Features & Interviews
theartsdesk in Stockholm: the Birgit Nilsson Prize unites two great Wagnerian sopranos
Saturday, 20 October 2018
Why are great Wagnerian singers the most down-to-earth and collegial in the world of opera? Perhaps you have to be to master and sustain the biggest roles in the business, ones which can't be performed in isolation, and a strong constitution helps, too. Birgit Nilsson, the farmer's daughter born in rural Sweden 100 years ago, had all those qualities and many more.
Montserrat Caballé (1933-2018): from Bellini to 'Barcelona'
Sunday, 07 October 2018
Her special claim to fame was the most luminous pianissimo in the business, but that often went hand in velvet glove with fabulous breath control and a peerless sense of bel canto line. To know Maria de Montserrat Viviana Concepción Caballé i Folch, born in Barcelona 85 years ago, was clearly to love her. I never did (know her, that is), and I only saw her once, in a 1986 recital at the Edinburgh Festival.
James Graham: 'the country of Shakespeare no...
Thursday, 20 September 2018
Thank you. It’s an honour to have been asked to speak here today. Although looking at the h100 List this year, I’ve no idea why I’m presumptuously...
Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto: 'We figured...
Wednesday, 19 September 2018
Back in June 2017, in the days when English summertime was a lazy idyll rather than an apocalyptic inferno, RSC artistic director Greg Doran met us...
10 Questions for singer Live Foyn Friis
Tuesday, 18 September 2018
Norwegian-Danish singer Live Foyn Friis (for English-speaking readers, Live is her first name) has released six albums, and leads several different...
'I read French from left to right and Arabic from right to left': remembering Algerian rebel rocker Rachid Taha
Recalling a night out drinking in Paris with the Algerian rocker who died this week |
Jeanie O'Hare: 'The play taught me how European we really are'
The playwright introduces 'Queen Margaret', her new play for the Royal Exchange, Manchester |
Sir Peter Hall: a day of thanksgiving and celebration for a colossus of culture
A year after his death, the great director was honoured by the stars at Westminster Abbey and the National Theatre |
'You won't be able to handle this lady': remembering Fenella Fielding
The vampish comic actress has died at 90 not long after receiving an OBE |
Like a baton out of hell: Conductors at the 2018 Proms
Chris Christodoulou snaps mostly men at work, but the women are coming |
'I saw that death is beautiful, unspeakable and strange': on filming 'Island'
Filmmaker Steven Eastwood introduces his documentary about the last moments of life |
theartsdesk in Cologne: urban boutique on the Rhine
c/o Pop festival clouded by uncertainties about Britain’s departure from the EU |
theartsdesk at the Suoni dal Golfo Festival - romantics shine in the Bay of Poets
A Liszt novelty proves worth revealing, while a fine pianist takes a castle by storm |
theartsdesk at the Lucerne Festival - all-Beethoven and all-Ravel concerts from the greatest
Haitink conducts an unearthly 'Pastoral' while Chailly ignites symphonic dances |
h 100 Awards: Art, Design and Craft - making art public
Showcasing the strength of British visual culture, and the people bringing it to public attention |
theartsdesk at bOing! International Family Festival - the best of European children's theatre
Visual and aural adventures at well-programmed weekend introduce the young to the arts |
Neil Simon: 'I don’t think you want it really dark'
The great technician of stage comedy, who has died at 91, recalls writing the likes of Sweet Charity and The Odd Couple |
h 100 Young Influencers of the Year: James Bingham on community choirs
The first of the four finalists in theartsdesk's award in association with The Hospital Club writes provocatively about a choral crisis |
'I wanted a juke box that plays nothing but flip-sides' - Jeremy Sams on The Enchanted Island
Creator of a 'new' Baroque opera anticipates British Youth Opera's takeover of a Met hit |
theartsdesk at Itinéraire Baroque 2018 - canaries in front of a Périgord altar
Distinguished Dordogne dweller Ton Koopman and friends meet in a Romanesque priory |
theartsdesk at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music - stratospheric performances by a tropical sea
New artistic director Kathryn Stott personalises a much-loved Antipodean fixture |
h Club 100 Awards: Video games - pioneers with heart and soul
High tech meets high calibre in this year’s list of gaming’s brightest sparks |
F Off: National Youth Theatre puts social media on trial
NYT's new work is aimed at digital natives. Its playwright introduces it |
Greed as the keynote: Robert Carsen on the timelessness of 'The Beggar's Opera'
The director brings his contemporary take on John Gay's satire to the Edinburgh Festival |
theartsdesk at the Pärnu Music Festival 2018 - Pärt, Leonskaja and friends hard at play
Wild nights from Paavo Järvi's Estonian Festival Orchestra at home before their first Prom |
h 100 Awards: Theatre and Performance - excellence and inclusion across the map
If the theatre is buoyant and alive, we have these artists to thank |
theartsdesk at Camp Bestival 2018 - from Astley to apocalypse
Theartsdesk team takes both sun and storm at the annual family shindig |
Box office poison? Joan Crawford at BFI Southbank
Joan's back! Fierce, she most certainly was, but how about funny? |
Brian Friel, the private playwright of Ballybeg
A celebration of the Northern Irish stage craftsman whose play Aristocrats is revived at the Donmar Warehouse |
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