Shows, nightlife and activities

Mikhail Pletnev & Russian National Orchestra

Date: March 15-7:30 pm

Venue: NCPA, Beijing

Mikhail Pletnev's genius as pianist, conductor and composer enchants and amazes audiences around the globe. He was Gold Medal and First Prize winner of the 1978 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition when he was only 21, a prize that earned him early recognition worldwide. An invitation to perform at the 1988 superpower summit in Washington led to a friendship with Mikhail Gorbachev and the historic opportunity to make music in artistic freedom. The Russian National Orchestra was founded in 1990 by pianist and conductor Mikhail Pletnev and today is widely recognized as one of the world's top orchestras. Of its debut at the BBC Proms in London, the Evening Standard wrote, "They played with such captivating beauty that the audience gave an involuntary sigh of pleasure." The RNO is also described as "a living symbol of the best in Russian art" (Miami Herald), "as close to perfect as one could hope for" (Trinity Mirror), and "astoundingly virtuosic" (Glasgow Herald). The orchestra's recording of Shostakovich's Symphony No 7 was awarded the Diapason d'Or de l'Annee 2015 as the year's best symphonic album, and nominated for a 2016 Grammy award.

NCPA Dance Drama Li Bai

Date: March 10-11-7:30 pm

Venue: NCPA, Beijing

Li Bai is one of the greatest Chinese poets, who lived in the flourishing days of the Tang Dynasty. His poems sound graceful and soulful, and he is honored as "poet god" in later ages and holds an important place in the history of Chinese literature. It is for the first time in China that Li Bai's part is acted out in the form of dance drama. Several fragments of his life will be acted to disclose his patriotic complex and the favorable or unfavorable turns in his life, so as to show audiences Li Bai's image in the form of dance, and reveal how he was unrestrained and how his poems were masterly.