FOR two hours, I was transported into the world of Giselle, a ballet based on an old, poetic legend about two girls who were engaged to be married, but died before their wedding-day.

The surreal setting notwithstanding, it was the graceful ballerinas and the live orchestra that left an indelible impression on me.

The audience gave a standing ovation at the end of the performance.

Attending ballet, theatre, and opera performances are part and parcel of a Muscovite's life. The week I was in Moscow, I was lucky to catch Giselle at the 900-seat New Stage, a temporary performance hall which is standing in for the Bolshoi Theatre next door, currently undergoing its first head-to-toe renovation.

"Temporary" is actually misleading - the three-year-old New Stage is a world-class performance venue built in the grand Russian style, with arched ceilings and splendid chandeliers. The performances are just as fabulous. The only complaint anyone could possibly have is the fact that its performance schedule these days is greatly reduced.

According to my guide Irina, no one really knows when the renovation of the Bolshoi Theatre (www.bolshoi.ru) will be completed. "Some people said there are problems with financing. Others said the sheer size of the construction is going to take a while. What we know is that the Bolshoi will probably be ready only after 2008," she said.

The new Bolshoi Theatre will have its crumbling exterior repaired, its original yellowish-gold colour restored, and a new backstage installed. It will hopefully not lose the grandeur of Albert Kavos' 1856 vision of the Bolshoi Theatre, which was reconstructed from the original theatre that opened in 1780, but subsequently burnt down on several occasions.

That the Bolshoi sits on Teatralnaya Square - so named because of its vibrant arts scene - is no surprise. On the east side of the square is the Maly (small) Theatre, identifiable by a statue of the great 19th-century playwright Aleksandr Ostrovskiy (1823-1886) in front of it. On the west is the Russian Academic Youth Theatre. Walk further west and you will find two other theatres - the Yermolova Theatre and the Moscow Arts Theatre. The latter was the venue for the premiere of dramatist Anton Chekhov's famous play "The Cherry Orchard".

With its rich arts heritage, Moscow is a magnet for arts enthusiasts. Just ask 21-year-old Song Ziliang, a Singaporean who is currently studying at the Moscow Conservatory (www.mosconsv.ru), an institute founded in 1866 by composer Nikolay Rubeinstein (1835-1881), and where Tchaikovsky once taught.

Says Mr Song: "Once I decided to be a concert pianist, the Moscow Conservatory was the natural choice because of its great history of nurturing legendary musicians. Great pianists such as Sviatoslav Richter, and of more recent vintage, Mikhail Pletnev and Nikolai Lugansky, were once its students.

"Another reason that attracted me to Moscow is her cultural vibrancy. Every evening in the Russian capital, there are numerous concerts, operas and theatre productions. It can be quite a challenge to decide where to head when one may have Maxim Vengerov performing in the Conservatory's Great Hall and a production of Eugene Onegin at the Bolshoi Theatre on the same evening."

Indeed, accessibility to world-class performances and walking the streets that poet Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) and pianist Aleksandr Skryabin (1872-1915) once tread, are the very reasons why Moscow continues to attract as well as nurture aspiring artists the world over.

YOUR TICKETS TO WORLD-CLASS PERFORMANCES

It is advisable to book your tickets to performances in advance through one of the international hotels, such as the recently opened Swissotel Krasnye Holmy (http://moscow.swissotel.com/).

Alternatively, you can also get tickets at the door, but avoid the touts outside most of the big theatres like the Bolshoi Theatre; what they try to sell you may not be genuine.

From March 1, Singapore Airlines will fly three times weekly to Moscow. Visit singaporeair.com for more information

Photos: Leong Phei Phei