The Dandelion Chandelier Luxury Events Calendar for The Arts showcases our top picks for the best events in arts and culture this February 2019. These are the events we’re most excited about in ballet, modern dance, classical music, opera and jazz. Plus the new art museum exhibits we can’t wait to see. For the rest of the Luxury Calendar, click here.
the best new events in the world of the arts in February
There’s a celebratory mood in the world of performing and visual arts this month. The thrill of love and Valentine’s Day are feted in performances of The Sleeping Beauty by the New York City Ballet and Love, Legends and Fairytales by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
The New York Pops celebrates the life and legacy of a legend with Unforgettable: Celebrating Nat King Cole and Friends. And not to be left out, a number of museums are celebrating the work of famous artists like Bruno Gironcoli and Frida Kahlo with in-depth retrospectives.
What are you waiting for? It’s on.
events in the visual arts and performing arts in February 2019
performing arts
1. dance events this February
Three unique visions of dance and theater come together in Cherkaoui/Goecke/Lidberg at the Opera National de Paris – Feb 5 – Mar 2
The Royal Ballet makes its first appearance in the newly refurbished Linbury Theatre. Joining them will be London Sinfonietta, one of the world’s leading contemporary music ensembles. New Work New Music is a line-up of six world premieres, each set to contemporary music never before used for dance – Feb 6 – 9
New York City Ballet’s Peter Martins paid tribute to Marius Petipa’s choreography when he created his adaptation of The Sleeping Beauty. It blends the majesty of the original with the velocity and energy that remain a contemporary hallmark of the company – Feb 13 – 24
The Sleeping Beauty
Celebrating its 25th anniversary season, Complexions Contemporary Ballet returns to The Joyce with its distinctive brand of passion. There will be three dynamic programs. The New York premiere of WOKE, set to a remix of music by Kendrick Lamar, Drake and Diplo. The New York premiere of Bach 25. And audience favorite Star Dust, with music by David Bowie – Feb 19 – Mar 3
2. classical music concerts this February
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra explores the long-standing inspirations of many a composer in Love, Legends and Fairytales at the Royal Festival Hall London – Feb 5
The New York Philharmonic’s annual Lunar New Year celebration returns with a fiery program. Experience Fire Ritual, a new violin concerto by Oscar winner Tan Dun; Arirang; Stravinsky’s beloved The Firebird Suite; selections from Mozart’s The Magic Flute; and more – Feb 6
Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra return to Carnegie Hall with a robust program of American music. Recent works by Jennifer Higdon and Samuel Adams nestle amid chestnuts by Britten, Brahms, Stravinsky, Chausson and Verdi – Feb 9 – 10
The Cleveland Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall
Back in the 1930’s, the LA Philharmonic performed William Grant Still’s music while being conducted by the composer himself. Now, Thomas Wilkins leads a program combining jazz and orchestral music, including Still’s Fourth Symphony, in William Grant Still & the Harlem Renaissance: Symphony No. 4 – Feb 17
3. opera performances this February
This month is your last chance to catch Rusalka at Paris’s Opéra Bastille before it closes – now through Feb 14
La Scala presents La Cenerentola as a celebratory closing act to the 150th anniversary of Gioachino Rossini’s death – Feb 10 – Apr 5
Verdi’s tragic jester returns in Michael Mayer’s neon-bedecked, Las Vegas–themed production of Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera in New York – Feb 12 – May 10
The Royal Opera of London takes on the Mozart classic Così fan tutte – Feb 25 – Mar 16
Cosi fan Tutte
4. jazz and new music concerts this February
In honor of the musical monarch’s centennial, The New York Pops performs the songs that made us fall in love with Nat King Cole. Hear all your treasured favorites, like “Unforgettable,” “Embraceable You,” and “When I Fall in Love,” at Unforgettable: Celebrating Nat King Cole and Friends at Carnegie Hall – Feb 8
2018 NEA Jazz Master Dianne Reeves sets the mood for Valentine’s Day weekend with her powerful voice, bold dramatic flair, and masterful control of dynamics, continuing a beloved Jazz at Lincoln Center tradition now in its eighth year – Feb 15 – 16
Dianne Reeves
Also at Jazz at Lincoln Center, six extraordinary pianists with deep connections to the legendary Oscar Peterson perform a collection of his compositions in Piano Master: The Oscar Peterson Story. The lineup features NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron, Afro-Cuban jazz legend Gonzalo Rubalcaba, rising stars Gerald Clayton and Ben Paterson, and Peterson’s protégés Robi Botos and Benny Green – Feb 22 – 23
The acclaimed contemporary string quartet Ethel performs the complete string quartets of Pulitzer prize winning composer Julia Wolfe: Dig Deep, Early that Summer, Four Marys and Blue Dress for String Quartet. This is the first performance of all of Wolfe’s string quartets at one time, on one stage at the Jewish Museum – Feb 28
visual arts
These are the art museum exhibits about which we’re most excited this February.
1. museums shows in europe, middle east and africa
Victor Vasarely: The Sharing of Forms at Centre Pompidou in Paris will span the full arc of the Hungarian-born artist’s career, starting in the 1930’s with his proto-Op experiments. The exhibit also includes examples of Vasarely’s eye-popping abstractions, which appear to warp before one’s eyes. The artist’s later works, from the ’60’s and ’70’s, respond to the look of advertising and mass media from the era – Feb 6 – May 6
The Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt will offer a survey of Bruno Gironcoli’s metal sculptures, which resemble machines from a sci-fi movie. The exhibit will focus on Gironcoli’s late works, from 1990’s and 2000’s – Feb 14 – May 12
Bruno Gironcoli
Producing Futures: An Exhibition on Post-Cyber-Feminisms at the Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst in Zurich will survey artists concerned with digital technology’s impact on the body and the relevance of cyber-feminism. The artists include Guan Xiao, Tabita Rezaire, Anicka Yi, Juliana Huxtable, and Wu Tsang among others – Feb 16 – May 12
Tate Modern’s major retrospective of Dorothea Tanning is the first in the UK since her death in 2012 at the age of 101. The show is filled with highlights from her seven-decade career. The artist published poetry and a novel while in her eighties – Feb 27 – Jun 9
2. museum shows in north and south america
The three-show series Colored People Time: Mundane Futures at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia will examine the ways in which slavery and colonialism continue to affect us all – Feb 1 – Mar 31
The Brooklyn Museum is hosting what is being billed as the largest Kahlo show in America in a decade. Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving will include the artist’s clothes, personal possessions, and examples of contemporaneous films. – Feb 8 – May 12
The Norton Museum of Art expansion opens to visitors this month in West Palm Beach. The revamp includes more than 11,000 square meters of extra gallery space. There’s also a new main entrance – Feb 9
The Norton Museum of Art
Zilia Sánchez: Soy Isla (I Am an Island) at The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. is Cuban born Sánchez’s first-ever retrospective. It will feature some 65 paintings, sculptures, sketches, and other pieces made over the course of her seven-decade career – Feb 16 – May 19
3. museum shows in asia
For the first time, precious objects, including a Qing dynasty (1644–1912) meat-shaped stone, will travel to Australia as part of the Heaven and Earth in Chinese Art exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales – Feb 2 – May 5
Roppongi Crossing, a triennial held by the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, offers something of a scene report on the Japanese contemporary art world. This year’s theme is “Connexions.” The name refers to how artists are attempting to find points of unity in an increasingly fractured cultural and political landscape. More than 20 artists have been selected for this year’s edition – Feb 9 – May 26
The Mori Art Museum
That’s it. Our top picks for the best new events in the world of the arts this February 2019. Have a brilliant month.
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