On loan from major museums and art collections, notably the Städel in Frankfurt, the Royal Academy brings together a comprehensive exhibition of over 70 masterpieces by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553), the great Reformation painter.

More popular and even more successful economically than his contemporary Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach has probably had the most enduring influence on Germany’s visual world. The show thus attempts to uncover the secret of his success.

As the leading member of a German family of artists, Lucas Cranach was a painter, printmaker and book illustrator with a distinctly individual manner and a highly successful business. He was one of the most versatile artists of the Renaissance, court artist to the Saxon electors, a staunch supporter of the Reformation, and a close friend of Martin Luther. During the course of his long career, Cranach created striking portraits and expressive devotional works, propaganda for the Protestant cause, as well as his own brand of erotic female nude and inventive treatments of biblical, mythological and classical subjects.

The nude Venus, 1532, the painting featured on the left, caused an uproar in Britain because it was supposed to appear on the poster publicizing the exhibition, but the London Underground authorities initially banned it, stating it would only display the image if the bottom half was cropped out.

Academy spokeswoman Jennifer Francis said, “I think it is because she's totally nude as opposed to say she's topless. We're shocked. We wouldn't have put a poster design forward if we thought it was offensive."

Jennifer Francis stated that the "Venus" was chosen because it best represents Cranach's work, but the academy was uncomfortable altering the artist's work by cropping it. Jennifer Francis stated, "We actually thought it was quite an innocent painting." In the end, however, Transport for London decided to allow the nude venus to be shown all over the Tube.

Still, some officials and members of the British public consider the Royal Academy's poster with the Cranach nude obscene, pornographic and more like an advertisement for "a high class hooker".

Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s La Loge (The Theatre Box), 1874, is a masterpiece of Impressionist painting and one of the most famous works in the Courtauld Gallery’s collection. The exhibition unites this picture with Renoir’s other paintings of elegant Parisians on display in their loges.

It also includes other depictions of the theatre box by his Impressionist contemporaries, with important works by Mary Cassatt, Edgar Degas and others borrowed from international collections. Their shared interest in the spectacle of modern society at the theatre is further explored through a rich array of printed material such as contemporary fashion magazines and caricatures.

Between the late 1930s and the early 1960s a group of young photographers living and working in New York City redefined street photography. This group of artists became known as The New York School.

These photographers documented the post war energy and exotic chaos of New York City as it evolved from the crisis years of the Great Depression and the Second World War through to the social turbulence of the early seventies. Most of them worked on magazines but it was their personal work that stood them apart. They captured the choreography of the city from the sidewalks of downtown, to the intensity of Times Square, the isolation and elegance of the architecture and the mass of humanity at Coney Island. Many of the New York School identified with the values of film noir, stylish low-key black and white images with a certain moral ambiguity. Their style utlilised the methods of documentary journalism, small cameras, available light and a sense of the fleeting and candid and yet they rejected the anecdotal descriptiveness of most photojournalism.

Many had attended workshops at Richard Avedon's studio often taught by their mentor Alexey Brodovitch, who had totally re-invented photography, design and layout within the confines of Harpers Bazaar magazine. Many went on to become legendary in their chosen fields of photography.

Featured artists include Diane Arbus, Louis Faurer, Ted Croner, Weegee, Lisette Model, Alexey Brodovitch, Lee Friedlander, Richard Avedon, Robert Frank, Bruce Davidson, Neil Libbert and Elliott Erwitt.

Romeo and Juliet
Music: Sergei Prokofiev
Choreography: Kenneth MacMillan

Romeo
Edward Watson
Rupert Pennefather
Viacheslav Samodurov
Thiago Soares

Juliet
Alexandra Ansanelli
Lauren Cuthbertson
Sarah Lamb
Marianela Nuñez

Conductor: Boris Gruzin
Royal Ballet Sinfonia

50 Years of Bossa Nova

featuring Vinicius Cantuária, Dori Caymmi, João Donato, Celso Fonseca, Joyce, Carlos Lyra, Roberto Menescal, Clara Moreno, Wanda Sa and Marcos Valle.

