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…
Adam Sweeting |
Filmmaker Charlotte Regan has been moving steadily up the creative ladder with music videos, short films and her 2023 feature debut Scrapper, which made a splash at the Sundance…
Boyd Tonkin |
Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius is generally discussed and judged – and judgment, of course, stands at the heart of the work – by those who love, indeed revere, without any…
Mark Kidel |
Ace bass-player Jasper Høiby achieved fame with his band Phronesis, recording and performing sophisticated yet accessible jazz, and establishing themselves as leaders in the…
graham.rickson |
French director Maurice Tourneur (1876-1961) trained as an interior decorator and illustrator, the move into film a logical progression after working as an actor and designer in…
Helen Hawkins |
With the good looks and dash of his signature 1947 Triumph Roadster, the Jersey detective is back for a second season in his new incarnation: the polar opposite, seemingly, of his…
Simon Thompson
There’s something slightly odd about listening to Bluebeard’s Castle, Bartók’s great opera of darkness, on a sunlit spring afternoon. However, the sun streaming through the…
Mark Kidel
Along with Harry Styles, Zayn is one of the stars to emerge from the immensely successful boy-band One Direction. Now no longer a mere "boy", he’s part of a mainstream in which…
Kieron Tyler
Evil Grave were from Malta. They were a going concern between December 1971 and around May 1977. Despite their longevity, they released no records. However, there were ad hoc…
Gary Naylor
Returning to the West End to celebrate two decades since those strange muppetty posters went up on London buses, I’m still laughing along with “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist”.…
Gerald Barry's Salome, NSO Ireland, Kuhn, National Concert Hall, Dublin review - funny-queasy genius
David Nice
You know to expect a crazy ride, especially when Gerald Barry, greatest living Wildean and wild one among composers, has flagged up his very unStraussian take on Salome with "I…
Rachel Halliburton
The Southbank Centre’s second Multitudes festival – which commissions artists ranging from filmmakers to acrobats to shine new light onto the orchestral repertoire – began last…
stephen.walsh
Just now, everything WNO does inevitably bears the mark of their Arts Council-imposed financial troubles, and this new Flying Dutchman directed by Jack Furness is no exception. It…
Carsie Blanton & the Burning Hell, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham review - a fine revolutionary singalong
Guy Oddy
In these times of genocide, illegal invasions and a class war which the ultra-rich are emphatically winning, we clearly need a woman to point out the nonsense that we have just…
Boyd Tonkin
Antonio Pappano’s pairing for last night’s Barbican concert intrigued – and, initially, baffled – me. Shostakovich’s Fifth: a clear choice, given the London Symphony Orchestra’s…
Saskia Baron
“Since when was getting older an honour?” asks Tereza, rightly suspicious when she finds officials nailing up a cheap garland around her front door and presenting her with a medal…
Tim Cumming
This is, surprisingly, Judie Tzuke’s 24th album since her 1979 debut with Welcome to the Cruise. After early stints with Elton John’s Rocket Records and later Chrysalis,…
Markie Robson-Scott
This entertaining, gorgeous-looking film within a film, directed and written by multi-talented Turkish-Italian Ferzan Özpetek (he’s also directed operas and written several novels…
Liz Thomson
It’s fifteen years since Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan, two boys from Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, let slip their debut album. “Released” is not the right word, for Prologue (2011…
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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
Charlotte Regan's genre-jumping drama defies categorisation
Well paced and excellently cast, this revival still needs more of a sense of danger
Is anything real in Ben Chanan's digital dystopia?
film
Full steam ahead for Rodrigo Santoro and Denise Weinberg
Soap-opera in the Roman style: Ferzan Özpetek's opulent, melodramatic meta drama
new music
Tenderness, and terror, outshine majesty in Elgar's journey of the soul
Brilliant trio seamlessly combine composition and improvisation
One Direction alumnus draws on many sources of inspiration, not least his Asian heritage
classical
This semi-dramatised evening was as illuminating as it was exhilarating
Secret handshakes between works that weathered trauma
Orchestral music without a conductor has its own unique frisson
opera
Love among the chills in Bartók’s House of Horrors
Gerald Barry's Salome, NSO Ireland, Kuhn, National Concert Hall, Dublin review - funny-queasy genius
Paradoxically both ordered and wild(e), with weird twists and superb performances
Lusty singing, plenty of space and not a sail in sight
theatre
Can it be as good as it was 20 years go? Of course it can!
New play about family trauma and grief is subtle, sensitive, but pitted with plot holes
Distance grows between two lovers - and extends to millions of miles
dance
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
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
After 25 years and counting, Cassa Pancho's fine company remains essential
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
The last surviving member of Beyond the Fringe never ceases to engage
A small-scale journey through literary afterlives unveils a world of wonders
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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