UNE

ART S DIARY (16XNN

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

DANCE

Kirov Ballet, Coliseum (071 836 3161), 6 June-7 July. Leningrad's magnificent classical company mades a welcome return to London. Repertory includes Le Corsaire, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle and a fascinating triple bill which includes Balanchine's Theme and Variations and Scotch Symphony, as well as a new production of Petrushka.

Cumbre Flamenca, Sadlers Wells (071278 8916), 19 June-7 July. A dazzling display of flamenco dancing and music from an incomparable troupe.

Deirdre McMahon

OPERA

The Cunning Little Vixen, Covent Garden, 7 June. Simon Rattle conducts Bill Bryden's new production of Jankek's green opera in designs by William Dudley. Lillian Watson, Thomas Allen and Diana Montague sing the leading roles, in English.

Masquerade, Grand Theatre, Leeds, 23 June. First major production in the UK of Nielsen's opera, based on a play by Holberg and staged by Opera North as part .of the Leeds Festival; Elgar Howarth conducts, and the cast includes Mary Hegarty, Paul Nilon and Geoffrey Dolton.

William Tell, Covent Garden, 29 June. Michael Plasson conducts John Cox's long-awaited new production of Rossini's great epic, with Chris Merrit and Leila Cuberli in the leading roles. Rodney Mimes

GARDENS

The first ever County Wicklow Gardens Festival will be held 8-24 June. Among the large private gardens opening are three in the shadow of the Sugar Loaf — Knockmore, Ballyorney and Charleville. Enquiries about opening dates and times to The Secretary, Co. Wicklow Gardens Festival, Powerscourt, Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow, Eire. Slightly nearer to home, the five acres of Hodsock Priory Gardens, near Worksop, Nottinghamshire, are open on 24 June, 2-6 p.m. Ursula Buchan

POP MUSIC

Prince, (touring). Fifteen dates at Wembley Arena, four at Birmingham and an outdoor blast in Manchester testify to his enduring (and deserved) Popularity.

Knebworth '90, 30 June. The biggest and probably the best of the big live shows this summer, with an extraordinarily impressive cast: McCartney, Clapton, Knopfler, Pink Floyd, Cliff and the Shadows, and, er, Tears for Fears. Even I feel tempted to go.

Marcus Berkman

CRAFTS

Andrew Lord, Anthony D'Offay, Dering Street, Wl, till 15 June. Striking pots by a master of the unexpected.

Anna Dickinson and Judy Trim, Roy Miles, 29 Bruton Street, WI, 5-19 June. The last word in decorativeness in ceramics and glass.

Decorative Papers, The Ruskin Gallery, 101 Norfolk Street, Sheffield, till 7 July. Patterned papers from a major private collection. Tiger's eye marbling, designs from the Curwen Press, Far Eastern woodblock. Plus a selection of John Ruskin's own marvellous gifts to Sheffield.

Gold-embossed paper by Paul Reimund, Nuremburg, c.1783

Abram Games: 60 Years of Design, Design Museum, SE1, 19 June-5 August. Posters by major graphic designer — remember the Festival of Britain emblem? Tanya Harrod MUSIC

The main music festivals in London this month are Spitalflelds, 7-22 June: on 7th Hickox conducts the world premiere of Finzi's Requiem da Camera and on 22nd Haydn's Creation; Almeida, 14 June-14 July, features the music of John Cage, Kurt Weill, Xenakis, Philip Glass and Arvo Part; Greenwich, 1-17 June: highlights include Peggy Ashcroft and Julian Bream at the Greenwich Theatre on 3 June.

Festivals outside London include Bath, which finishes on 10 June. Aldeburgh, 8-24 June, has Elliott Carter and Alexander Goehr as the composers in residence, other highlights include the English Chamber Orchestra (22nd) and Takacs String Quartet (17th). Weekending Stravinsky in Glasgow, 16-19 June, involves the

BBC Scottish SO, culminating in a performance of Petrushka.

London Festival Orchestra's Cathedral Classics continue round the country in cathedrals as follows: Canterbury (5th), Chichester (6th), Chester (8th), Edinburgh (10th), Carlisle (12th), Manchester (15th), Clifton (19th), Lincoln (22nd), Southwark (26th), St Albans (27th), Winchester (28th). Peter Phillips

CINEMA

Music Box (15). Costa-Gavras drama deals with the contentious subject of war crimes. Jessica Lange defends her father, an American lawyer, against the shadows of a Nazi past.

We're no Angels (15). Robert de Niro and Sean Penn, escaped convicts, are mistaken for priests. Sounds unlikely, but the script is by David Mamet, and Neil Jordan is an imaginative, individualistic director. Hilary Mantel

EXHIBITIONS

Giambattista Tiepolo: Old Master Drawings, Accademia Italiana, 24 Rutland Gate, SW7. The lightest and most beautiful touch in drawing from the 18th-century Venetian.

Landscape Visions, Peter Pears Gallery, Aldeburgh, Suffolk, from 9 June. The late Peter Fuller picked 15 artists to show how perceptions of East Anglia have changed.

In the Park . . . Artists at Work, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, from 5 June. Four sculptors show how they had responded to eight weeks in a picturesque park.

Robert Wierick 1882-1944, Bruton Gallery, Bruton, Somerset. Striking sculpture and drawings by neglected talent, once admired greatly by Rodin. Giles Auty

THEATRE

Much Ado About Nothing/Julius Caesar, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre (071 486 2431), from 13 June. Strong casts have been brought in by the artistic director Ian Talbot.

The Illusion, Old Vic (071 928 7616), 7 June. Another revival of Corneille (following their success with The Liar), this play examines the theatre from the inside out and promises some interesting twists and turns, both visually and dramatically. Cast includes Sylvestra Le Touzel.

Hidden Laughter, Vaudeville (071 836 9988), 6 June. New Simon Gray play set in a weekend cottage where a family's fortunes are traced over 13 years of retreats from London. Cast includes Peter Barkworth and Felicity Kendall.

Christopher Edwards