theartsdesk.com, first with arts reviews, news and interviews
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…
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…
Bernard Hughes |
This was not a Prom with a light and breezy tone. Vaughan Williams’s craggy Ninth Symphony and Britten’s intense pre-war Violin Concerto were coupled with a new commission that…
Gary Naylor |
With more than a touch of Alan Bennett writing Talking Heads monologues for Thora Hird, 44 years ago Arnold Wesker wrote Annie Wobbler for Nichola McAuliffe (pictured below). A…
Ralph Moore |
It would be wrong to describe this insanely enjoyable operatic, theatrical show as being strictly Pumpkins. Despite its visionary leader Billy Corgan making one-off…
Miranda Heggie |
Kicking off the final leg of Icelandic rock giants Sigur Rós’s world tour, the Edinburgh Playhouse had been sold out months in advance for what promised to be an epic concert.…
Saskia Baron
When Terminator 2: Judgement Day was released in 1991, it was the first film to have exceeded a $100m budget. The opening nuclear holocaust scene cost more to put on screen than…
Ibi Keita
Ezra Collective have a talent that’s rarely found in jazz music, the ability to sound and feel like far more than session musicians put in a room to play music. The London born…
Boyd Tonkin
GOAT claims leave me cold, whether applied to athletes or orchestras. Nonetheless, it seems to matter to many people that the Berliner Philharmoniker be discussed as if they are,…
Erin Lewis
In 2023, the reality competition show Dream Academy documented the formation of the girl group Katseye and the intensive training process around it. One of the shows…
David Nice
Elgar could be self-pitying, but rarely in his music, and least of all in the classically perfect "Enigma" Variations. Despite recent commentators trying to discredit Tchaikovsky'…
Helen Hawkins
If you watch the Donmar’s A Month in the Country, as I did, through the prism of Frederick Ashton’s sparer 1976 one-act ballet, the comic bones of Turgenev’s original mid-19th…
Kieron Tyler
“He was our grandfather.” “He was the grandfather of all of us.” Reactions on Friday 28 August to the news that Norway’s King Harald V has died this morning are frequently…
Joe Muggs
If you’ve read previous theartsdesk roundups from We Out Here festival, you’ll know that this is one time of year when your humble correspondent takes a short holiday from strict…
Veronica Lee
Tarang Hardikar is a gentle soul, who talks a lot about his inner monologue and growing up in Pune in India, where he was a little boy lost in his own world, who loved to create…
Ellie Roberts
It’s been 15 years since UK rap pioneer Dizzee Rascal released his smash hit “Bonkers”. Love it or hate it, there’s no denying the impact it had on UK culture, and the slightly…
David Nice
If you want a full, 5000-strong audience in the Royal Albert Hall, and the second-half work won't sell by itself, insert a popular concerto. It worked so well for Vasily Petrenko…
Kieron Tyler
The principal musical styles underpinning Wish Road South come together on the album’s fifth track, “Black Metal Corpse Paint”. Up to – and after – this point echoes of, on one…
Adam Sweeting
In its first two series, Vigil investigated a mysterious death on a nuclear submarine and took a deep dive into drone warfare. This time around, writer/creator Tom Edge has moved…
disc of the day
The London born quintet sound tighter than ever
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
Thirty-five years after its original release, a timely revival of James Cameron's blockbuster
The Spanish master asks: Can a wilfully dull film be worth watching?
new music
Handy overview of the early days of a beloved US indie band
1995's 'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness' is given a major make-over
An impressive set up, but ultimately a little too safe
classical
Vaughan Williams and Britten provide intensity, while Carmel Smickersgill’s premiere avoids the promised angst
Safe beauties, and bombastic thrills, from a magisterial ensemble
Dynamic and sonic perfection in two masterpieces
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
Arnold Wesker's Anna, Annabella and Annie are still with us 43 years on
Lindsay Turner gives Brian Friel's adaptation an unusual screwball twist
Only clowns left to run the show in Geoff Sobelle's vitriolic reflection on his home country
dance
Matthew Bourne’s 2000 hit revs up again with impressive dancers and a witty score
Marianela Nuñez celebrates 28 years at the company
A test of stamina for the audience as well as the dancers
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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