One of the most influential of all popular music movements, bossa nova arose out of a striking constellation of talent based in Rio in the late 1950s. Composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, lyricist Vinicius de Moraes and guitarist Luiz Bonfa and João Gilberto all found themselves drawn to similar sensibilities – harmonies influences by jazz and classical music, sophisticated lyrics and musical understatement - underpinned by a unique rhythmic guitar shuffle.

Guitarist, singer and composer Carlos Lyra, and pianist-composer João Donato were part of this pioneering group and appear in this unique show. Roberto Menescal, another member of the 50s generation, is a multi-instrumentalist, arranger and composer.

Guitarist and singer Vinicius Cantuaria has melded bossa nova with contemporary experimental rock to great effect. Rio-born singer Celso Fonseca, who’s first major job was playing guitar with Gilberto Gil, has gone on to work with many of the greatest Brazilian artists. And the music of Brazilian singer/ songwriter and producer Marcos Valle went on to become popular on dancefloors across Europe with his swingy, dance-driven style, supported by inventive grooves.

Fernando Merlino, piano
Rodolfo Stroeter, bass
Tutty Moreno, drums
Jessé Sadoc trumpet, flugelhorn
Ricardo Pontes, alto and tenor sax, flute
Adal Fonseca drums, programming
Patricia Alví, back-up singer for Marcos Valle

Abdullah Ibrahim
with BBC Concert Orchestra & BBC Big Band

The many facets of South African pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim's art come to life in a specially conceived concert that journey's through his intensely personal music, from achingly lyrical solo piano to sweeping orchestral soundscapes and powerful big band grooves - music that is inspired by a jazz tradition of Ellington and Monk.

7:30 pm

Pianist, composer and Blue Note recording artist Jason Moran celebrates the legacy of Thelonious Monk with a new project combining original music written for an eight-piece band.

Jason Moran, piano
Tarus Mateen, bass
Nasheet Waits, drums
Byron Wallen, trumpet
Jason Yarde, alto saxophone
Denys Baptiste ,tenor saxophone
Fayez Virjii, trombone
Andy Grappy, tuba

7:30 pm

McCoy Tyner Trio with saxophonist Joe Lovano

Tyner is one of the most commanding and influential pianists of all time and most well known for his work with the seminal John Coltrane Quartet of the 60s.

Giuseppe Verdi: Don Carlo
Italian version of 1886
Sung in Italian with English surtitles

Antonio Pappano, conductor

Director: Nicholas Hytner
Designs: Bob Crowley
Lighting: Mark Henderson

Cast:

Don Carlo: Rolando Villazón
Elisabetta di Valois: Marina Poplavskaya
Rodrigo: Simon Keenlyside
Philip II: Ferruccio Furlanetto
Princess Eboli: Sonia Ganassi
Tebaldo: Pumeza Matshikiza
Conte di Lerma: Nikola Matišic
Flemish Deputies:
Jacques Imbrailo
Krzysztof Szumanski
Kostas Smoriginas
Daniel Grice
Darren Jeffery
Vuyani Mlinde

Grand Inquisitor: Eric Halfvarson
Monk: Robert Lloyd
Voice from Heaven: Anita Watson

Giuseppe Verdi: Simon Boccanegra
Sung in Italian with English surtitles
Presented here by The Royal Opera in the version of 1881 and in a revision of Ian Judge’s production from 1997.

John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

Director: Ian Judge
Set Designs: John Gunter
Costume Designs: Deirdre Clancy
Lighting: Nigel Levings

Simon Boccanegra: Lucio Gallo
Amelia Grimaldi: Natalia Ushakova, Anja Harteros
Gabriele Adorno: Marcus Haddock
Paolo: Marco Vratogna
Fiesco: Orlin Anastassov, Ferruccio Furlanetto
Pietro: Krzysztof Szumanski

50 Years of Bossa Nova
featuring Vinicius Cantuária, Dori Caymmi, João Donato, Celso Fonseca, Joyce, Carlos Lyra, Roberto Menescal, Clara Moreno, Wanda Sa and Marcos Valle.

