The cultural scene in Warsaw was already strong before the fall of Communism but has diversified and opened up considerably ever since, although some state financed performers have suffered. Polish theatre is world-renowned and numerous companies are based in Warsaw. You'll also find music, dance and modern art installations in many venues.

There is a great sense of pride in Frederic Chopin in the Polish capital. Born in 1810, in nearby Zelazowa Wola, the musician moved shortly thereafter to Warsaw, where he remained until he left for Paris in 1830. The Grammy Award winner Krzysztof Penderecki had his debut during the Warsaw Autumn festival in 1959. Poland's golden age, in terms of art and culture, undoubtedly was the Sarmatism (Polish Baroque) period from 1572 to 1764. The dress, sculpture and painting of the period reflect the lifestyle of the Polish nobility - familiar to most in the costume of the 'Winged Hussars'.

Warsaw has a number of world-class cultural institutions, including the National Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Theatre. The main cultural season runs from September to July, although there are often summer festivals featuring outdoor concerts held on the Old Town Square and in Warsaw's parks. Jazz fans should look out for the Warsaw Summer Jazz Days (July-August) and the JVC Jazz Festival Warsaw (October).

The Warsaw Tourist Information Points have a useful weekly and annual online calendar of cultural events (website: www.warsawtour.pl). The Warsaw Voice (in English) includes a weekly listing of events, as does the monthly Warsaw Insider and the free What's Up Warsaw. In addition to the venues themselves, you can often buy tickets at Eventim, Aleje Jerozolimskie 25 (tel: (022) 621 9454; website: www.eventim.pl), or at Empik, Ulica Nowy Swiat 15/17 (tel: (022) 627 0650; website: www.empik.com).

Music: The main orchestra in Warsaw is the Filharmonia Narodowa (National Philharmonic), also called the Warsaw Philharmonic (tel: (022) 551 7128; website: www.filharmonia.pl), Ulica Sienkieicza 10. The company includes both symphonic and chamber players, with separate entrances for each hall - Ulica Sienkiewicza 10 (symphony concerts) and Ulica Moniuszki 5 (chamber concerts).

Teatr Narodowy (National Theatre), Plac Teatralny 1 (tel: (022) 692 0208; website: www.teatrwielki.pl), comprises the Teatr Wielki (Grand Theatre) and Opera Narodowa (National Opera) and was built between 1825-1833. Opera and ballet performances run most evenings during the season (September to May). Warszawska Opera Kameralna (Warsaw Chamber Opera), Aleja Solidarności 76B (tel: (022) 831 2240; website: www.operakameralna.pl), performs at a variety of venues throughout Warsaw.

The popular Buffo Theatre, Ulica Konopnickiej 6 (tel: (022) 625 4709; website: www.studiobuffo.com.pl), offers lighter music, from Elvis Presley to pre-war Polish movie songs and musicals. Large-scale productions, such as Aïda, are held in the big Sala Moniuszki, in the National Theatre (see above), which has one of the largest stages in Europe.

Theatre: The Roma Musical Theatre, Ulica Nowogrodzka 49 (tel: (022) 628 0360; website: www.teatrroma.pl), stages productions of Broadway-type hits, folk music theatre and some matinees for children. The Teatr Żydowski (Jewish Theatre), Plac Grzybowski 12/16 (tel: (022) 620 7025; website: www.teatr-zydowski.art.pl), is a full-time Yiddish-language theatre company. The Globe Theatre Group (tel: (022) 678 7764; website: www.globetheatre.art.pl) is Poland's professional English-language theatre group.

Dance: Ballet and modern dance performances are part of the National Theatre's regular programme (see Music above).

Film: Kanal (1956), directed by Andrzej Wajda, is based on the resistance movement and the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, when people used the sewers under the city to bypass the restrictions placed on them by the Nazi occupiers. A more modern vision of Warsaw, yet still set in communist times, is in Krzystof Kieslowski's Dekalog (1987) and Three Colours: White (1994).

There are more than a dozen cinemas in Warsaw, including Silver Screen, Ulica Pulawska 19/21 (tel: (022) 852 8111; website: www.silverscreen.com.pl) and Cinema City Arkadia, Aleja Jana Pawla II 82 (tel: (022) 321 2121; website: www.cinema-city.pl). Almost all films are shown in the original language with Polish subtitles. You can find listings under 'Kino' in Friday's Gazeta Wyborcza and online (website: www.gazeta.pl) or at www.kino.pl. You can see arthouse and Polish-language films with English subtitles at the Muranow, Ulica General Andersa 1 (tel: (022) 831 0358), and at the home of Poland's national film archive, the Iluzjon Filmoteki Narodowej, Ulica Narbutta 50A (tel: (022) 646 1260; website: www.fn.org.pl).

Literary Notes: Romanticism is evident in the works of Adam Mickiewicz, whose epic poem Pan Tadeusz (1834) is a masterpiece of Polish literature. Teodor Josef Konrad Korzeniowski (Joseph Conrad) is another famous Warsaw-born writer, although he emigrated and wrote in English.

Henryk Sienkiewicz won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1905, while Wladyslaw Stanislaw Reymont, who lived in Warsaw for a time, received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1924. His epic novel, The Peasants (1924), documents the life and rituals of a small peasant village in Poland. You can visit his grave in the Avenue of Merit (the resting place of Warsaw's renowned literary and artistic figures) in the beautiful Old Powazki Cemetery, established in 1790.

The poet Czeslaw Milosz lived in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation and Isaac Bashevis Singer spent his childhood and the start of his writing career in Warsaw. His recording of Polish-Jewish culture in his epic family chronicles earned him a Nobel Prize in 1978. More recently, Wislawa Szymborska won the Nobel Prize in 1996; she has published 16 collections of poetry.