What to do and see in London this week, Wednesday 2nd July to 9th July: the coolest, cultural, current events in London as selected by the Culture Whisper team.

After the ‘Grand Départ’ this Thursday 3rd July, we look forward to the final of the three stages in the UK section of the   Tour de France: Trafalgar Square will see rush past  t hose crazy kids competing for the yellow jersey in the most physically challenging race ever devised.  If trifling matters such as work and school present an obstacle, never fear: you can watch the first and second stages (Leeds to Harrogate and York to Sheffield) from fan parks in Green Park and Trafalgar Square over the weekend. 

The Two Cultures 

There’s often a fair bit of crossover between cyclists and scientists (don’t ask us why) meaning geekier Culture Whisperers may find themselves torn between the Tour and the Royal Society   Summer Science Exhibition  2014  (1st to 6th July). Covering the latest innovations in UK science and tech, it includes exhibits on such varied and fascinating subjects as devices for dogs, the Milky Way, insects’ ears and Higgs Boson . Free for all ages.

Talking of two cultures, bridging the gap between tech and art is Digital Revolution at the Barbican, as how which examines the way in which one discipline informs the other, with spectacular results (Google is calling it ‘DevArt’ and has a gallery in the show). 

Sciences and humanities thoroughly reconciled? Good. In that case we invite you take a stroll through Piccadilly and Mayfair. At the Royal Academy, Radical Geometry brings South America’s ‘geometric art’ back to London, showcasing artists who haven’t been seen in London since the Hayward Gallery’s landmark exhibition in 1989. According to the critics, the time has well and truly come for the continent’s radical 20th-century abstraction. 

Arts festivals in London

Old Master treasures, meanwhile, are to be found in the galleries in and around Cork Street and Bond Street, which have clubbed together to organise London Art Week 2014, a chance to go behind the scenes of some of London’s grandest and oldest dealers. 

RADA (the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) is inviting visitors behind the stage curtain too, for a festival (2nd to 12th July) showcasing the work of its students and staff. Expect a huge range of new and devised work, from cabaret to improv, and including a Three Sisters performed by clowns, and a re-telling of the Fall.  

Who could resist a film festival with the toe-tapping title, Gotta Dance, Gotta Dance! (5th July - 22nd Aug)? Musical movement on screen is served up by the BFI in a typically imaginative programme including the obvious greats alongside some more avant-garde offerings too (we’re holding out for Pina in 3D, an homage to the great choreographer by Wim Wenders).

London musical tales

West Side Story is part of the BFI’s programme, naturally, but the greatest musical of the 20th century gets a showing at the Royal Albert Hall (Friday 4th to Sunday 6th July) this weekend too. Fans of Leonard Bernstein's fantastic score can hear the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra perform it live, while the film itself, complete with vocals and dialogue, plays in HD on a big screen.

Ben Folds’s wonderful and somewhat weird career post-Nineties chart success with alt-rock outfit Ben Folds Five has include collaborations with William Shatner, Nick Hornby, Neil Gaiman and Regina Spektor. Now the critically-respected singer-songwriter is bringing a piano concerto, no less, to the Barbican for a live performance accompanied by his Heritage Orchestra.

Looking for something on a grander scale? You can find music described as ‘cathedrals in sound’ on Thursday 3rd July, when the London Symphony Orchestra will be performing Bruckner’s 9th Symphony in St Paul’s Cathedral as part of the City of London Festival.

And finally... Book now London

In recent years, London’s major museums have become ever more imaginative in the ways they open to the public outside of normal hours. We’re big fans of the V&A’s evening talks, which lure in famous names to talk about their specialism in intimate surroundings. On Tuesday 8th July, designer Bruce Oldfield will be talking about fashion and his career dressing Diana, Sienna Miller, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Charlotte Rampling.

Finally, the Royal Opera House’s hotly-anticipated production of Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda opens on 5th July, and tickets are still available. Acclaimed US mezzo soprano Joyce DiDonato, an opera superstar, stars in the story of Tudor queens Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart.

Enjoy.

The Culture Whisper team.

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