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Boyd Tonkin |

For the final concert in their 80th birthday season, the Philharmonia swept us into the great outdoors. Three works imbued with the forces of nature made up a sort of musical sandwich, with a novel central filling flanked by more familiar, and comfortingly nutritious, outer layers.

Rachel Halliburton
Puck is an assassin in a tutu and Theseus is a murderous thug. In Headlong's deliciously macabre dramatisation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream for…
Thomas H. Green
The Last Dinner Party’s second album, From the Pyre, is one of this year’s most enjoyable. Its lead single, “This is the Killer Speaking”, is a…
Gary Naylor
You can add to “Would The Taming of the Shrew still be staged, were it not written by William Shakespeare?” the question, “Would My Fair Lady still…

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Kieron Tyler
Too-often below par box-set version of the album which used to be called ‘Axis: Bold As Love’
Adam Sweeting
Vintage documentary series boosted by sound and vision upgrades
aleks.sierz
Adaptation of the John Le Carré Cold War thriller could do with more fleshing out
Jonathan Geddes
The Hives were on typically brash, sweaty form
Robert Beale
Four voices and four strings capture hibernian experience from Lassus to the recent past
Clare Stevens
A splendid if in some ways provisional inauguration
Matt Wolf
Single-set film speaks volumes
Rachel Halliburton
Should the productions be compared on spine chill factor or pathos?
Guy Oddy
Birmingham gets a good and proper kneecapping
Jonathan Geddes
The five-piece delivered a pummelling set that was at times overwhelming
aleks.sierz
Triumphant return of Kendall Feaver’s hit version of the Noel Streatfeild classic
David Nice
True contralto drama alongside coruscating orchestra
Adam Sweeting
Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys star in addictively twisty mystery
David Nice
One great British soprano triumphs as late replacement for another
Veronica Lee
Reunion of sketch show's creators
Adam Sweeting
Brilliantly gifted keyboardist who played with the rock'n'roll greats
Graham Fuller
Lucile Hadžihalilović's exquisite fantasy about an orphan girl infatuated with a movie diva
Kieron Tyler
Smart new editions of the two albums by the late-Sixties American harmony pop outfit
Guy Oddy
Punk really isn’t dead
Tim Cumming
Jazz meets world music at these four contrasting nights across the capital’s annual jazz celebration
Matt Wolf
Ivo van Hove makes it three for three with Arthur Miller
aleks.sierz
The final episode of David Eldridge’s emotionally strong trilogy is profoundly moving

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We are bowled over! We knew that theartsdesk.com had plenty of supporters out there – we’ve always had a loyal readership of arts…
For the final concert in their 80th birthday season, the Philharmonia swept us into the great outdoors. Three works imbued with the forces…
Puck is an assassin in a tutu and Theseus is a murderous thug. In Headlong's deliciously macabre dramatisation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream…
The Last Dinner Party’s second album, From the Pyre, is one of this year’s most enjoyable. Its lead single, “This is the Killer Speaking”,…
You can add to “Would The Taming of the Shrew still be staged, were it not written by William Shakespeare?” the question, “Would My Fair…
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