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THINGS TO DO

GOOD FOR KIDS

NEW IN MANHATTAN

In Motion Workshop

Feb. 12 at 11:45 a.m.

Rose Building at Lincoln Center

Join the artists of New York City Ballet in this 45-minute, pre-performance exploration of the music, movement, and themes of a ballet. For ages 9-12. $14.
Kids.LincolnCenter.org

Sword Dance Family Performance

Feb. 18 at 1 p.m.

Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Ave.

Join us for this special performance as part of the 32nd annual New York Sword Dance Festival, which brings an ancient winter celebration to life with fast-paced rapper sword and mysterious long-sword dancing. The dancers are linked in a ring by swords as they weave ever more complex figures in this modern display of skill—a New York tradition adapted from English and European customs. Suggested $18. MCNY.org

Storytime at the Atrium: Jerry Pinkney

Feb. 18 at 11 a.m.

David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center

Classic tales and stories of the African-American experience by a legendary illustrator. For ages 2-5. Free. Kids.LincolnCenter.org

Baby Got Bach: String ‘Stravaganza

Feb. 18 at 10 a.m.

Weill Art Gallery at 92Y 1395 Lexington Ave.

Play with real musical instruments, get hands-on experience with musical concepts and play together on percussion instruments at a Jam Session. $20. 92Y.org

Presidents Day

Feb. 19 at 11 a.m.

Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Ave.

Travel back in time with a New York-inspired presidential scavenger hunt throughout the Museum! Then create your own colorful mini magazine—or ‘zine’—to illustrate U.S. presidential candidates from New York City throughout time. Suggested $18. MCNY.org

Winter Scene Painting

Feb. 22 at 11 a.m.

Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Ave.

What does a New York City winter look like? Explore images from the Museum’s Collections Portal to discover how painters and photographers have depicted New York City winter scenes throughout time. Then use paint and your imagination to create your own wonderful winter artwork! Suggested $18. MCNY.org

NEW ELSEWHERE

The Orchid Show: Thailand

Feb. 18-April 9

New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Blvd., Bronx

Thailand is home to more than 1,200 native orchid species and over the last century it has become the leading exporter of cultivated tropical orchids in the world. Native and hybrid orchids alike have become synonymous with the nation, where the environment is so hospitable to orchids that the dazzling flowers even grow on the trees that line public streets. $20. NYBG.org

TALKS

NEW IN MANHATTAN

New York at Its Core Seminar Day: Rhythm & Power

Feb. 11 at 3 p.m.

Museum of City of New York, 1220 Fifth Ave.

On this special one-day-only event, learn the history of the city by embracing its many beats, from salsa to Sondheim. Bring literacy, science, geography, and history into your classroom via gallery tours and music, dance, and art workshops. Free with RSVP. MCNY.org

Power at Ground Zero

Feb. 15 at 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.

Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Ave.

Join Lynne Sagalyn, Professor of Real Estate at the Columbia Business School, for a conversation with Eliot Brown, reporter for The Wall Street Journal, about her new book. Power at Ground Zero dissects the complicated, expensive, and emotionally supercharged reconstruction of the 16 acres in Manhattan's Financial Distri Twin Towers collapsed. $10-$20. MCNY.org

Lecture: Boucher’s Triumph of Venus

March 1 at 6:30 p.m.

The Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Ave.

Brilliant and ambitious in conception and organization, its complex interlocking figures modeled with supreme assurance: It is generally acknowledged that Boucher’s “Triumph of Venus” is the artist’s greatest mythological painting. Colin B. Bailey, Director of the Morgan Library & Museum, traces Boucher’s process and examines the tradition of marine mythologies. $10-$15. TheMorgan.org

VISUAL ARTS

NEW IN MANHATTAN

Turner’s Modern and Ancient Ports: Passages Through Time

Feb. 23-May 14

The Frick Collection, 1 E. 70th St.

