theartsdesk.com, first with arts reviews, news and interviews
theartsdesk |
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…
Nick Hasted |
Carla Simón’s latest autofiction disinters the post-Franco plague of heroin and AIDS which killed her parents and that of Marina (Llúcia Garcia), her indefatigable 18-year-old…
Simon Thompson |
Concertos where the soloist is a member of the orchestra are something of a Scottish Chamber Orchestra speciality. They’re always among their best-sold concerts each season, and…
Gary Naylor |
In the 1920s, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was as famous as it gets really, author of the beloved Sherlock Holmes stories, a polymath and a rare British example of that most continental…
graham.rickson |
Louis Couperin: The Complete Works Jean Rondeau (harpsichord, organ and artistic direction) (Erato)
Image
Louis Couperin…
Guy Oddy |
Anyone doubting Venom’s place on the highest level of the pantheon of Rock Gods might want to check out Sunn O)))’s recent, self-titled album. Their track “Does Anyone Hear Like…
Jenny Gilbert
Contrast and variety are as vital in a three-ballet programme as in a well-built sandwich. Typically that might include textural interest, a spicy element and something…
Robert Beale
The Hallé Orchestra is still in many ways the well honed, burnished instrument created by Sir Mark Elder over his near quarter-century as its music director, and his calm…
Joe Muggs
It’s not uncommon to suggest that we live in a post-genre musical era – but all too rarely does the discussion then move on to how we might find alternative coordinates to…
Matt Wolf
Those nostalgic for a time when the Haymarket offered big names in well-upholstered plays will have a field day at Grace Pervades, in which David Hare furthers his relationship…
Bernard Hughes
I’m a latecomer to John Robins and Elis James’s hugely popular podcast, having only started to listen during a period of illness last year, when I quickly became hooked. The two (…
Tom Carr
For Basement, the post-hardcore rockers hailing from Ipswich, their story is one of promise and unpredictability. With their debut, 2011’s I Wish I Could Stay Here, they took the…
Gary Naylor
For a master dramatist - even for a tyro really - The Price is a strangely uneven play, brilliant psychological insights diluted by clunking structural issues. You wonder what it…
alexandra.coghlan
“Charges that no court has made will be shouted at my head.” And so it proves. Benjamin Britten’s fisherman Peter Grimes is damned before a note is sung – condemned not by a judge…
Liz Thomson
Rick Rubin has revivified many late-career musicians, most notably Johnny Cash, whose quartet of American Recordings achieved both universal praise and commercial success. Twenty…
Pamela Jahn
In Rose of Nevada, written and directed by Mark Jenkin, George MacKay plays Nick, a family man living in an impoverished present-day Cornish fishing village. He joins a trip on a…
johncarvill
Akira Kurosawa coulda been a contender. He used to be canon. Some of the critical sheen flaked off a while back, though. He hasn’t had a film in the top 10 of the Sight &…
David Nice
Serendipity smiled on a lunchtime event you'd have been happy to hear any time, anywhere in the world. Edward Gardner's typically engaging short introduction told us that Royal…
Ibi Keita
In 1999, American Football pioneered a brand-new genre with their self-titled album, and while they didn’t gain much recognition from their odd style of music, it soon grew into…
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Cronos and his crew are as gloriously heavy, evil and catchy as ever
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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
The Tony Award-winning star talks female power, sexism and becoming more Scottish with age
Sheridan Smith and Michael Sorcha prove a winning team in this unexpected treat
... as well as Ridley Scott, Jacques Audiard, Julia Ducourneau and Charles Aznavour
film
A teenage girl uncovers Spanish ghosts in a lyrical tribute to a lost generation
The 34-year-old actor drank a double dose of disorientation playing a man out of time in Mark Jenkin's ghost story
new music
Cronos and his crew are as gloriously heavy, evil and catchy as ever
A long history of bleeps, clonks and funkiness is channelled into this Danish techno
Fifth album from Basement is more fleet-footed and breezy, but still rocking and hefty.
classical
Principal cellist plays two concertante works, the orchestra glittering alongside him
French baroque music, British orchestral fireworks and an award-winning Dutch pianist
A Russian programme with intriguing and exciting pathways included
opera
This first revival of Deborah Warner's production only gains in horrifying intensity
Elizabeth Maconchy and Elena Langer hit their targets, Charlotte Bray falls short
Berg's queasy setting of a visionary play as you never quite heard or saw it before
theatre
Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini can't escape their pasts
David Hare's latest casts an affectionate if sometimes creaky backwards glance
Comic gives way to tragedy, as a dead father's duplicity comes between his sons
dance
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
A triptych of ambitious works by Wayne McGregor fails the sandwich test
Body & Soul, English National Ballet, Sadler's Wells review - a surefire hit and an absolute plonker
Getting it very right and very wrong in this contemporary double bill
comedy
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
The character comic looks back at his career
books
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
Memoir of alcoholism is heavy on lacerating self-analysis but lighter on jokes
The last surviving member of Beyond the Fringe never ceases to engage
visual arts
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
An artist who has lost her way
Gorgeous paintings in search of belonging
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