mon 13/10/2025

theartsdesk com, first with arts reviews, news and interviews

Tom Birchenough
Friday, 14 November 2025
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...
David Nice
Monday, 13 October 2025
Forty years ago, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment was born, and I heard Handel’s Solomon in concert for the first time. Charles Mackerras’s sprightly performance...
Justine Elias
Monday, 13 October 2025
A fizzy mystery cocktail with a twist and a splash, The Woman in Cabin 10, based on Ruth Ware’s bestseller, sails along like the sleek superyacht that provides its deadly setting....
Guy Oddy
Monday, 13 October 2025
It’s seven years since the Belgian brothers Dewaele unleashed their fine, largely instrumental and foot-stomping Essential album on the world, but they’ve given short shrift to...
David Nice
Sunday, 12 October 2025
Never mind the permutations (anything up to eight hands on the two pianos); feel the unwavering quality of the eight pianists and the 13 works, each perfect in their proper place...
Kieron Tyler
Sunday, 12 October 2025
A month after Soft Cell’s "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" single peaked at number three in the UK charts, Marc Almond issued a single credited to Marc and the Mambas. March 1982’s...
Gary Naylor
Saturday, 11 October 2025
The Globe’s authenticity is its USP, so don’t expect the air-conditioning, the plush seats and the expectant hush of the...
Ibi Keita
Saturday, 11 October 2025
Eight years after Prodigy’s untimely passing, Mobb Deep are gracing our sound systems once again with unreleased vocals and...
Adam Sweeting
Friday, 10 October 2025
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out MysteryThe third of Rian Johnson’s Knives Out mysteries finds Daniel Craig reprising his...
James Saynor
Friday, 10 October 2025
People sometimes go to the movies for the violence and maybe even for the sex. Until recently they didn’t particularly buy a...
Gary Naylor
Friday, 10 October 2025
If you’re a Gen Zer, you’ve probably heard of Heartstopper’s Joe Locke. I’m pretty sure ATG’s Gen Xers in the back office...
Mark Kidel
Friday, 10 October 2025
Boz Scaggs rarely does a less than wonderful album. His latest is an exemplary collection of smooth and soulful standards...
David Nice
Thursday, 09 October 2025
“Safe” is a word used far too often in ENO’s bizarre new version of a programme, full of uncredited articles, at least two...
Gary Naylor
Thursday, 09 October 2025
In the framing device, a professor (Jonathan Guy Lewis) stands at a lectern and asks if anyone has had a supernatural...
Joe Muggs
Thursday, 09 October 2025
The history of experimental musicians from Europe and North America adopting Japanese aesthetics is … patchy. It got...
Jenny Gilbert
Wednesday, 08 October 2025
As the new season opens, confidence is high at ENB, just as it should be given the roaring success of recent programmes...
Mark Kidel
Wednesday, 08 October 2025
Trio Da Kali are griots, and their traditional role in West Africa is to connect: to evoke the glories of the past and to...
Alexandra Coghlan
Wednesday, 08 October 2025
It’s a good year to be Handel-lover. No sooner have summer runs of Rodelinda (Garsington) and Saul (Glyndebourne) finished...
Thomas H Green
Wednesday, 08 October 2025
Hollie Cook was in the final line-up of post-punk groundbreakers The Slits. When singer Ari Up died in 2010 and the group...

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★★★★ BOZ SCAGGS - DETOUR Smooth and soulful standards from an old pro  

★★★ R:EVOLUTION, ENGLISH NATIONAL BALLET, SADLER'S WELLS A vibrant survey of ballet in four acts

★★★ TRIO DA KALI, MILTON COURT Supreme musicians from Bamako in transcendent mood

LONDON FILM FESTIVAL 2025 Daniel Craig investigates, Jodie Foster speaks French and Colin Farrell has a gambling habit

★★ GIUSTINO, LINBURY THEATRE A stylish account of a slight opera

 CLARKSTON, TRAFALGAR THEATRE Star casting puts pounds on prices but adds little to moribund play  

★★★★ ECHO VOCAL ENSEMBLE, LATTO, UNION CHAPEL Eclectic choral programme with dance

disc of the day

Soulwax’s 'All Systems Are Lying' lays down some tasty yet gritty electro-pop

Belgian dancefloor veterans return to the fray with a dark, pop-orientated sound

The future of Arts Journalism

 

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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.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

tv

Black Rabbit, Netflix review - grime and punishment in New York City

Jude Law and Jason Bateman tread the thin line between love and hate

The Hack, ITV review - plodding anatomy of twin UK scandals

Jack Thorne's skill can't disguise the bagginess of his double-headed material

film

The Woman in Cabin 10 review - Scandi noir meets Agatha Christie on a superyacht

Reason goes overboard on a seagoing mystery thriller

London Film Festival 2025 - crime, punishment, pop stars and shrinks

Daniel Craig investigates, Jodie Foster speaks French and Colin Farrell has a gambling habit

I Swear review - taking stock of Tourette's

A sharp and moving tale of cuss-words and tics

new music

Soulwax’s 'All Systems Are Lying' lays down some tasty yet gritty electro-pop

Belgian dancefloor veterans return to the fray with a dark, pop-orientated sound

Album: Mobb Deep - Infinite

A solid tribute to a legendary history

classical

Solomon, OAE, Butt, QEH review - daft Biblical whitewashing with great choruses

Even a top soprano and mezzo can’t make this Handel paean wholly convincing

Two-Piano Gala, Kings Place review - shining constellations

London Piano Festival curators and illustrious friends entertain and enlighten

Echo Vocal Ensemble, Latto, Union Chapel review - eclectic choral programme garlanded with dance

Beautiful singing at the heart of an imaginative and stylistically varied concert

opera

Carmen, English National Opera review - not quite dangerous

Hopes for Niamh O’Sullivan only partly fulfilled, though much good singing throughout

Giustino, Linbury Theatre review - a stylish account of a slight opera

Gods, mortals and monsters do battle in Handel's charming drama

Susanna, Opera North review - hybrid staging of a Handel oratorio

Dance and signing complement outstanding singing in a story of virtue rewarded

theatre

Troilus and Cressida, Globe Theatre review - a 'problem play' with added problems
Raucous and carnivalesque, but also ugly and incomprehensible
Clarkston, Trafalgar Theatre review - two lads on a road to nowhere
Netflix star, Joe Locke, is the selling point of a production that needs one
Ghost Stories, Peacock Theatre review - spirited staging but short on scares
Impressive spectacle saves an ageing show in an unsuitable venue

dance

'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages of love and support

Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community

R:Evolution, English National Ballet, Sadler's Wells review - a vibrant survey of ballet in four acts

ENB set the bar high with this mixed bill, but they meet its challenges thrillingly

Like Water for Chocolate, Royal Ballet review - splendid dancing and sets, but there's too much plot

Christopher Wheeldon's version looks great but is too muddling to connect with fully

comedy

'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages of love and support

Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community

Books

'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages of love and support

Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community

Justin Lewis: Into the Groove review - fun and fact-filled trip through Eighties pop

Month by month journey through a decade gives insights into ordinary people’s lives

Joanna Pocock: Greyhound review - on the road again

A writer retraces her steps to furrow a deeper path through modern America

visual arts

'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages of love and support

Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community

Lee Miller, Tate Britain review - an extraordinary career that remains an enigma

Fashion photographer, artist or war reporter; will the real Lee Miller please step forward?

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