One of the most influential of all popular music movements, bossa nova arose out of a striking constellation of talent based in Rio in the late 1950s. Composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, lyricist Vinicius de Moraes and guitarist Luiz Bonfa and João Gilberto all found themselves drawn to similar sensibilities – harmonies influences by jazz and classical music, sophisticated lyrics and musical understatement - underpinned by a unique rhythmic guitar shuffle.

Guitarist, singer and composer Carlos Lyra, and pianist-composer João Donato were part of this pioneering group and appear in this unique show. Roberto Menescal, another member of the 50s generation, is a multi-instrumentalist, arranger and composer.

Guitarist and singer Vinicius Cantuaria has melded bossa nova with contemporary experimental rock to great effect. Rio-born singer Celso Fonseca, who’s first major job was playing guitar with Gilberto Gil, has gone on to work with many of the greatest Brazilian artists. And the music of Brazilian singer/ songwriter and producer Marcos Valle went on to become popular on dancefloors across Europe with his swingy, dance-driven style, supported by inventive grooves.

Fernando Merlino, piano
Rodolfo Stroeter, bass
Tutty Moreno, drums
Jessé Sadoc trumpet, flugelhorn
Ricardo Pontes, alto and tenor sax, flute
Adal Fonseca drums, programming
Patricia Alví, back-up singer for Marcos Valle

Breaking the Chains is a major exhibition commemorating the 200th anniversary of the British Parliamentary Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade in 1807. In addition to a major loan from the British Museum’s African collection, including fine examples of Benin brass work, the show features authentic artefacts, film, music, photography, video and personal testimonies.

Six dedicated galleries cover the following key areas:

Gallery 1. What is slavery?

Slavery has existed throughout history. It still exists today. Discover what made the transatlantic slave trade so different from all other forms of human bondage.

Gallery 2. Africa and Europe

Wealth and diversity of African culture. How the slave trade dramatically changed the lives of both Africans and Europeans.

Gallery 3: The Caribbean

The ‘middle passage’ journey by ship and the reality of life and death in the Americas.

Gallery 4: The Age of Abolition

Violent resistance or peaceful protest? What really brought the slave trade to an end.

Gallery 5. In slavery’s footsteps

What is the price of freedom? Life in the Caribbean after abolition.

Lastly, a multimedia gallery presenting a variety of opinions, ideas and feelings about the contemporary legacies of the slave trade. Touch screens display specially commissioned short films responding to the themes of racism, identity, wealth, poverty and people trafficking. A place to record visitor thoughts and responses in audio or video format to any aspect of the Breaking the Chains exhibition.

Noël Coward: Brief Encounter

The lives and loves of three couples are played out in the famous station tearoom using the words and songs of Noël Coward.

Brief Encounter features the Kneehigh Theatre Company, including Tristan Sturrock as 'Alec', Naomi Frederick as 'Laura', Tamzin Griffin as 'Myrtle', Amanda Lawrence as 'Beryl', Stuart McLoughlin as 'Stanley', Andy Williams as 'Fred/Albert' and musicians Adam Pleeth & Ian Ross. 

Emma Rice, director

Three-time Emmy® Award-winner Chris Rock - America's favourite 'alternative' comedian, actor, and host of HBO's acclaimed The Chris Rock Show adults-only whose blind fearlessness and ability to say what most people are too scared to - however dark - have made him a comedic hero on both sides of the Atlantic where the 42-year-old Barack Obama supporter takes on dozens of social, political and celebrity issues often related to black and white culture.

If you doubt Mr. Rock's gifts, visit his official web site where he offers a hilarious video send up of American late night television infomercial entitled, The Malcolm Monroe Money-making System to becoming a millionaire. Testimonials include a telephone call in from a very in-your-face, attitudinal American black woman: "I might not understand the laws of probablity, but I do understand the laws of being a millionaire: EVERYBODY KISSIN YOUR ASS!!!"

After London, Chris Rock's current tour – dubbed No Apologies – features new material with stops in Edinburgh, Nottingham, Manchester and Boston, Massachusetts.

The concert will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 1.

Set against a back-drop of fading Empire, war, the Suez crisis, vintage champagne, adultery and vicious Tory politics at the Ritz, Howard Brenton’s Never So Good paints the portrait of a brilliant, witty but complex man, at times comically and, in the end, tragically out of kilter with his times.

