10 Best Performing Arts Venues in City Center, St. Petersburg

One of St. Petersburg's best-kept secrets is its oldest concert hall, dating to the 1780s and presenting choral events as well as symphonic, instrumental, and vocal concerts. Many famous musicians, including Glinka and Rimsky-Korsakov, have performed in this elegant space along the Moika, near the Alexander Pushkin Apartment Museum and the Winter Palace. The main entrance and the surrounding courtyards have been beautifully restored.

The former home of Prince Beloselsky-Belozersky, a rose-color neobaroque palace, has a large mirrored ballroom that hosts concerts.

For chamber and vocal music, head to this small theater, part of the Shostakovich Philharmonic (it's just around the corner from the main hall of the Philharmonic). It's also known as the Maly Zal (Small Hall).

This glorious and highly unusual theater in the Hermitage mainly hosts the St. Petersburg Camerata, a fine but often overlooked chamber ensemble. The theater doesn't have a box office, so purchase tickets at a theater kiosk or via your concierge. The entrance is reached via the museum's staff entrance at 34 Dvortsovaya embankment.

Lovers of contemporary classical music flock here to hear pieces written by its members—look for names such as Sergei Slonimsky, Boris Tishchenko, and Andrey Petrov—and their students at the conservatory.

Chamber music concerts are held here in atmospheric salons.

Many of the concerts organized at St. Petersburg's most historic venues are run by Peterburg Concert. These concerts are not usually of the same high standard found at other musical events in the city, but they are a much better bet than most of the events organized especially for tourist groups. Tickets can be bought directly from the Peterburg Concert offices.

Charming evening concerts are held in authentic surroundings. The museum displays memorabilia related to Russia's greatest composers, musicians, conductors, and dancers.

Chamber concerts are held in one of the grand rooms of this palace that also houses Russia's national collection of musical instruments.

Two excellent symphony orchestras perform in the Philharmonic's newly refurbished grand concert hall (Bolshoy Zal): the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Academic Philharmonic (a fine outfit, although it's officially the B-team). Both troupes have long, illustrious histories of collaboration with some of Russia's finest composers, and many famous works have premiered in this hall.