Planning ahead is key to happiness
Research shows people with plans are happier than those who don’t plan so use this post as inspo for gifts!
This is a very long email. I strongly advise you to read it in Substack app or in the browser. It’s packed with links and can become a great source of last-minute gifts for those who are in London or visit frequently.
I am absolutely behind on everything these days: gardening, singing lessons, home chores, swimming (won’t even tell you about this one, I feel like a slob and am very ashamed). Somehow the workload is not as intense as it is in high season, but it is very draining. Maybe it’s the end of the year? I don’t know; I only am very, very, VERY much ready for the holidays to begin. I am not taking lots of days off between chunks of festive days, but as we’ll be working from home, I am sure it’ll feel mild and gentle – or, at least, I hope so.
The only thing I am NOT behind is my cultural experiences, let’s put it that way. Theatre, opera, recitals, lieder-erm-abends – my current plans extend as far as July 2025. People ask me how I plan these things. Well, I am a bit of a control freak when it comes to London performance art scene. I am a Friend of the Royal Ballet & Opera, Wigmore Hall, Southbank and Barbican; I am subscribed to tons of newsletters and I also manically check the websites of theatres and concert halls every now and then as have nearly missed Kate Blanchett in The Seagull despite receiving the Barbican’s newsletter. So - here’s my gift to you this year. After hours of fighting with ChatGPT and my calendar I’ve compiled a list of events I booked for the upcoming year, from January to March, otherwise this newsletter risks to explode in your mailboxes. I’ve added links to performances and short descriptions as per why I decided to buy a ticket. Yes, it’s London-centric, but maybe it will still be helpful. Happy holidays, do have a look one lazy afternoon and maybe get yourself a couple of events to look forward to! And if we end up being in the same place at the same time for the same show, do let me know - I’d love to say hello.
Although I should start with January, yesterday I took my daughter to Covent Garden to see Cinderella - the Royal Ballet & Opera are doing it instead of the Nutcracker this year. I adore the Nutcracker, but saw Cinderella for the first time last year and absolutely fell in love. It’s a very joyful ballet, I find it much funnier and child-friendly than the Nutcracker, especially since the evil stepsisters are danced by men, a take first made by Frederick Ashton, referencing the dames of the traditional English panto - my daughter was hollering with laughter last night. Also, Prokofiev’s score is very refreshing and I just love the waltz. There’s still tickets and even some for the 31 December, with Natalia Osipova, who danced last night (hence my choice of date).
January 2025
When I am going: 1 January 2025
Location: The Harold Pinter Theatre, Panton St, London, SW1Y 4DN
Why I am going: Created ages ago by a very famous Russian clown, Slava Polunin, this is a tender, funny, touching and visually stunning theatrical experience. Nothing better to kick off the new year, I promise, you and your kids will be changed forever.
Simon Rattle with Barbara Hannigan: Boulez, Benjamin and Brahms
When I am going: 9 January 2025
Location: Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS
Why I am going: Simon Rattle is a legend, he turns 70 this year, Hannigan is one of the stars of contemporary operatic scene, I’ve never heard her before, and the website says the following: “A bewitching programme of contrasts: Pierre Boulez’s glittering sound world, late Johannes Brahms, and a lyrical world premiere from George Benjamin – to celebrate Sir Simon Rattle’s 70th birthday.” I mean, I’m just going!
When I am going: 11 January 2025
Location: Young Vic, 66 The Cut, Waterloo, London, SE1 8LZ
Why I am going: I love the Young Vic, there’s always something unexpected, and I am intrigued by the synopsis: “A story of greed, ambition and a family on the edge, Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes receives a savage new staging by Olivier Award-winning director Lyndsey Turner (The Witches, The Crucible).”
When I am going: 19 January 2025
Location: Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX
Why I am going: The Borodin Quartet over its eight decades has worked with Dmitri Shostakovich, emerged from behind the Iron Curtain and become revered as one of the world’s greatest string quartets. They’ll play Brahms and Tchaikovsky. That’s it for me!
When I am going: 27 January 2025
Location: Royal Opera House, Bow Street, London, WC2E 9DD
Why I am going: Never heard Janaček, so this is my educational outing as I know it’s an important opera.
When I am going: 29 January, 28 February,
Location: Barbican Centre, Milton Court, 1 Milton Street, London, EC2Y 9BH
Why I am going: This is a series of- and I aim to go to every concert in the series as am still very much educating myself in Shostakovich.
Oedipus (Rami Malek, Indira Varma)
When I am going: 31 January 2025
Location: Old Vic, The Cut, London, SE1 8NB
Why I am going: I LOVE Indira Varma and am quite liking Malek. Having seen a stunning production of Oedipus with Mark Strong and Leslie Manville just a couple of weeks age, I don’t know what can beat it, but still very much looking forward to the Old Vic’s version.
February 2025
Daniil Trifonov plays Mahler and Schumann
When I am going: 2 February 2025
Location: Barbican Hall, Silk St, London, EC2Y 8DS
Why I am going: Trifonov is one of the most celebrated pianists of our time, so I am just very much looking to a great piano recital.