Harold Macmillan, the Eton-educated idealist who rushed, with Homer’s Iliad under his arm, to do his duty in the Grenadier Guards, is tormented by the harsh experiences of war and an unhappy marriage. His career in the 30s is blocked by his loyalty to Winston Churchill and he nearly loses his life in the Second World War. When at last he becomes Prime Minister he is brought down by he Profumo scandal.

Young Harry Crookshank : Ben Addis
Smithson : Jonathan Battersby
Anthony Eden : Anthony Calf
Young Harold Macmillan : Pip Carter
Nellie Macmillan : Anna Carteret
Dorothy Macmillan : Anna Chancellor
Selwyn Lloyd : Peter Forbes
Dwight D. Eisenhower : Clive Francis
Ronald Knox : Tim Frances
Bob Boothby : Robert Glenister
Neville Chamberlain : Terrence Hardiman
Harold Macmillan : Jeremy Irons
Sgt. Robinson : Nicholas Lumley
Winston Churchill : Ian McNeice

Director: Howard Davies
Designer: Vicki Mortimer
Lighting Designer: Mark Henderson
Music: Dominic Muldowney
Choreography: Lynne Page
Sound Designer: Paul Arditti

Young, restless and ambitious, Henry V inherits a troubled crown. With his family’s claim uncertain, Henry seeks to secure his position at home  by turning the country’s attention abroad. Resurrecting a contested claim to the French crown he launches a hasty invasion of France.

To finance the projected war on France, the commons are about to pass a bill confiscating the Church's lands. Seeking to avoid the long-term implications of this, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop of Ely make the newly-crowned King Henry an irresistible offer of cash, at the same time confirming the legitimacy of his claim to the French throne.

Convinced by the enthusiasm of his advisers, Henry orders the invasion of France. The arrival of a gift of tennis balls from the French Dauphin - a scornful jibe at Henry's dissolute youth - only serves to confirm him in his decision.

Following a drawn out siege at Harfleur, Henry’s small army, ravaged by hunger and disease, is forced to retreat. Trapped by a far larger French force at Agincourt, Henry’s gamble appears on the point of disaster as the demoralised English turn and prepare for battle.

Shakespeare’s charismatic warrior King, Henry V’s aggressive pursuit of the French crown earns him iconic status, uniting England and France and briefly banishing the civil strife that will long outlive him.

Royal Shakespeare Company
Michael Boyd, director

The late Fela Anikulapo Kuti is Nigeria’s most world-renowned popular musician and most acerbic critic of the authorities until his death in 1997. Seun Kuti has been performing on stage since he was nine years old, after starting his career as opening act for his father’s band Egypt 80 at the Shrine in Lagos. He has kept the band – containing many veterans in their 50s and 60s – performing in the same style as in Fela’s day, with as many as twenty singers and musicians in explosive live sessions, wearing original costumes and fronted by Seun Kuti’s vocals and saxophone.

Afrobeat has been one of the most influential sounds to emerge from the continent, combining jazz, James Brown and Highlife in an explosive brew which went on to influence many US musicians. Fela’s music was also closely tied to his outspoken political views, and Seun is also keen to perpetuate, in an updated form, his father’s message.

Following a sell-out run on Broadway in 2007, Vanessa Redgrave repeats her award-winning solo performance in David Hare’s celebrated production which now receives its UK premiere.

Vanessa Redgrave portrays contemporary writer Joan Didion, who recounts the events (and the inner struggles) in her life following family tragedy.

Adapted from Joan Didion's 2005 best-selling memoir, the play explores the author's shock, denial and ultimate acceptance in the year that follows her husband's death and the serious illness of her daughter.

Creators
David Hare (Direction)
Bob Crowley (Set Design)
Ann Roth (Costume Design)
Jean Kalman (Lighting Design)
Sound Designer: Paul Arditti
Written by: Joan Didion

Shakespeare: Troilus and Cressida

The Trojan War, the defining legend of western literature, is stripped to its raw heart in Shakespeare’s scathing satire on glory, chivalry and doomed love. After seven years of fighting, the Greeks and the Trojans have reached a stalemate. As each renews its thirst for bloodshed, they discover that heroes and heroines do not only fall in battle.

