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…
stephen.walsh |
I still retain a vivid memory of a concert in London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in December 2013 at which Hungarian composer György Kurtág and his wife Márta sat at an upright piano…
Helen Hawkins |
Jonathan Lynn has resurrected the two characters he and the late Antony Jay created in the 1970s, billing his new play the “final chapter of Yes, Minister”. It’s an amiable…
Robert Beale |
Phyllida Lloyd’s production of Peter Grimes, first seen 20 years ago, is still one of the jewels in Opera North’s treasury. It was revived in 2013 for their “Festival of Britten…
graham.rickson |
Sir Charles Mackerras: The Complete Warner Classics Edition (Warner)
Image
That Sir Charles Mackerras’s long recording career…
Sebastian Scotney |
It’s been a long wait. More than five years have passed since Maria Schneider’s most recent "magnum opus", the double album Data Lords came out. That was in July 2020, and the…
Jenny Gilbert
Visual artists gave up on titles long ago, resorting to neutral labels such as Untitled. Choreographers still feel bound to tag their works descriptively, which can be a challenge…
Adam Sweeting
Would you want to marry a spy? After watching Betrayal, probably not.Writer David Eldridge has used the paradigm of the secret world as a means of exploring relationships both…
Helen Hawkins
In 2007, Pina Bausch was preparing her company’s latest “city piece”, this one based on a visit to Kolkotta. But she was also brewing up something special, a work for six of her…
Robert Beale
Kahchun Wong is continuing to put his own stamp on landmark works of the mainstream repertory with the Hallé. This time it was Beethoven’s Third, "Eroica", Symphony. That’s…
James Saynor
“We will sacrifice our souls for you!” yells out a class of kids in The President’s Cake, nominally addressing a leader hundreds of miles away – the Iraqi despot, Saddam Hussein.…
Gary Naylor
Some 16 or so years ago, I recall hearing what sounded like fireworks from my hotel room in Chișinău, the capital of Moldova. I was aware of the Russian-occupied, unrecognised…
Katie Colombus
The first time I heard Wuthering Heights I felt a bit like I’d walked into the wrong room – one lit by firelight rather than LEDs. Is this the sound of an artist in retreat? Away…
Joe Muggs
One of the smaller but more passionately enduring subcultures in the world today is that around slow dance music. The core of its audience is a Gen X crowd, a good number of whom…
Thomas H. Green
“Lincoln, you have not been a Monday night crowd, they can be a bit funny,“ says Suede frontman Brett Anderson just before then band exit the stage for the final time. “You’re…
Demetrios Matheou
An infamous international financier, with a contacts book that includes presidents and dictators, a dark dossier on everyone he’ll ever need to bribe or blackmail, and a cold,…
Bernard Hughes
Bayard Rustin is a fascinating but little-known figure in US history: a civil rights organiser who worked behind the scenes on both the Montgomery bus boycott and Martin Luther…
Helen Hawkins
Emerald Fennell’s latest film begins with a sly joke. As the production company credits roll, the sound of distinctive creaking overlays them, increasing in frequency and…
Sebastian Scotney
MILES., a two-hander with Benjamin (Benji) Akintuyosi as Miles Davis and trumpeter Jay Phelps in a host of roles, including himself – is a show which works remarkably well.…
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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
Shaun Evans and Romola Garai need couples therapy
Sinister shenanigans amid ravishing Welsh landscapes
film
This lurid reworking is designed to deliver shocks, mad frocks and a porny eroticism
Superb performances and restrained direction elevate David Lynch's detour into the mainstream
new music
A new work rewards detailed listening
An ode to reinvention that's not quite a pop album but not a film score either
The Belfast master of slow, sad club sounds is on peak form
classical
Moving tribute to a great centenarian
Scandinavian symphonies, 20th century ballet music and a versatile conductor celebrated in box form
A uniquely baritonal, masculine cello sound in Shostakovich
opera
John Findon excels in the title role of Britten’s first great opera
Conductor Dinis Sousa paces a brilliant cast and orchestra perfectly in this classy revival
Susanna’s story takes the limelight in this imagined country house weekend
theatre
Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey reunite for a good-tempered stroll through cancel cuture
Award-winning new play pins its blue and yellow colours to the mast
A shady financier and even worse dad has one last roll of the dice in Rattigan’s late play
dance
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
The craic's 90 in Michael Keegan-Dolan's extraordinary wild ride of an evening
The great dance-theatre maker’s 2008 piece makes a timely London debut
comedy
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
Comic urges us to fight the machine
Some hits among the misfires
books
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
Goodman's second novel, structured like a play, is challenging and original
visual arts
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
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