Reviews
La donna del lago, Royal Opera
Saturday, 18 May 2013
I mean, really, what is the point of Rossini? That’s actually not as stupid as it sounds. No-one has ever mistaken any of his operas for taut music-drama, and even the best of them are peculiarly difficult to pull off because without first-rate singers, everything collapses. That is, without doubt, not a problem facing the Royal Opera’s new La donna del lago. Trust me: London hasn’t heard such spectacular Rossini singing in decades.Nor, indeed, has London seen a production of this opera...
Rock ‘n’ Roll Britannia, BBC Four
Saturday, 18 May 2013
From being “a strange facsimile of the original” to generating the “first British record made by people who are 100 per cent convinced that they doing the right thing”, Rock ‘n’ Roll Britannia breezily mapped the protracted birth of a British rock scene which could take America on at its own game. As Cliff Richard put it, what was created was “different enough to become European. Or other-worldly.” It took The Beatles to crack America, but they would not have done so without being rookies in...
Bullet Catch, Spiegeltent, Brighton
Friday, 17 May 2013
Magicians’ online forums are seething at Bullet Catch’s host and writer-director, the Scottish actor and magician Rob Drummond. This is because at...
Read more...Propaganda: Power and Persuasion, British Library
Friday, 17 May 2013
Every time you turn a corner, he’s there, on yet another monitor. Either the exhibition curators have a sense of humour, or Alastair Campbell really...
Read more...The Victorian in the Wall, Royal Court Theatre...
Friday, 17 May 2013
The past: it’s etched into the fabric not just of our lives, but of the architecture that surrounds us – the streets we tread, the buildings where we...
Read more...
The Stoker
Friday, 17 May 2013
Nihilism stared down in Alexei Balabanov's bleak look-back to Russia in the Nineties Read more... |
Carmageddon
Friday, 17 May 2013
A car crash of a racing game Read more... |
The Great Gatsby
Thursday, 16 May 2013
Baz Luhrmann's Fitzgerald-spawned epic is busy and brash and big - but great? No, except for Leo Read more... |
Albert Herring, Opera North
Thursday, 16 May 2013
Britten in the round is a comic treat fit for a May Fair Read more... |
Knee Deep, Theatre Royal, Brighton
Thursday, 16 May 2013
Australian acrobatic circus troupe are truly thrilling Read more... |
These Shining Lives, Park Theatre
Thursday, 16 May 2013
London's new theatre makes a thrilling debut, albeit with a play a little less shiny Read more... |
The Pirates of Penzance, Scottish Opera, Theatre Royal, Glasgow
Thursday, 16 May 2013
Gilbert and Sullivan need a lighter director's touch in this musically strong new production Read more... |
Nina Conti, Soho Theatre
Thursday, 16 May 2013
The ventriloquist gives a fresh take on an old art form Read more... |
Tomorrow's World, ICA
Thursday, 16 May 2013
Good things happen when one of Air collaborates with New Young Pony Clubber Read more... |
Frankie, BBC One
Wednesday, 15 May 2013
New primetime district nurse dispenses a spoonful of sugar Read more... |
Public Enemy, Young Vic
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
The horrors of local politics still chime in Richard Jones's queasy production of an Ibsen masterpiece Read more... |
The Fall, BBC Two
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
There's a serial killer on the loose. Do try to curb your enthusiasm Read more... |
An Evening for Hospices of Hope, Sadler's Wells Theatre
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
Nine leading men answer the call to ballerina Alina Cojocaru's gala Read more... |
Beware of Mr Baker
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
Documentary paints the legendary Cream drummer Ginger Baker as an irresponsible genius Read more... |
Daniel Kitson, Theatre Royal, Brighton
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
Comedian who eschews the usual routes to fame proves to be both incisive and decidedly different Read more... |
The Jim Jones Revue, The Sebright Arms
Monday, 13 May 2013
Old school rockers mix Little Richard and The Cramps to pack a ferocious punch Read more... |
Eddie Izzard, Wembley Arena
Monday, 13 May 2013
A witty and surreal deconstruction of history from the scatty stand-up Read more... |
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher: The Murder in Angel Lane, ITV
Monday, 13 May 2013
Could ITV be setting up a series with its returning 19th-century detective? Read more... |
British Academy Television Awards 2013, BBC One
Monday, 13 May 2013
Annual gathering of the tellyocracy fails to set pulses racing Read more... |
Eska/Spiro, The Foundling Museum
Sunday, 12 May 2013
Minimalism and systems music meets 18th-century folk and dance tunes Read more... |
Wozzeck, English National Opera
Sunday, 12 May 2013
New production of Berg's masterpiece is as upsetting as it is thrilling Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Sun Records
Sunday, 12 May 2013
A mind-blowing journey to rock ‘n’ roll’s ground zero with Sam Phillips and some of the most joyful music ever recorded Read more... |
Life of Crime/Murder on the Home Front, ITV
Saturday, 11 May 2013
Fancy a bit of charnel hopping? Two new crime dramas pile on the corpses Read more... |
L'Allegro, Il Penseroso ed il Moderato, St John's Smith Square
Saturday, 11 May 2013
A joyful and accomplished opening to this year's Lufthansa Baroque Festival Read more... |
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Rock ‘n’ Roll Britannia, BBC Four
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Classical CDs Weekly: Schumann, Sibelius, Maria Schneider
Child-centred pianism, rugged orchestral music and an enjoyable disc of con...
Bullet Catch, Spiegeltent, Brighton
The classic shock trick provides the core for a surprisingly philosophical...
Propaganda: Power and Persuasion, British Library
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most read
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The entertaining tale of the protracted birth of a British rock scene which...
The Pirates of Penzance, Scottish Opera, Theatre R...
Gilbert and Sullivan need a lighter director's touch in this musically...
Propaganda: Power and Persuasion, British Library
A thought-provoking exhibition looking at ways in which the state seeks to...
theartsdesk Q&A: Kate Lindsey and Katharina Th...
A director and a 'composer' discuss the riches of Richard Strauss...
from the archives
Martha Wainwright sings Piaf, Barbican
High risk strategy for an American to take on the French icon
Cage 99, St George's Bristol
Three days of John Cage bring riotous surprises and inconceivable repetitiv...
Picasso and Modern British Art, Tate Britain
How the colossus of modern art influenced seven prominent UK artists
The Genius of Design: Designs for Living, BBC Two
Home is where the art is: if you want comfort don't buy a Marcel Breue...
12 Films of Christmas: It's a Wonderful Life
The film to which audiences return again and again for relief from the woes...
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