At the Grand Palais in Paris for the Georges Braque retrospective. A wonderful exhibition covering the whole of his career from his brief involvement with the Fauves, through his invention of Cubism and its development alongside Pablo Picasso, his later collage works and his final landscapes.

Braque (1882 – 1963) was one of the most important artists of the twentieth century and changed his style throughout his career. His greatest achievement was undoubtedly the development of Cubism together with Pablo Picasso.

Georges Braque ‘Le port de La Ciotat’ (1907)

Georges Braque ‘Grand nu’ (1907 – 8)

Georges Braque ‘Femme à la guitare’ (1913)

Georges Braque ‘Atelier VIII’ (1954 – 55)

Georges Braque ‘L’oiseau noir et l’oiseau blanc’ (1960)

A real bonus was that also at the Grand Palais was an exhibition of the Nabis artist Félix Vallotton (1865 – 1925) – an excellent opportunity to see works from throughout his career.

Félix Vallotton ‘Self Portrait’ (1885)

Félix Vallotton ‘Le Bain turc’ (1907)

Félix Vallotton ‘Le Chapeau violet’ (1907)

Félix Vallotton ‘Orphée dépecé par les Ménades’ (1914)

In the medieval Italian town of Ferrara – a UNESCO World Heritage site and birthplace, in 1452, of Girolamo Savonarola, architect of the infamous ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’.

Ferrara Cathedral

In Bologna, celebrating the 100th anniversary of composer Benjamin Britten at a very enjoyable performance of the opera ‘The Turn of the Screw’.

In the beautiful Austrian capital, Vienna, for the excellent ‘Matisse and the Fauves’ exhibition at the Albertina. Fascinating, colourful paintings from Matisse, Derain, de Vlaminck, et al.

Henri Matisse ‘Open Window, Collioure’ (1905)

André Derain ‘Fishing Boats, Collioure’ (1905)

Maurice de Vlaminck ‘André Derain’ (1906)

Henri Manguin ‘The Prints’ (1905)

Also a great opportunity to go to the Leopold Museum to see the Schiele and Kokoschka collections. A wonderful weekend of art!

Egon Schiele ‘Self Portrait’ (1912)

At the Guggenheim in Venice for the exhibition ‘The Avant-gardes of Fin-de-Siècle Paris’. Wonderful exhibits from the Neo-Impressionist, Nabis and Symbolist movements produced during a time of political upheaval and cultural transformation.

I particularly enjoyed seeing the works of Paul Signac, Camille Pissarro and Théo van Rysselberghe.

Paul Signac ‘Port of Saint Cast’ (1890)

Camille Pissarro ‘Flock of Sheep’ (1888)

Théo van Rysselberg ‘Canal in Flanders’ (1894)

Patrice Chéreau, the French opera and theatre director, has died at the age of 68.

He was responsible for staging what is, in my opinion, one of the greatest opera events ever filmed, the Bayreuth centenary production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, conducted by Pierre Boulez. It is still as impressive and exciting today as it was when it was made in 1976.

In more recent years I also thoroughly enjoyed his production of Janacek’s ‘From the House of the Dead’ in Aix-en-Provence.

Riccardo Chailly

In Slovenia for the Ljubljana Festival. Two wonderful concerts by the excellent Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, led by Riccardo Chailly. Last night a moving performance of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony and tonight a stirring rendition of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The lengthy standing ovation at the end of both performances were extremely well deserved – two very memorable evenings.

In the French bastide town of Belvès, Dordogne, for a very enjoyable open-air performance of Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ by Antic Disposition.

In Paris for the Rimsky-Korsakov opera-ballet ‘Le Coq d’Or’. A very colourful and enjoyable production at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, reconstructing the original 1914 Ballets Russes production with costume and set designs by Natalia Gontcharova. A really enjoyable evening.

At the wonderful Marc Chagall exhibition – ‘Entre guerre et paix’ at the Musée du Luxembourg. Beautiful and mysterious scenes from his life in Russia, France and the USA.

Marc Chagall ‘Au-dessus de Vitebsk’ (1915 – 1920)

Marc Chagall ‘Songe d’une Nuit d’Ete’ (1939)

Marc Chagall ‘The Dance’ (1950 – 52)