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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 lovers and professionals alike – but the…
Jonathan Geddes |
Of all the problems a band could face, fighting for room onstage with a Christmas tree must be far down the list of possibilities. Yet there was David ‘Jaff’ Craig struggling to…
Sarah Kent |
The village of Cesinova has the largest white stork population in Macedonia; every chimney and steeple is festooned with the scruffy nests of these enormous birds. We see the…
James Saynor |
Hell has no fury like a stan scorned, as an Eminem song memorably established with respect to obsessed fanboys in the pop world, and this visually nimble not-quite-thriller shows…
Guy Oddy |
Among millennials, Taylor Momsen is likely to be primarily remembered as an actor of things relatively sweet and family friendly. She appeared in Spy Kids 2 and TV’s Gossip Girl,…
Pamela Jahn |
Even more than his new film, Jafar Panahi was a sensation at Cannes this year. For the first time in 15 years, the Iranian director was able to present a work in person at the…
Thomas H. Green
According to the fifth song on their first Christmas album, seasonal shenanigans in Old Crow Medicine Show’s family are boozy and raucous. Step aside Santa because “Grandpappy's…
Rachel Halliburton
Fire and ice are the elements invoked at the start of Handel’s remarkable opera of jealousy and betrayal, yet what gives it its power is the world of subtlety and shadow that lies…
Sebastian Scotney
This album truly is a delightful surprise. Winter Songs Vol. 2 is simply more fun, it swings harder and is filled with far more freshness than I could ever have expected. There…
Robert Beale
From the team who gave us a sparkly L’étoile just a year ago, comes a fun-filled production of Prokofiev’s wacky, surreal and glorious comedy romp. The Love for Three Oranges…
Justine Elias
Fear of being alone with our own thoughts, as much as fear of missing out, prevents most of us from disconnecting from our electronic devices and braving even a few hours in total…
Boyd Tonkin
It seldom happens that you long to hear choral music not in a modern auditorium but some chilly, echoing cavern of a great Victorian town hall. But that thought did arise as a…
Helen Hawkins
Fierce, unpredictable, complex, cussed, commie. Seymour Hersh would probably admit to all those descriptions of him except the last. Now at last the man who has dominated…
Robert Beale
There are enough historical reasons for differing approaches to Handel’s Messiah to allow every conductor to produce, effectively, their own edition. American conductor Jeannette…
joe.muggs
Well, this is a surprise. Not so much that the Sunderland band should do a Christmas album, mind. Despite their raw and spiky hardcore framework, which channelled heavyweights…
Kieron Tyler
The opening track initially seems straightforward. To begin “Sons of Art,” Michael Garrick runs up and down his piano keyboard. Norma Winstone adds wordless vocals which weave in…
Adam Sweeting
Among the many versions of America on parade in the ever-expanding universe of Taylor Sheridan, the one portrayed in Mayor of Kingstown is surely the bleakest. As AI helpfully…
Graham Fuller
Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident is a shattering absurdist anti-caper – a kind of minimalist take on It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World inspired by Iran’s ongoing tragedy.…
David Nice
Would it be possible to get to the end of the year without hearing a single Bruckner symphony live? I’d reckoned without the presence in Dublin of fabulous conductor Anja…
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Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
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tv
Jeremy Renner keeps chaos at bay in Taylor Sheridan's traumatic crime drama
Vintage documentary series boosted by sound and vision upgrades
Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys star in addictively twisty mystery
film
A tale of forced migration lifted by close-knit farming family, the Conevs
A chiller about celebrity chilling that doesn’t chill enough
Inspiring documentary follows lucky teens at a Norwegian folk school
new music
The Sunderland band played a variety of Christmas classics, with varying success
The former child actor's past meets her present
Hokey but entertaining seasonal barndance
classical
Inward struggle meets global strife in music of the troubled soul
Drama and vocal strength combine with a touch of operatic style
Clear-sighted Bruckner follows transcendent Mozart and Schumann
opera
Emily D'Angelo shines as Handel's impetuous, besotted protagonist
Playing from strength in a game where the Royal Northern has all the cards
Best of all possible casts fill every moment of Christopher Alden’s Handel cornucopia
theatre
The 23-year-old Noel Coward scrubs up well as a provocative farceur
This is Athens as a violent dictatorship
Classic musical, staged in intimate setting, loses little
dance
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
Christopher Marney's revitalised company gains momentum with each appearance
ENB set the bar high with this mixed bill, but they meet its challenges thrillingly
comedy
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
Reunion of sketch show's creators
Storytelling that playfully wrongfoots the audience
books
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
Bennett’s virtuosic prose returns to ponder intimacy, but treads some old ground
Broad and idiosyncratic survey of classical music is insightful but slightly indigestible
visual arts
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
The sky’s the thing
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