theartsdesk.com, first with arts reviews, news and interviews
Rachel Halliburton |
For composers like Mozart and Beethoven, the key of B minor was traditionally one of the most melancholic keys – in Mozart’s case, specifically, it was closely associated with…
Helen Hawkins |
Tamara Rojo was a staunch supporter of women choreographers when she ran English National Ballet, so it’s no surprise that her inaugural season as San Francisco Ballet’s director…
Gary Naylor |
It’s a tricky elevator pitch for a night out. On the one hand, Kimberly Levaco, the protagonist, is aging in dog years and has just hit a not so sweet 16, her condition’s median…
Clare Stevens |
Sixteen world premieres and two Welsh premieres, performed in the space of five days by a string chamber orchestra, a choir and several instrumental soloists – that’s quite an…
Sarah Kent |
“I wanted the film to feel like a fairy tale for adults”, says Miro Remo, the award winning director of Better Go Mad in the Wild and, from the off, he lets us know that this is…
Ibi Keita |
Bloc Party have been a staple of any 2000s indie rock playlist since the release of their landmark 2005 album Silent Alarm. While their discography has had its ups and downs over…
Justine Elias
For every general who thinks they've got war down to a science – a mix of tactics, logistics, manpower, and "warfighting" testosterone levels – there's a formidable, often…
Graham Fuller
The Death of Robin Hood is a painterly film, but a melancholy rather than a merry one. A key descriptor in the rhymes and ballads, “merry” meant “many”, in any case, not cheerful…
Kieron Tyler
Cadogan Hall – audience capacity 953 – is probably the smallest venue Todd Rundgren has ever played in London. It’s not about a star which is fading. Last year, he sold out The…
Helen Hawkins
First performed by its author, Ntozake Shange, and four female friends in a Californian bar in 1974, this piece moved on to more mainstream theatreland and played over 740…
Guy Oddy
To plug into Chat Pile’s new album is to latch onto a wormhole that reaches back to the mid 1980s to sample a scene that was post-post-punk and pre-grunge. Guitar-driven noise…
Gary Naylor
"Iconic" must be the most used and abused word in the reviewer’s lexicon - a single in the Top Ten and a slot down the bill at a wannabee Glastonbury festival is enough to secure…
Sebastian Scotney
Andy Sheppard, like other artists who record frequently for ECM, has built a substantial oeuvre in the label’s mighty catalogue, and in the process has also built his own specific…
Boyd Tonkin
After the mighty artillery of the Berliner Philharmoniker, here was a German-themed and German-delivered Prom full of subtle, even heart-warming, surprises. The Freiburg Baroque…
johncarvill
Bogart’s 1950s filmography reads like an X-ray of Golden Age Hollywood’s bipolar soul. That uneasy marriage of art and commerce delivered wildly varying results. Nobody could…
Adam Sweeting
Bomb disposal clearly isn’t a job for the faint-hearted, but Vicky McLure’s Lana Washington, who heads the specialist Metropolitan Police bomb squad known as SO15, continues to…
Mark Kidel
It’s hardly surprising that director Grant Gee, one of the most outstanding documentarians around – with acclaimed films about Joy Division and Radiohead, as well as inventive…
Mark Kidel
Simon Green, aka Bonobo, has been gently gliding through a kind of soft electronica, music whose warm embrace, has for some years explored the ways in which elements of music from…
Kieron Tyler
The name was an explicit signpost. Maryland’s Velocity Girl named themselves after the B-side of Primal Scream’s May 1986 second single “Crystal Crescent.” At this point, Bobby…
disc of the day
US noise merchants travel back to the mid 1980s
tv
Vicky McClure returns as bomb disposal expert Lana Washington
Can detectives Silva and Longacre catch the killer and avoid triggering Armageddon?
Philippa Northeast stars as Miles Franklin's girl-power heroine
film
A unique hybrid of fact and philosophical fiction
An old-fashioned 'dad' movie shows how a scientist rescued the Allied invasion of France from disaster
Hugh Jackman stars as a Robin Hood who regrets his bloody career
new music
2000s indie rock pioneers just miss the mark
The London stop on the ‘Damned If I Do’ tour is an absolute joy
US noise merchants travel back to the mid 1980s
classical
Jonathan Cohen's Arcangelo retained the freshness and exuberance of its earlier interpretations
A subtle Dutch accent enriches a typically diverse programme
Schumann's dark nights of the soul made radiant
opera
Zurich Opera production has some good singing, but its mood is monochrome
Singers, and players, rise above some clunky moments in Strauss's meta-opera
Missy Mazzoli’s impressive new opera follows Wynton Marsalis' jazz symphony opening night
theatre
A show to make you happy and sad all at the same time
Fine cast shows Ntozake Shange's groundbreaking piece still has teeth and dynamism
The lovers' chemistry is electrifying
dance
The Pandora myth makes an underwhelming vehicle for the dangers of AI
Matthew Bourne’s 2000 hit revs up again with impressive dancers and a witty score
Marianela Nuñez celebrates 28 years at the company
comedy
Larky cabaret; smart musical comedy; and a blast of a debut
books
The debut author discusses the value of emotional labour, the modern feminist, and why pain remains vital for a flourishing life
This wide-ranging miscellany combines urban history and geography to nerdily entertaining effect
David Thomson explores the dark side of cinema, but still offers a flicker of hope
visual arts
The Edinburgh Festival may be over for another year, but there is plenty of art still to see
Great American photographers all in one place
Four artists' films and a computer game speculate on societal collapse
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