Best bets

NCPA Opera Commission Fang Zhimin

Date: Aug 15-18 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Centre for the Performing Arts

The opera follows the keynote of the 1930s' revolutionist Fang Zhimin's masterpiece Lovely China, and bridges two space-times of "the Present" and "the Past" by means of characters' ideological conflicts and emotional impacts. "The Present" highlights that Fang Zhimin continues the fight in another "more tenacious way" in jail: in the face of torture and trial in jail, Fang Zhimin is always unyielding, especially when military judge Hu Yi attempts to "destroy Fang's faith" or lures him by "meeting with Fang's wife MiaoMin in jail". "The Past" focuses on the events with greatest impact on Fang Zhimin at different stages to form his personality. In the last moments of his life, space-times of "the Present" and "the Past" blend in one. At the same time, Fang Zhimin's dream in Lovely China with striking literary grace has already come true one by one in today's China.

Klimt Experience

Date: Aug 11-Oct 13 - 10 am

Venue: Hongqiao Art Center

The figures and landscapes of Klimt's art are the absolute protagonists of this immersive representation dedicated to the founding father of the Vienna Secession, who, together with other artists, cultivated the myth of the total work of art and the dream of a democratization of creativity and that which is beautiful. Works such as The Kiss, The Tree of Life, or Judith I, have become part of popular culture, but Klimt is still an artist about whom there is much to discover and, above all, to recount. This is the aim of the show: to entertain, intrigue and amaze a public young and old, inviting them to delve into the knowledge of the man and the artist, about his work and style, with the spectacular display of details and pictorial technique. Forty-five minutes in which images, lights, colors, music, and sound envelop the audience, bonding with the allure of the location. Thus a fusion of technology and architecture is achieved, capable of giving the illusion of being transported on an incredible journey through Klimt's work.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in Concert

Date: Aug 11-12 - 7:15 pm

Venue: Shanghai Grand Theater

Experience classic films with live orchestral accompaniment in the spectacular surroundings of the Shanghai Grand Theatre. A score played live by a full orchestra is probably the closest you will ever get to feeling like part of the film. Audiences will be able to relive the magical adventure of Harry Potter's second year at school like never before. This concert features Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in high-definition. Experience the wonder of talking spiders, scolding letters, and giant snakes all over again.

Three-Body Problem in Shenzhen

Date: Oct 12-14 - 8 pm

Venue: Friendship Theater

During the "culture revolution" (1966-76), astronomer Ye Wenjie after going through all the hardships of life is recruited into "Red Coast Base", a top-secret military base. She uses the sun as a transmitter and sends a message to the Universe, making a breakthrough in the search for extraterrestrial civilization. Three stars move unpredictably, so for four light years Trisolaran civilization underwent total destruction and rebirth and now forced to flee from their parent star. Just at this time, they receive a message from the Earth. Ye Wenjie, who lost her hope for humankind, exposes the Earth coordinates to Trisolarans, thus absolutely changing the fate of mankind! Thirty-six years later, the Earth's basic scientific research faces abnormal interference. Nanomaterials researcher Wang Miao tries to find the answers by playing a mystical online game called "Three-body". While participating at player's meeting, he finds out that the Earth is awaiting the arrival of Trisolarans and they established a secret organization ETO (Earth-Trisolaris Organization), approaching the truth of Trisolaran world step by step.

Wagner Opera: Der fliegende Hollander

Date: Shanghai Grand Theater

Venue: Sept 13-15 - 7:15 pm

Der fliegende Hollander (The Flying Dutchman) was Richard Wagner's fourth full-length opera and his first considered masterpiece. And it's fitting that the opera that helped to cement the controversial composer's legacy deals with a familiar maritime tale - the legend of the Flying Dutchman. Wagner's version retells the haunting story of an undead ship captain doomed to an endless journey across the seas. His wandering will not cease until he can find and keep a faithful and true love - an accomplishment put even further out of reach, considering he can only come ashore once every seven years. Wagner was just 29 when he conducted the world premiere of Der Fliegende Hollander in Dresden. But as his compositional skills had continued to develop, he would revisit his earlier masterpiece several times for revisions. As Berger points out, Hollander is a great example of a work that indicates a vastly different creative period of the composer - while still bearing the unmistakable marks of that composer's creativity. He makes a deft comparison to the creative trajectory of The Beatles, drawing a parallel between their earliest album and their later boundary-pushing output. Der Fliegende Hollander and Der Ring des Nibelungen, much like an early and later Beatles album, "are two different art forms and yet you can tell they're the same people," says Berger."

World of Ghibli in China

Date: Aug 11-Oct 7 - 10 am

Venue: Shanghai World Financial Center

The exhibition, which will run till Oct 7, comprises two sectors: "the artistic world of Ghibli - in memory of the 30th anniversary of the release of My Neighbor Totoro, and Castle in the Sky - Ghibli's flying dreams. During the exhibition, visitors can admire the 285 paintings and manuscripts made by the studio's masters, ride in the Tatsuo's bus featured in My Neighbor Totoro, be a guest to Satsuki and Mei's house - a half-size replica of the building described in the original works for My Neighbor Totoro, and view the 8-meter-long airship featured in Castle in the Sky. Befitting the exhibition's sky-high venue on the 94th floor of the iconic tower, the "World of Ghibli in China" features a number of the studio's high-flying creations, including an 8-meter-long replica of the airship in "Castle in the Sky." Also on display is a history of human flight in Ghibli's trademark cartoon style.