Best bets

[Photo provided to China Daily]

Pierre-Laurent Aimard Piano Recital

Date: Nov 30 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 50-380 yuan

Widely acclaimed as a key figure in the music of our time and as a uniquely significant interpreter of piano repertoire from every age, Pierre-Laurent Aimard enjoys an internationally celebrated career. He performs throughout the world each season with major orchestras under conductors including Esa-Pekka Salonen, Peter Eotvos, Sir Simon Rattle and Vladimir Jurowski. He has been invited to curate, direct and perform in a number of residencies, with projects at Carnegie Hall, New York's Lincoln Center, Vienna's Konzerthaus, Berlin's Philharmonie, Frankfurt's Alte Oper, the Lucerne Festival, Mozarteum Salzburg, Cite de la Musique in Paris, the Tanglewood Festival and London's Southbank Center.

[Photo provided to China Daily]

A Coproduction of NCPA and Wiener Staatsoper Opera Falstaff

Date: Dec 3-10 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 100-880 yuan

The three-act opera Falstaff was adopted from the image of the character Falstaff in Shakespeare's Henry IV and The Merry Wives of Windsor by the scriptwriter Boito, with music composed by Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. Falstaff is Verdi's swan song. In his later years Verdi collaborated with Boito in creating Falstaff in a buoyant style of writing with inspiration from Shakespeare's works. Verdi gave this complicated role rounded personalities and described his absurdity in a lyric style, making Falstaff an intriguing work of art. Falstaff has been listed in global opera houses' repertoire, which is greatly different in style from his earlier works. The composer integrated his rich feelings and experiences about life into the creation of this opera. As Verdi's last opera, it was composed by his best techniques.