Directed by Declan Donnellan
Designed by Nick Ormerod
Associate and Movement Director Jane Gibson
Lighting design by Judith Greenwood
Music by Catherine Jayes

Cast:

Anthony Mark Barrow, Paul Brennen, Lucy Briggs-Owen, Richard Cant, David Caves, Oliver Coleman, David Collings, Gabriel Fleary, Mark Holgate, Damian Kearney, Ryan Kiggell, Tom McClane, Marianne Oldham, David Ononokpono, Laurence Spellman, Alex Waldmann

Vanity Fair Portraits brings together portraits of cultural icons from the magazine's vintage and modern periods with sitters ranging from Claude Monet, Amelia Earhart and Jesse Owens to David Hockney, Arthur Miller and Madonna, displayed with legendary Hollywood actors from Charlie Chaplin and Greta Garbo to Demi Moore and Tom Cruise.

The show includes photographs by Baron De Meyer, Edward Steichen, Man Ray and Cecil Beaton, as well as portraits by contemporary photographers such as Annie Leibovitz, Mario Testino, Helmut Newton and Herb Ritts.

This exhibition marks the centenary of Ian Fleming’s birth, and is  devoted to the life and work of the man who created the world’s most famous secret agent, James Bond.  For Your Eyes Only looks at the author and his fictional character in their historical context and examines how much of the Bond novels were imaginary and how far they were based on real people
and events. The show explores the early life of Ian Fleming, his wartime career and work as a journalist and travel writer and how, as an author, he drew upon his own experiences to create the iconic character of James Bond that continues to have global appeal. Lastly, the exhibit illustrates how the Cold War, a war of spies and technology, provided the stage in which Bond could operate.

On display is Fleming’s desk and chair from his Jamaican home Goldeneye, where he wrote all of the Bond novels; a map of the Mercury News Network established by Ian Fleming in the 1950s showing where all Sunday Times foreign correspondents were based; the jacket worn by Fleming on the Dieppe Raid of 1942; a selection of annotated Bond manuscripts; the Colt Python .357 Magnum revolver presented to Fleming by the Colt company in 1964; the manuscript for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and a working model of an Aston Martin DB5 made for HRH Prince Andrew in 1966, complete with gadgets from the films Thunderball and Goldfinger.

The ‘blood-splattered’ shirt worn by Daniel Craig in Casino Royale is displayed for the first time along with prototypes for Rosa Klebb’s flick knife shoes in From Russia with Love; Halle Berry’s bikini from Die Another Day and Goldfinger’s golf shoes which have been lent by the EON Productions’ archive.

Henrik Ibsen: Rosmersholm

A portrait of idealism foundering in the modern world of journalistic spin and opportunism in a new version by Mike Poulton.

Cast:
Paul Hilton, Helen McCrory, Paul Moriarty, Veronica Quilligan, Malcolm Sinclair, Peter Sullivan

Anthony Page, director 

Best known for his work on high profile TV series such as Drop the Dead Donkey, Ballykissangel and Wild at Heart, popular film and television actor Stephen Tompkinson returns to Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre next month to star as Vindice in a new production of tne bloody Jacobean thriller The Revenger's Tragedy.

Guest director Jonathan Moore takes the helm for this blackly comic tale of lust, ambition and violent retribution, rich in savage poetry, sensuality and humour. At the centre of the action, Vindice seeks to avenge the murder of his beloved Gloriana - leaving a massive body count in his wake. The action will be brought to vivid life with lavish sets and costumes from acclaimed designer David Blight.

Expert opinion is divided as to the true authorship of the play – some claim it for Cyril Tourneur but many now believe it is more likely the work of Thomas Middleton.

The cast also includes: Jonathan Keeble, Merryn Owen, Sam Fletcher, Mikey North, Damian O’Hare, Robert Demeger, John Gillett, Corinna Powlesland, Stephanie Brittain, Eileen O’Brien, Marc Parry, Stephen Hudson and Drew Horner.

The creative team is completed by Vince Herbert (lighting), Steve Brown (sound), Renny Krupinski (fights) and Peter Brennan (choreographer).