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

regular critics

MUSIC

Two foreign orchestras feature this month: the St Petersburg Philharmonic is giving three concerts at the Barbican: an all- Rachmaninov concert on the 15th to celebrate the 50th anniversaty of his death; Stravinsky and Prokoviev on the 16th —both these concerts conducted by Temir Kanov; Mariss Jansons conducts Berlioz, Sibelius and Rachmaninov on the 17th. The St Louis Symhony Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Slatkin, Perform Vaughan Villiams, Bolcom and Strauss at the Festival Hall on 21 November.

Messiaen: a Commemoration Continues at the Barbican. The London Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Kent Nagano Performs the UK premiere of Eclairs sur PAu-Dela on 21 November. On the 29th Nagano Conducts the London Sinfonietta.

Peter Phillips

OPERA

Baa-Baa Black Sheep, Grand Theatre, Leeds (0532 459351), 13, 16, 17, 19 November. David Malouf llnaginatively interweaves Kipling's life and fiction in his libretto for Michael Berkeley's opera, Premiered earlier this year at the Cheltenham Festival and now revived for Opera North's autumn seasonPaul Daniel conducts.

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Die Zauberflote, Covent Garden (071 240 1066), from 15 November. Martin Duncan's production of Mozart's final masterpiece was much liked when it was first staged last December by Scottish Opera. It upw transfers to Covent Garden, With a new conductor (Andrew Parrott) and two alternating casts.

Lobengrin, London Coliseum (071 836 3161), 20,24 and 27 November. Wagner's most dreamily slow and lyrical opera is given in a new

by by Tim Albery, conducted °Y Mark Elder. ENO fields a young cast, led by the tenor John Keyes in the title role and Linda MacLeod as his baffled beloved.

Cendrillon, New Theatre, Cardiff (0222 394844), 20 November and Birmingham Hippodrome (021 622 7486), 23 November. New WNO production of unfamiliar romantic froth from petit maitre Massenet, re- Yorking the Cinderella fairy tale into a sexy and sophisticated confection. Rupert Christiansen

CINEMA

Dave (12). The Prisoner of Zenda switched to the White House and Played for laughs. Kevin Kline takes the title role, an ordinary Joe called

Dave who happens to bear a remarkable resemblance to the President....

Aladdin (U). Disney's biggest ever box-office smash, which also brought Britain one of its rare Oscars thanks to a score with lyrics by Tim Rice.

The Remains of the Day (15). Kazuo Ishiguro's novel given the Merchant-Ivory treatment, with Emma Thompson, Christopher Reeve and, as the English butler adjusting to post-war Britain, Anthony Hopkins. Mark Steyn

EXHIBITIONS

John Nash (1893-1977), Spink & Son, SW1, till 26 November. Lyrical landscapes in best British tradition by the lesser-known brother.

Beads: Contemporary Portraits by British Artists, Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich. Over 20 good examples of what an Elizabethan dramatist called 'the skull beneath the skin', by leading exponents.

Gates of Mystery: the Art of Holy Russia, V & A. One mystery is how priceless Christian icons survived 70 years of official state atheism.

'St George and the Dragon', a 15th- century icon from Novgorod

An Ireland Imagined, Pyms Gallery, SW1. A rewarding show of Irish paintings and drawings 1860-1960, by leading specialist dealer.

The Turner Prize 1993 Exhibition, till 28 November. Are these the four artists who point to the future in British art? Or can we all wake

up now? Giles Auty

DANCE

DV8 Physical Theatre, Wickham Theatre, Bristol (0272 299191), 2-6 November; Royal Court Theatre (071 730 1745), 9-20 November. Eyes meet across the crowded urinals in MSM, DV8's new docudrama, directed by Lloyd Newson, which explores the dangerous art of cottaging.

Second Stride, The Place (071 387 0031), 5-7 November; Glasgow

Tramway (041 423 1333), 19-20 November; Stranmillis College Theatre, Belfast (0232 665577), 24-27 November. Director Antony McDonald, composer Orlando Gough and three choreographers — Ian Spink, Ashley Page and 19- year-old Royal Ballet School graduate Eyal Rubin — are the team behind Escape at Sea, a modern-day, multi-media fairy tale inspired by stories of escape from

Russia. Sophie Constanti

POP MUSIC

Whitney Houston, Earls Court, 5, 6, 7 November. She may have made vast amounts of cash, but Whitney Houston's career reeks of under- achievement. And as the quality of her material declines and the vocal gymnastics become ever more forced, she makes even vaster amounts of cash. It's a funny old world.

Also recommended: Christy Moore, Royal Albert Hall, 2-4 November; the ineffably tuneful Crowded House, Hammersmith Apollo, 12-14 November; Terence Trent D'Arby, still trying to jump-start his career after the pitiful Neither Fish Nor Flesh, touring, 12-19 November; and the successfully resuscitated Paul Weller, Royal Albert Hall, 22, 23 November.

Marcus Berkmann

GARDENS

For those who like to see flowers displayed in vases as much as in borders, the Society of Floristry's Annual Demonstration and Show will be held this year at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham on Sunday, 21 November, 9.30-4.30. It will no doubt be an oasis of Oasis. Details from Fat Lamb, 7 St Andrew's Close, Middleton-on-the- Wold, North Humberside. Tickets £5 at the door. Ursula Buchan

THEATRE

Moonlight, Comedy (971 867 1045), 4 November. Pinter's first full- length (well, 90 minutes anyway) play in 15 years moves in from the Almeida with Ian Holm and Anna Massey at his bedside.

Relative Values, Savoy (071 836 8888), 8 November. Coward's 1951 comedy of appalling manners back at the theatre where it first opened. Susan Hampshire is the dowager duchess, Sara Crowe is the Hollywood film star threatening to become her daughter-in-law and frighten the servants.

One Man, Garrick (071 494 5085), 15 November. Steven Berkoff in mesmerising solo show from Edinburgh Festival.

Angels in America, Cottesloe (071 928 2252), 20 November, Tony Kushner's two-part Aids epic now performed in seven-hour entirety across single matinee days.

Sheridan Morley