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Theartsdesk
Tuesday, 31 December 2024
It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.It followed some hectic and intensive months when a disparate and eclectic...
Helen Hawkins
Wednesday, 11 December 2024
There is something deliciously perfect about the timing of The Producers’ arrival at the Menier Chocolate Factory. In these twitchy times, Mel Brooks’s scurrilous Hitler musical...
Alexandra Coghlan
Wednesday, 11 December 2024
There are no battlement leaps or murderous vows, no pistols or daggers, not so much as a slight cough disturbs the serene plot of La rondine – the Puccini opera once labelled a “...
Rachel Halliburton
Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Hermia is a headbutting punk with a tartan fetish, Oberon looks like Adam Ant and Lysander appears to have stumbled out of a Madness video. Yet Eleanor Rhode’s exuberant A...
Robert Beale
Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Emmanuel Chabrier’s L’étoile is not exactly a French farce, but it comes from a post-Offenbach era (1877 saw its premiere) when cheerful absurdity was certainly expected,...
Bernard Hughes
Wednesday, 11 December 2024
The Christmas album is an American phenomenon that doesn’t really exist in British music. Dating back to Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley in the late 50s, it has long been a...
Adam Sweeting
Tuesday, 10 December 2024
It’s rare to spot Keira Knightley in a TV series, and it’s no doubt a sign of changing times that she’s starring in this six...
Jonathan Geddes
Tuesday, 10 December 2024
When Vampire Weekend arrived onstage they numbered only three and were bunched together at the front with a large curtain...
Nick Hasted
Tuesday, 10 December 2024
Patriotic Italian films set during the Fascist war effort are understandably rare UK releases. Submarine commander Salvatore...
Helen Hawkins
Monday, 09 December 2024
Those with treasured battered copies of Noel Streatfield’s 1936 story of three young adopted sisters in pre-war London may...
Bernard Hughes
Monday, 09 December 2024
Connaught Brass is a quintet of twenty-something players rapidly establishing an enviable reputation, and on the evidence of...
Helen Hawkins
Monday, 09 December 2024
Romeo and Juliet or Cinderella? Prokofiev’s two great scores have provided the Royal Ballet with a pair of popular hits,...
Sarah Kent
Monday, 09 December 2024
If you suffer from lepidopterophobia, this film will either cure your fear of moths or push you over the edge. Warning:...
India Lewis
Monday, 09 December 2024
On a wet, dreary, winter evening in north London, at Islington Assembly Hall, a crowd gathered for an ethereal although not...
Kieron Tyler
Sunday, 08 December 2024
For John Leyton, it was third time lucky as far as his singles were concerned. The actor’s manager Robert Stigwood teamed...
Nick Hasted
Saturday, 07 December 2024
Somewhere in Germany, G7 conference leaders including German Chancellor Ortmann (Cate Blanchett) and US President Wolcott (...
Markie Robson-Scott
Saturday, 07 December 2024
“Shoot, Jim, shooot!” Simon Callow does a fine impression of producer Ismail Merchant desperately trying to get director...
David Nice
Saturday, 07 December 2024
“Comedy is a serious thing,” quoth David Garrick. Gilbert and Sullivan knew it, and so does Mike Leigh, having bequeathed to...
Graham Rickson
Saturday, 07 December 2024
Trio Mediæval: Yule (2L)Pick of my Christmas discs is this sublime collection from Trio Mediæval on the Norwegian...
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disc of the day
Album: Ben Folds - Sleigher
Folds’ nuanced originals are much better than the by-numbers seasonal covers
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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
Black Doves, Netflix review - Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw battle against the implausible
Can anyone be trusted in Joe Barton's twisty London drama?
Electric Dreams: Art and Technology Before the Internet, Tate Modern review - an exhaustive and exhausting show
Flashing lights, beeps and buzzes are diverting, but quickly pall
Senna, Netflix review - the life and legend of Brazil's greatest driver
You saw the movie, now watch the TV series
film
Nocturnes review - the sounds of the rainforest transport you a remote region of the Himalayas
Mansi spends her nights counting moths in North East India
Merchant Ivory review - fascinating documentary about the director and producer's long partnership
Stephen Soucy examines Ismael Merchant and James Ivory's complicated relationship with input from many stars
new music
Album: Ben Folds - Sleigher
Folds’ nuanced originals are much better than the by-numbers seasonal covers
Vampire Weekend, OVO Hydro, Glasgow review - a mixture of brilliance and self-indulgence
The New Yorkers offered dancers, covers and great songs in a lengthy set
Julia Holter, Islington Assembly Hall review - shelter from the storm in experimental delight
A night of old and new from a leftfield virtuoso
classical
Christmas with Connaught Brass, Milton Court review - delightful seasonal fare from Bach to Boulanger
Young quintet dazzle with their technical accomplishment and easy charm
Giltburg, Bournemouth SO, Wigglesworth, Portsmouth Guildhall review - seemingly effortless élan
New chief conductor turns Tchaikovsky waltz king, and a Rachmaninov partnership flows
opera
La rondine, LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - sumptuous orchestral playing in an underrated score
Puccini's 100th anniversary celebrated in style
L’étoile, RNCM, Manchester review - lavish and cheerful absurdity
Teamwork to the fore in a multi-credit operatic comedy
theatre
The Producers, Menier Chocolate Factory review - liberating taboo-busting fun for grown-ups
Director Patrick Marber does Mel Brooks's 1967 musical proud
A Midsummer Night's Dream, RSC, Barbican review - visually ravishing with an undercurrent of violence
This psychedelic mashup conveys a sci-fi-style alternate reality
Hansel and Gretel, Shakespeare's Globe review - too saccharine a retelling for our times
Songs and sweeties, but insufficient sourness and sadism for fans of fairytales
dance
Ballet Shoes, Olivier Theatre review - reimagined classic with a lively contemporary feel
The basics of Streatfeild's original aren't lost in this bold, inventive production
Cinderella, Royal Ballet review - inspiring dancing, but not quite casting the desired spell
A fairytale in need of a dramaturgical transformation
comedy
Kemah Bob, Soho Theatre review - Thailand, massage and mental health
Texan's full-length debut is a personal story
Books
Jeff Young: Wild Twin review - a box of tricks
Fragments cohere in this dog-eared history of an itinerant life
Interview: rising star Chloe Savage on the Arctic, outer space, and igniting children's wonder for the unknown
Beautiful books take you to worlds that are intricately imagined and a feast for the eye
visual arts
Electric Dreams: Art and Technology Before the Internet, Tate Modern review - an exhaustive and exhausting show
Flashing lights, beeps and buzzes are diverting, but quickly pall
ARK: United States V by Laurie Anderson, Aviva Studios, Manchester review - a vessel for the thoughts and imaginings of a lifetime
Despite anticipating disaster, this mesmerising voyage is full of hope
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