When I am going: 4 February 2025
Location: Harold Pinter Theatre, 4 Panton St, London, SW1Y 4DN
Why I am going: It’s a transfer from Almeida, the cast is great (Deborah Findlay, Romola Garai, Gina McKee!), and I love a good play, something tell me this will be good.
When I am going: 6 February 2025
Location: Garrick Theatre, 2 Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0HH
Why I am going: This one I bought only because I saw Nicola Walker’s face on a tube poster announcing the play! I LOVE Walker and will see everything and anything she does, both theatre and TV.
When I am going: 11 February 2025
Location: Royal Opera House, Bow Street, London, WC2E 9DD
Why I am going: It’s both an opera and a ballet; Phaedra is by Britten, and I am v. interested to see what it will turn into. Might as well leave in the interval, as I often do, but might not!
When I am going: 13 February 2025
Location: Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Catherine St, London, WC2B 5JF
Why I am going: For once it’s a Shakespeare comedy I am seeing; it features Tom Hiddleston (Loki!). OK, I’ve just left from the Tempest with Sigourney Weaver who was AWFUL, but there’s still hope for Loki!
When I am going: 20 February 2025
Location: Theatre Royal Haymarket, Haymarket, London
Why I am going: Brian Cox, the grumpy patriarch from Succession, plays J. S. Bach. I saw Cox on stage this year in Eugene O’Neill’s devastating Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and while the play was extremely good, Cox was being Logan Roy the whole time. But I want to give him one more chance!
When I am going: 18 February 2025
Location: Royal Opera House, Bow Street, London, WC2E 9DD
Why I am going: This is a Crystal Pite ballet; Pite being one of the best choreographers today. I’ve seen it several years ago and am now taking my husband and daughter. It’s tough, raw, there’s war and loss, but there’s also love for mankind, especially children and elderly, a gaze only a woman can cast.
Martha Argerich with the Oxford Philharmonic
When I am going: 25 February 2025
Location: Barbican Hall, Silk St, London, EC2Y 8DS
Why I am going: Argerich is legendary. This concert has long been sold out, then moved from Autumn 2024 to Winter 2025. Please try to grab a return ticket, this will be unique.
March 2025
Mitsuko Uchida: Beethoven & Schubert
When I am going: 7 March 2025
Location: Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX
Why I am going: I first “met” Uchida through her Mozart, she’s a renowned player of Wolfgang Amadeus. I love a strong woman pianist and am very much looking to hearing her once again.
Boulez & Cage Letters with London Sinfonietta
When I am going: 9 March 2025
Location: Purcell Room, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX
Why I am going: I want to understand a wider array of music, Russian classics + Bach. Beethoven, Mozart are great, but the history of music doesn’t stop there. Hence Boulez, whom I’ve heard a bit, and Cage, whom I’ve heard a bit more.
When I am going: 11 March 2025
Location: Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX
Why I am going: Igor Levit is a very interesting pianist, witty, humorous, with a point of view, with a certain gravitas about him. I of course love Prokofiev and always want to hear more of Sergey Sergeevich – I am sure, Levit will do a brilliant take on him.
The Seagull - with Cate Blanchett as Arkadina
When I am going: 12 March 2025
Location: Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS
Why I am going: Cate Blanchett is incredible on stage and maybe she’ll be able to do a really good Chekhov!
When I am going: 15 March 2025
Location: Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS
Why I am going: Wynton Marsalis, Sir Antonio Pappano, the LSO and Lincoln Center Orchestra are going in with an evening full of the most glorious jazz! This is my gift to my husband (forgot the occasion, but it sat in the calendar for a while!), so we’ll cash it in!
Pierre-Laurent Aimard & Mathieu Amalric: Ravel
When I am going: 27 March 2025
Location: Queen Elizabeth Hall, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX
Why I am going: This will be exceptional. Pierre-Laurent Aimard is one of the greatest pianists alive; I wrote about him here; actor Mathieu Amalric to me embodies all the best in French cinema: intellect, humour, depth, sense of tempo. Together they celebrate Ravel: via music and spoken word.
Joyce DiDonato & Maxim Emelyanychev – Winterreise
When I am going: 28 March 2025, later of the two!
Location: Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore St, London, W1U 2BP
Why I am going: I’ve never heard Winterreise, Schumann’s famed vocal cycle about a traveller on a dark cold winter night: night of life? Night of death? Night of the soul? I adore DiDonato , the divine mezzo-soprano of our days, and her good friend Maxim Emelyanychev, brilliant conductor at Il Pomo d’Oro and great pianist. This concert has been added when its first iteration has fully sold out in hours; there’s still some tickets left - seriously, people, don’t miss it. This will be a life-changing experience, I know it.
I think this is it! There’s more for April and onwards - do let me know if this is useful and I’ll try to collate the rest of my so-far-planned year by New Year’s eve. In the meantime, have a lovely Christmas those celebrating! Russians, keep calm and carry on, New Year is coming, we gotta be ready! I’ve already gone to banya today and have another one planned for 2 Jan, so there is hope for everyone.
With love,
Anastasia.
Thank you for the list! Shared it with a friend who is visiting London in Feb 👌🏻