Mediterranean cuisine with an authorr's nuances. For example, you can try here a carpaccio of octopus "A'la Aston" (750 rub.), a salad of crab meat with arugula and cherry tomatoes (650 rubles .), a seafood soup with scampi, scallops, shrimps, vongole, mussels and squid (650 rub.), taliolini with cuttlefish ink and tiger shrimp (590 rubles.), homemade ravioli and a dozen kinds of pasta of own production. There is also a special " hunting " selection: carpaccio of wild boar (400 rub.) fillet of deer on the grill (1100 rub.), risotto with braised quail (500 rubles). A 20% discount is offered from 12h00 to 16h00 on all positions in the menu. The restaurant is open from 12.00 to 23.00

The new exhibition, that is held in the Year of Russia in Spain and Spain in Russia, presents a retrospective of work of one of the greatest contemporary Spanish artists Raphael Fortes. The exhibition includes the most significant works of the master, that were created in the past three decades. The rethinking the expressive means of leading innovative trends and tendencies of the second half of the twentieth century (pop art, abstract expressionism, "the brutal art" and others) allowed the artist to create his own style. In his paintings and sculptural objects - the " false collages ", created in the style of" techno-kitsch ", Fortes reflects on the actual problems of aggressive impact of new technologies in the life of modern man.

Maslenitsa ( a pancake week) - is an ancient Slavic feast, which people in Russia have celebrated since the days of paganism. It is meaning a farewell to winter, and the round, ruddy pancakes, are a symbol of the spring sunshine. Every day of the pancake week has its own name, and each of them has their own traditions and rituals. Monday and Tuesday are called the meeting and the flirt. Wednesday and Thursday has got the names the gourmand and the carouse. Friday name is the pancakes of mother in law. Saturday – is the gatherings of the sister-in-law. Sunday, the last day of Maslenitsa is called the forgiveness Sunday, when Christians ask each other for forgiveness for sins and offenses. This is a day of transition to Lent, which will last for seven weeks. Today most of russians do not observe exactly all the Russian folk tradition. But the Maslenitsa feast is still highly popular. This year, the feast takes place from February 28 till March 6

The year of Russia in Spain and Spain in Russia was officially opened today in Saint-Petersburg. The ceremony of the grand opening of this important cultural and political event took place in the hermitage museum. The king of Spain, his majesty Juan-Carlos I and the president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, participated in the ceremony. Here, in the Hermitage museum they had visited the exhibition of paintings from the collection of the Spanish museum Prado. The exhibition includes 66 paintings, including canvases by Velazquez, El Greco,Rubens, Goya, Bosch. The oldest of these works dates from the mid XV century. The Spanish side expects to see the response and the Hermitage exhibition in Madrid.Dmitry Medvedev stressed the importance of development of Russian-Spanish cultural and economic ties.

The "Theater of the Russian Ballet" had recently returned from an extended tour in Germany, which was a huge success, and again, it is presenting the art of russian ballet to the residents and guests of St. Petersburg. The february performances at the Hermitage Theatre will present the colorful scenery and costumes, the immortal music of Tchaikovsky, played by a symphony orchestra, the irresistible dance ballet. The charm of fairy tales in the dance will turn an ordinary evening into a real celebration of art for you! On february 3, 8 and 21, the "The Nutcracker" ballet will be presented at 19-00. On February 14 and 28, the artists will perform the "Swan Lake" ballet. This classic fairy tale tells about the love and loyalty, about the swan princess Odette and the prince Siegfried . Swan Lake is one of the world's most famous ballets, loved by both adults and children.

The "Theater of the Russian Ballet" was founded in 1990, by the ballet dancers and soloists of the Mariinsky Theater. It's performances are accompanied by the governor's symphony orchestra. On the account of the team - more than 50 world tours, including Japan, France, Britain, Spain, USA, Estonia, Germany and other countries. In their repertoire - the masterpieces of the classical heritage: the ballets swan lake, sleeping beauty, the nutcracker, Giselle and others. The mission of the theater is to preserve the unique spirit and traditions of the performance of the Mariinsky (former Kirov) theater. All performances are staged in the old edition, carefully preserved original choreography. For almost 20 years the "Theater of the Russian Ballet" successfully performes in the beautiful Hermitage Theatre, with its unique interiors, which are the part of one of the most famous museums in the world - the Hermitage.

Address of the Theatre - Palace Embankment, 34.

The state museum and exhibition centre ROSPHOTO, with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, presents the exhibition " contemporary pictorialism of Saint-Petersburg" . The participants of the exhibition use the experience of the masters of the past century in their work, and continue the search. Here are shown the various examples of the contemporary pictorialism - a unique phenomenon, that exists in the era of rapidly evolving technologies. Works, combining the aesthetics of the scenic pictures, indicate that the old methods of printing have not been exhausted today from both a technical and an artistic point of view. At the same time, these works, collected in the space of a single exposure, are individual and sometimes antagonistic interpretation of the "pictorial" method, due to the difference between the author's position in the understanding of photography as an art form. The exhibition runs from 02/02/2011 till 04/03/2011.

More information at: http://www.rosphoto.ru