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), nineteenth-century Britain’s greatest land- and seascape artist, depicted ports throughout his career, both in monumental oil paintings and in watercolors. $22 adults, $17 seniors, $12 students. Frick.org

The Mysterious Landscapes of Hercules Segers

Feb. 13-May 21

The Met Fifth Avenue

Using a unique array of techniques that still puzzles scholars today, Hercules Segers (circa 1589-1638), the great Dutch experimental printmaker, created otherworldly landscapes of astonishing originality. $12-$25 suggested. METMuseum.org

Small Wonders: Gothic Boxwood Miniatures

Feb. 22-May 21

The Met Cloisters, 99 Margaret Corbin Dr.

Small in scale, yet teeming with life, miniature boxwood carvings have been a source of wonder since their creation in the Netherlands in the 16th century. On these intricately carved objects—some measuring a mere two inches (five centimeters) in diameter—the miracles and drama of the Bible unfold on a tiny stage. $12-$25 suggested. METMuseum.org

Images of Value: The Artwork Behind US Security Engraving

1830s-1980s

Feb. 22-April 29

The Grolier Club, 47 E. 60th St.

From beautiful genre and Civil War watercolor drawings of the nineteenth century, to large allegorical oil paintings of the twentieth century, to a range of prints and photographs of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the art that graced currency and securities can be seen, paired with the bank notes and securities on which the resulting engravings appeared. Free. GrolierClub.org

ENDING IN MANHATTAN

Pierre Gouthiere: Virtuoso Gilder at the French Court

Through Feb. 19

The Frick Collection, 1 E. 70th St.

The Frick Collection is organizing the first exhibition to focus on Pierre Gouthiere (1732-1813), the great French bronze chaser and gilder who worked for Louis XV and Louis XVI. Frick.org

EVERETT HISTORICAL/SHUTTERSTOCK

Beethoven
on Film:
Symphonies
Nos. 5 and 6

Feb. 12 at 1:30 p.m.

Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center

Two German-born Austrian conductors offer unique—and now immortal—Beethoven interpretations. Go behind the scenes at a rehearsal of the “Pastoral” Symphony with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. $15.
LCGreatPerformers.org

PERFORMING ARTS

NEW IN MANHATTAN

Werther

Feb. 16-March 9

The Metropolitan Opera

Tenor sensation Vittorio Grigolo is Werther, the young poet who seeks the unattainable love of the beautiful Charlotte, sung by mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard. Edward Gardner conducts Richard Eyre’s visual feast of a production. From $25. MetOpera.org

La Traviata

Feb. 24-April 14

The Metropolitan Opera

Sonya Yoncheva sings one of opera’s most beloved heroines, the tragic courtesan Violetta, a role in which she triumphed on the Met stage in 2015, opposite Michael Fabiano as her lover, Alfredo, and Thomas Hampson as his father, Germont. Carmen Giannattasio sings later performances of the title role opposite Atalla Ayan, with the great Placido Domingo as Germont. Nicola Luisotti conducts. From $25. MetOpera.org

Then, Now + Next: A Five Week Journey Into Dance

Feb. 24-March 25

92Y, 1395 Lexington Ave.

Entering its 23rd season, Harkness Dance Festival continues to be the definitive platform for groundbreaking dancers and choreographers and some of the year’s most exciting and unforgettable performances. 92Y.org

ONGOING IN MANHATTAN

The Sleeping Beauty

Feb. 8-19

David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center

Featuring luxurious sets and costumes, Tschaikovsky’s glorious score, and a cast of fantastical characters, it’s the ultimate romantic fairytale. $30-$175. NYCBallet.com

I Puritani

Feb. 10-28

The Metropolitan Opera

The art of bel canto will take center stage in Bellini’s lyrical jewel. The electrifying Diana Damrau is Elvira, gripped by madness and love; Javier Camarena, a sensation in his recent appearances in other bel canto works, takes on the role of her beloved and heroic Arturo; and Alexey Markov and Luca Pisaroni are the soldiers caught up in the English Civil War. Maurizio Benini conducts. From $25. MetOpera.org

MUSIC

NEW IN MANHATTAN

Mendelssohn on Fire

Feb. 10 & 12 at 7:30 p.m.

Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center

Mendelssohn’s dazzling first trio raised the excitement bar for all piano trios to come. Before listeners rise to their feet at the finale’s conclusion, they’ll be left breathless by Schubert’s and Mendelssohn’s turbulent string quartets. Mozart’s sublimely meditative Adagio briefly breaks this program’s whirlwind pace before the fleet-fingered Mendelssohn has the final word. $38-$78. ChamberMusicSociety.org

Morgenstern Trio

Feb. 12 at 11 a.m.

Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center

Recipient of the prestigious Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio Award in 2010, this German piano trio has earned international renown. $22. LCGreatPerformers.org

Beethoven on Film: Missa Solemnis

Feb. 12 at 3:30 p.m.

Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center

Illustrious German conductor Wolfgang Sawallisch comes to life on the big screen in this epic performance of the Missa solemnis from 1970. Sung by opera legends before an audience including Pope Paul VI, Beethoven’s Mass reaches ecstatic new heights within the grandeur of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Directed by Franco Zeffirelli. $15. LCGreatPerformers.org

Five Boroughs Songbook Volume II

Feb. 11 & 12

Jerome Robbins Theater, 450 W 37th St.

Commissioned in honor of our 10th Anniversary season in 2016-2017, the Songbook is a thrilling musical journey across NYC: an exploration of the city’s rich artistic and cultural legacy and a celebration of its most manifold musical talent. $20-$40. 5BMF.org

The English Renaissance and the Catholic Tradition

Feb. 12 at 4 p.m.

Corpus Christi Church, 529 W. 121st St.

As English Catholicism gave way to Anglicanism, some composers, especially the great William Byrd, refused to convert. Movements for a composite mass by the mightiest Catholic composers from three generations—Taverner, Talks, and Byrd—are interspersed with motets by Fayrfax and Nesbet. James Bassi guest conducts the quintessential Choir of Corpus Christi Church. $20-$45. MB1800.org

What Is American? PubliOuartet & Orchestra

Feb. 16 at 7 p.m.

The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditoriuma at The Met Fifth Avenue

What does “American music” really mean? PUBLIQuartet leads a conductorless orchestra in collaboration with the Mannes School of Music, reworking American string quartet pieces for chamber orchestra and using full ensemble improvisation to question the definition and image of “American” music. Suggested $12-$25. MetMuseum.org

C’est Si Bon

Feb. 20 at 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church, 152 West 66 Street

Edouard Lalo’s String Quartet in Eb Major Op. 45: unique, and dramatic at times, the impressive quartet with soaring melodies and a flair for rhythm and color, includes a Scherzo of Spanish origin $10-$25. JupiterSymphony.com

Beethoven Symphonies Nos.7&8

Feb. 22-25

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center

Beethoven’s sparkling Eighth Symphony and infectiously rhythmic Seventh. Herbert Blomstedt conducts. $31-$130. NYPhil.org

The Father of Opera and His Jewish Coeval

Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.

The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium at The Met Fifth Avenue

They were two giants of Italian music: One Catholic and hugely famous, one Jewish and utterly forgotten. Claudio Monteverdi “invented” opera; Salomone Rossi—Monteverdi’s contemporary in age, education, and stature—revolutionized Jewish concert music with compositions for Hebrew prayers, yet today, few know his name. Enter Profeti della Quinta, a young, male vocal quintet from Galilee, on a mission to change that. Suggested $12-$25. MetMuseum.org

The Voice of Melody

Feb. 25 at 8 p.m.

150 W. 83rd St.

Each of the 12 members of Stile Antico has chosen one musical gem drawn from five centuries of glorious repertoire, including Orlando Gibbons’ uplifting “O Clap Your Hands,” William Byrd’s exciting “Vigilate,” and works by the prolific Thomas Tallis. $30-$45. MillerTheatre.com

French Fete

Feb. 26 at 2:30 p.m.

St. Jean Baptiste Church, 184 East 76th St

The Dessoff Choirs turns the church into a petit Paris with an all-French program that puts the spotlight on the brilliant French Impressionists of music: Marcel Dupre, Claude Debussy, Lili Boulanger, Reynaldo Hahn, Jean Langlais, and Francis Poulenc. $15-$35. Dessoff.org