CREF - Centre of Russian, English & French Studies
Private language school in Saint Petersburg, Moscow & Nizhni-Novgorod.
Universities and private schools offer Russian language courses individual and group tuition.
Opera and ballet
St. Petersburg Opera
An intimate theater half-sized stage, and only about 150-200 audience seats which puts on the major repertory operas at a lower price than the major theaters and has a fascinating foyer - one has to see it to believe it.
Mariinsky Theater
The Mariinsky Theater formerly the Kirov, which is the name the troupe still uses when touring abroad is world-class for both opera and ballet. There are English supertitles for operas sung in Russian; operas in other languages have Russian supertitles. Performances are offered in two halls: the main theater, and the newly-built Mariinsky Concert Hall. Tickets can be purchased on the theater's website.
Conservatory Theater
While the hall itself is not lavish - quite sterile, really - a good option for seeing Russian and repertory operas cheaply, performed by faculty and students of the conservatory where Tchaikovsky and many other famous figures from the Russian music world studied.
Mikhailovskiy Theater
The exterior is not as recognizable as the Mariinsky, but the interior is nearly as grand, and the theater hosts both Russian and foreign headliners in opera and ballet.
No trip to St. Petersburg is complete without seeing an opera or ballet performance. The Mariinsky is perhaps the most well-known institution, but it is by no means the only theater in the city. Tickets are sold throughout the city at kiosks and shops called Teatralnaya Kassa, which charge a nominal usually about 20 RR fee for "insurance," which is theoretically optional. The theater box offices themselves sell tickets directly, too, and usually for the same price. Sometimes blocks of tickets sell out at the kiosks but tickets are still available at the theater, or vice versa, so it is worth checking both places if you have your heart set on a particular performance. It is possible to take not-so-small children into some performances if you take a private box, although you will need to ask when you buy your tickets.
Concerts
Jazz Philharmonic Hall
Offers a variety of jazz performances several times per week.
Oktyabrskiy Concert Hall
Pop and rock concerts in an auditorium close to the city center.
St. Petersburg Philharmonic Grand Hall
A world-class orchestra which records and tours abroad. The Small Hall Maliy Saal hosts excellent chamber music performances and recitals.
St. Petersburg Philharmonic Small Hall
The Small Hall Maliy Saal of the Philharmonic hosts excellent chamber music performances and recitals.
Ice Palace (Ledoviy Dvorets)
One of several sports arenas that also serves as a concert hall for pop and rock concerts.
The music scene in St. Petersburg is diverse, with several classical, jazz, and pop concerts to choose from each week. Tickets are available at the same Teatralnaya Kassa locations as ballet and opera tickets, although tickets to pop concerts - especially US and European stars on tour - sometimes use exclusive distributors. For pop and rock concerts, unless you buy tickets for the dance floor tanzpol, you are expected to sit quietly in your seat as if you were at a ballet - ushers are vigilant about keeping the audience from standing up, dancing, or cheering polite applause is allowed, but that's about all.
Several of the ballet and opera theaters above also offer orchestral and recital performances, so those are not repeated below. Also, don't forget the many small clubs where up and coming bands play.
Canal boat tours
Anglotourismo Boat Tours
Canal boat tours in English, departing from near the Anichkov Bridge Nevksy Prospekt and Fontanka in season May 2 - Sept 30.
A tour of the canals by boat is a great way to see the city in the summer. The typical tour is through the Moika, out to the Neva to see the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Cruiser Aurora, then in through the Fontanka sometimes as far as the Mariinsky Theater. Tours start at many points along the route and return to their starting point - hawkers for different boat companies abound - and the boats may or may not have a cafe and toilet on board. Almost all tours are in Russian. 400-600 Rubles seems to be the average price.
Film
Dom Kino
Sometimes shows films in their original language.
Avrora Cinema
Most cinemas in St. Petersburg show Hollywood films dubbed in Russian. Art cinemas like Dom Kino often show independent American or British movies subtitled in Russian. DVDs of American/European films are also often dubbed. There have been crackdowns on sellers of bootleg DVDs, so it may be difficult or expensive to find DVDs in English these days. There are several DVD stores in the city - often near Metro stations - and it is worth asking about films in English.
Annual Message to Man (http://www.message-to-man...) international documentary, short, and animated films festival takes place in June or July, screening many films in English.