The evening of May 30, and two more shots of culture.

2757  Vasily Perov's Monastery Refectory from 1876.  I could go on and on about the symbolism of this painting but I'll spare you the pain.

2819 Tamara, Rod, Diana, Olga and the Red Mercedes Van.

2839 The singer and pianist on the ship.

2909 The Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral at sunset.

 

 

5/30 Continued

 

Just before dinner we had some guest artists on the ship.  Both perform at the Mariinski Theater, the Bolshoi of Saint Petersburg.  I'm sorry but their names escape me.  The soprano is from the USA but lives, trains and performs here in Russia.  The pianist is Russian.  Together they performed some arias and a few character songs.  The pianist played a piano sonata.  It was very good, I guess I should say I enjoyed it.  Not really experienced enough to judge the quality of opera.  The pianist was great!

 

After dinner it was back on the bus for the ride downtown to the Conservatory for a second shot at Swan Lake.  Everyone in the cast was the same except the Magician.  He was played by a much younger man who was a great dancer.  The Joker was still the best in the cast.

 

On the drive back to the ship we had a very nice sunset that I managed to catch behind the silhouette of the Peter & Paul Fortress

 

How about, an art museum, the opera and ballet all in the same day.  The culture trifecta!!  A first for me.