4 Best Performing Arts in Moscow, Russia

This world-renowned theater continues to produce innovative shows, despite a string of recent scandals—including the resignation of its two ballet stars and an acid attack on its artistic director. The Russian flair for set and costume design alone can often be enough to keep an audience enthralled. Performances on the main stage sell out quickly, so order tickets far in advance. Tickets for the second stage next to the main theater are easier to come by.

Buoyed with funding from oligarchs like Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich, the center has become one of Moscow's hottest venues for international and Russian contemporary art. There's a good café here, too.

Opened in 1923 as a theater for railroad workers, this revamped, stunningly creative space is the hub of Moscow's contemporary theater scene. The schedule includes plays directed by top Russian directors as well as dance, film, and music.

Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, and Tchaikovsky are among the famous composers who have worked here. The acoustics of the magnificent Great Hall are superb, and portraits of the world's great composers hang above the high balcony. The adjacent Small Hall is usually reserved for chamber-music concerts.