The Birch

…Do you like opera? Do you like four hour epics by all-star Russian casts that haven’t been performed at the Metropolitan Opera in over ten years? Then you should check out Modest Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina, because it is starting this today…

…Oh, you prefer the visual to the musical? Then you might be interested in listening to Sound of Silence: Art During Dictatorship, an exhibit at the EFA (with beer from the Brooklyn Brewery!) featuring nine young artists from Belarus in solidarity with public protests against the December 2010 elections. The opening reception is today from 6-8 PM, but it runs until March 10th. Feast your eyes…

…What’s that? You’re more into film? By “film,” do you mean Hipsters, a “candy-colored musical” set in Moscow in 1955 as youths flirt with protest by trying to introduce the American jazz scene to Russia, currently playing at Cinema Village? Because, if so, do we have a silver screen for you…

…Or, you could go to the Film Society of Lincoln Center on February 28th to see Man of Iron, in which case you could find out more on the website of the Polish Cultural Institute…

…If you prefer stage to screen, you could head to the Central Public Library in Brooklyn on March 3rd for a reading of Ask Joseph, a new play by Steps Theatre. It draws inspiration from the plays of Anton Chekhov and the prose of Joseph Brodsky. If you’re intrigued (and, really, why wouldn’t you be), there’s no need to ask Joseph for more information—just do some reading of your own right here…

…And, finally, the Harriman Institute right here at Columbia is bringing us a talk on The Institute of the History of Ukraine: History and Activity by Dr. Oskana Yurkova on February 28th; a lecture on Berezovsky vs. Abramovich: English Justice Meets Russian Business given by Victoria Koroteyeva and moderated by Katharina Pistor on February 29th, and a conference on March 2nd and March 3rd on Labor Migration in the Post-Soviet World. Information on all three events is available on the Harriman Institute’s website…