thu 28/08/2025

book reviews and features

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'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages... ...
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In this strangely dreary recreation of 11th century history, it’s not just grim oop north, it’s grim everywhere. King & Conqueror...

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Playwright Mike Bartlett is, like many writers, a chronicler of both contemporary manners and of the state of the nation. In his latest domestic...

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The Hives must be one of the most self-assured bands around – but not without good reason. Ever exuberant, all their tunes are short and sweet,...

BBC Proms: Faust, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Nelsons revie...

Does the orchestra that sways together play together? Quite apart from their (reliably gorgeous) sound, the tight-packed strings of the...

Album: Benedicte Maurseth - Mirra

During the opening seconds of Mirra, an unusual sound leaps out – a grunting. It’s integral to a shifting aural pallete which also...

BBC Proms: Jansen, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mäkelä rev...

How often is an orchestral concert perfect in every texture, every instrumental entry, every phrase? Wednesday's Phiharmonia Prom struck sound-...

Blu-ray: Finis Terrae

British audiences of a certain age will note Finis Terrae’s similarity to Finisterre, one of the 31 sea areas listed in the BBC’s ...

The Gathered Leaves, Park Theatre review - dated script lift...

The Gathered Leaves is set on the tectonic plates of a middle-class family menu reunion, in which three generations grapple with the...

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