,P ECEMBER • WARTS I akv- A monthly selection of

forthcoming events recommended by The Spectator's regular critics

CINEMA

The Sheltering Sky (18). Bernardo Bertolucci's version of the Paul Bowles novel, set in 1947 and shot on location in the Sahara: John Malkovitch and Debra Winger as Port and Kit Moresby.

The Fool (U). From Christine Edzard, maker of the distinguished Little Dorrit— a panorama of London life in the year 1857, based on the writings of Henry Mayhew. Derek Jacobi, as a socially mobile clerk, is the focus of the drama; cast of 180 includes Maria Aitken, Miranda Richardson, Stratford Johns and Michael Hordern.

Mister Frost (15). Franco-British psychological thriller: Jeff Goldblum as devilish killer, Alan Bates as a police inspector-cum- exorcist. Hilary Mantel

OPERA

The Love for Three Oranges, Coliseum (071 836 3161), 20 December. Prokofiev's knock-out operatic panto, complete with a tune you can't forget, in a revival of Richard Jones's popular production quirkily designed by the Brothers Quay.

Die Fledermaus, Royal Festival Hall (071-928 8800), 10 and 12 December. Star-studded concert performances of Strauss's operetta, conducted by Andre Previn. Kiri Te Kanawa and Carol Vaness share the role of Rosalinde, with Hakan Hagegard and Brigitte Fassbaender as Eisenstein and Orlofsky.

Attila, Grand Theatre Leeds (0532 459351), 20 December. Following hard on the heels of the Royal Opera's successful presentation, Opera North stages its own new production of one of the younger Verdi's most aggressive works. Paul Daniel conducts, Ian Judge directs, and the splendid John Tomlinson sings the Hun.

Rupert Christiansen

THEATRE

The Wind in the Willows, Olivier (071 928 2252), 12 December. Adaptation by Alan Bennett of Kenneth Grahame's classic story. Compared to the usual dire Christmas 'fayre', watching Mole, Rat and Toad messing around in boats sounds the best form of seasonal family entertainment. Cast includes Griff Rhys Jones, Michael Bryant and Richard Briers.

Time and the Conways, Old Vic (071 928 7616), 5 December. Revival of one of J. B. Priestley's most popular 'time plays' in which he chronicles the lives of a family from post-war euphoria in 1919 to a time of faded dreams in 1937. A strong production team drawn from the Olivier family.

Christopher Edwards

DANCE

Royal Ballet, Covent Garden (071 240 1066). 1, 6, 13, 20 December. Triple bill including the world premiere of Bloodlines, a new ballet by Ashley Page, and the company premiere of Balanchinc's Stravinsky Violin Concerto. The third work is a revival of Nureyev's scintillating production of Raymonda Act 111 which on 6 December is led by the great Russian stars Assylmuratova and Mukhamedov. Deirdre McMahon

CRAFTS

The Charles A. Greenfield Collection of Japanese Lacquer, Eskei%azi Ltd, 166 Piccadilly, WI, till 7 December. 141 pieces of great rarity and high quality from 1600 to 1900.

Early 17th-century Japanese lacquer writing-box depicts a startled hare amid pampas grass Domestic Ware by Artist-Potters, Galerie Besson, 15 Royal Arcade, 28 Old Bond Street, Wl, till 20 December. An exquisite exhibition including Lucie Rie, Hans Coper, Ruth Duckworth and David Leach — fine design through making.

The Christmas Show, Contemporary Applied Arts, 43 Earlham Street, WC2, till 24 December. The best ceramics, jewellery, textiles, glass for presents.

Carte Decorate: an Exhibition of Decorative Papers and Their History, Shepherds Bookbinders, 76 Rochester Row, SWI. A fine selection of papers used for end- papers, but of great beauty in themselves. Tanya Harrod

MUSIC

The Christmas season at St John's Smith Square is centred around two

performances of Handel's Meswah on 17 and 22 December, given by the Sixteen Choir and Orchestra directed by Harry Christophers. Britten's St Nicolas will he given on the 18th: The Christmas Story on the 15th, with the Choir of New College, Oxford; and Bach's Christmas Oratorio on the 21st. with The King's Consort.

A special presentation of Bach harpsichord concerti can be heard at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 8 December with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra under Ton Koopman. Five concerti in all will be performed, including the two for three harpsichords, and the rare example for four harpsichords always a splendid sight on the

stage.

The Chamber Orchestra of Europe will perform three concerts in London this month, all at the Barbican Centre. On the 3rd they will play Shostakovich under Rozhdestvensky; on the 7th Sibelius and Haydn under Berglund and on the 10th Prokoviev, also with Berglund.

Peter Phillips

POP MUSIC

INXS, touring until 11 December. If their latest album is anything to go by, this efficient but hardly inspired Australian band will do well ever to match the commercial and critical success of 1987's trillion-selling Kick. But they're impressive in concert: well drilled and enviably punchy.

Robert Plant, touring 12-20 December. A brief tour of small- to-medium-sized venues for the gnarled old Led Zep man, who must he enjoying being fashionable again after all these years. Tight trousers obligatory. Marcus Berkmann

EXHIBITIONS

Eric Gill and the Guild of St Joseph & St Dominic, Ditchling, Hove Museum & Art Gallery. Works from the famous artists' co-operative embrace sculpture. silver etc.

Drawings by Poussin from British Collections, Ashmolean, Oxford. Survey of works by the master and his contemporaries.

Howard Hodgkin, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh. First museum show of Hodgkin since 1985; exuberant colour as metaphor for memory.

Art in the Making: Impressionism, National Gallery, London. Intriguing scientific inquiry into the physical processes of making art.

Out of the Wood, Tate Gallery. Liverpool. Woodcuts and carvings by members of Die Briicke: Nolde, Kirchner et al.

Giles /tidy