A monthly selection of forthcoming events recommended by The Spectator's

regular critics

OPERA

Don Carlos, London Coliseum (071 836 3161), from 2 April. Conductor Mark Elder and producer David Pountney take a fresh look at this sprawling masterpiece of Verdi's middle period. ENO's strong cast is led by Rosalind Plowright, Edmund Barham, Gwynne Howell, Linda Finnie and Jonathan Summers.

The Fiery Angel, Covent Garden (071 240 1066), from 6 April. David Freeman's production of Prokofiev's most intense and troubling opera was acclaimed when it was first performed at the Kirov Opera last year. Now it travels to Covent Garden, where it will be conducted by an experienced interpreter of Russian music, Sir Edward Downes. A thrilling Russian soprano, Galina Gortschakova, sings the part of the demonically possessed Renata.

The Thieving Magpie, Grand Theatre, Leeds (0532 459351), from 24 April. One of Rossini's most delightful, if emotionally ambivalent works is presented by Opera North in a new production by Martin Duncan. Ivor Bolton conducts and the cast includes two very talented performers in Anne Dawson and Andrew Shore.

Rupert Christiansen

MUSIC

Easter concerts include Bach's St John Passion in King's College Chapel, Cambridge on 18 April, with King's Choir under Stephen Cleoburg; Handel's Messiah in the Barbican Hall on 13 April , sung by The Sixteen under Harry Christophers; Bach's St John Passion in St George's Hanover Square on 17 April with the London Handel Choir under Denys Darlow.

Orchestral concerts in London include the debut of the La Scala Philharmonic, Milan, under Carlo Maria Giulini, playing Beethoven's Symphonies 3 and 8 in the Barbican Hall on 27 April; the City of Birmingham SO under Simon Rattle at the Royal Festival Hall on 2 April, performing Schoenberg, Prokofiev and Debussy; and the London Sinfonietta under Oliver Knussen at the QEH on 7 April, playing Stravinsky, Fall, Ives and others. Peter Phillips

EXHIBITIONS

Rembrandt: the Master and his Workshop, National Gallery and British Museum. The great master in London, reviewed already by me in Amsterdam.

The Artist's Studio: Alberto Giacometti, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin. Broad showing of artist famous for thin, anxious figures.

Alexander Calder, Sackler Galleries, Royal Academy. Prints, drawings, jewellery, tapestry and mobiles, of course, by inventor of the genre.

John Eardley, Mercury Gallery, 26 Cork Street, WI, from 8 April. Big show of Scotland's short-lived lyrical landscapist. Giles Auty

DANCE

White Oak Dance Project, Sadlers Wells (071 278 8916), 2-12 April. This group was created in 1990 by Mikhail Baryshnikov and Mark Morris to present the best in new American choreography. It includes performers from American Ballet Theatre, the Mark Morris Group, Pilobolus and the Paul Taylor Company. This is the first time Baryshnikov has danced in London since 1985. Not to be missed.

Baryshnikor (Tunes Sad/era Wells Rambert Dance Company, Riverside Studios (081 748 3354), 29 April-2 May. Company choreographic workshops featuring new work by Mark Baldwin, Gary Lambert, Sara Matthews and Colin Poole. Deirdre McMahon

CINEMA

My Own Private Idaho has put the wind up gay rights activists in America. It is written and directed by Gus Van Sant (Drugstore Cowboy) and stars River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves as male prostitutes traipsing from Idaho to Portland and finally to Italy in search of the former's mother.

Hook is Steven Spielberg's biggest flop ever. In a sequel to the classic J.M. Barrie story, Peter Pan has metamorphosed into a 40-year-old American attorney played by Robin Williams. Dustin Hoffman is Hook, Julia Roberts is 'link' (Tinkerbell) and Maggie Smith is a 90-year-old Wendy.

High Heels is the latest camp offfering from Pedro Almodoyar, director of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! Marisa Parades and Victoria Abril star as mother and daughter at daggers drawn.

Vanessa Letts

GARDENS

The National Trust has organised gala evening at the Royal Festival Hall in aid of the Stowe Landscape Gardens Appeal, on 28 April at 7.30 p.m. This '18th-century soirée' will Include music from the time of Stowe's heyday. Jacek Kaspszyk will conduct the English Sinfonia, playing Mozart, Haydn and Cimarosa (soloists Barry Tuckwell and Federico Davis). Tickets from the Royal Festival Hall box office (071 928 8800). Ursula Buchan

CRAFTS

The European Influence in Craft and Design, Crafts Council Gallery, from 16 April. Ambitious survey of the impact on Britain of Continental designers and makers from 1900 onwards.

All Things Common: Mennonite and Hutterite Home Furnishings, Canada House, from 21 April. The Canada High Comission have staged an excellent series of shows looking at Canadian settlers' vernacular art. This one looks at the furniture, textiles and calligraphy of two religious communities over the last 120 years.

Living Wood: Sculptural Traditions of Southern India, Whitechapel Art Gallery, from 10 April. Magnificent carvings until recently neglected in the West because of their visual exuberance and the lack of antique examples. Tanya Harrod

POP MUSIC

Tribute to Freddie Mercury, Wembley Stadium, 20 April. There's nothing like a notable rock death to galvanise the music business into action. This swiftly arranged beanfeast should benefit a number of Aids charities but is unlikely to do any harm either to the record sales of the various elderly rock stars due to take part.

Also recommended: The Beautiful South, touring 20-30 April; The Highwaymen, better known as Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings, Wembley Arena, 10 April; winebar favourites The Gipsy Kings, Royal Albert Hall, 22 April, and The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Town & Country, 4 April.

Marcus Berlonano

THEATRE

The Virtuoso, The Pit (071 638 8891). RSC transfer their hilarious, original and inspired revival of Shadwell's comedy to London.

The Beggar's Opera, Swan, Stratford (0789 295623), from7 April. John Caird,directs, with David Burt as Machcath.

Reflected Glory, Vaudeville (071 836 5645), from 8 April. A new comedy by Ronald Harwood set in the theatre, about the rivalry between two brothers, played by Albert Finney and Stephen Moore.

Pygmalion, Olivier (071 928 2252), from 9 April. Still more Shaw. Cast includes Alan Howard as Professor Higgins and Frances Barber as Eliza. Christopher Edwards