Features & Interviews
'Serving the community means representing the narratives of our time': Elena Dubinets on her responsibilities as the LPO's Artistic Director
Thursday, 29 September 2022
Just as I was moving from the US to the UK to begin working as the Artistic Director of the London Philharmonic Orchestra last summer, the orchestra was emerging from the COVID-19 period and our audiences began coming back.
theartsdesk at Musikfest Berlin - orchestral and choral rainbows around the clock
Saturday, 24 September 2022
In its three weeks of world-class events, Muskfest Berlin has managed to be all things to all people – like a mini-Proms distilling the aspects of top international visitors alongside home-grown excellence, and of a focus on at least one relatively unfamiliar 20th century/contemporary work per concert.
First Person: violinist and music director Bjarte...
Thursday, 22 September 2022
History first. The 17th century London of Oliver Cromwell and its puritanical quest to curb all creativity – banning music, closing down theatres,...
Jean-Luc Godard (1930-2022)
Thursday, 15 September 2022
Paris, 16 March 1960 – and cinema ruptured. The first public screening of the 29-year-old Jean-Luc Godard’s debut feature, A Bout de Souffle,...
BBC Proms 2022 - silence after Mass
Monday, 12 September 2022
So John Eliot Gardiner’s fire- and-air way with Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis turned out to be the last night of the Proms. Just as I was about to cycle...
First Person: Geoffrey Paterson on conducting the London Sinfonietta and working with Marius Neset
The conductor's 51st concert with a legendary ensemble due at the Proms tomorrow |
First Persons: Glyndebourne's sustainability advisers Sara and Jeremy Eppel on creating eco-friendly opera
This season's production of 'The Wreckers' leads the way towards net zero |
First Person: Michael Volpe on the utopian thinking behind his new If Opera company
Bold aims for country-house opera with a difference |
First Person: tenor Cyrille Dubois on recording all Fauré's songs
Chapter and verse on a fascinating project, already much acclaimed here |
First Person: Mark Bromley of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain celebrates a milestone in its history
This splendid institution's CEO explains its egalitarian role in the musical ecosystem |
theartsdesk at the Pärnu Music Festival 2022 - conductors from 15 to 85, and the greatest players
The biggest and best musical family in the world gathers again by the shores of the Baltic |
Bob Rafelson (1933-2022): New Hollywood's raging bull
A bruising encounter with the late director on inventing Jack Nicholson, and terminal films |
First Person: Angela Slater on reaping the rewards of the LPO's Young Composers programme
Working with the best musicians towards one of a number of premieres on Thursday |
2022 Parliamentary Jazz Awards: baubles, bromides and birthdays
A welcome return to in-person for this 18th edition of the awards |
theartsdesk in Zurich - forging a brilliant new Ring
Gianandrea Noseda, Andreas Homoki and top cast dazzle in an unforgettable 'Rheingold' |
First person: Ukrainian violinist Valeriy Sokolov on performing while his homeland is destroyed
His home city of Kharkiv in ruins, a great musician plays on |
First Person: director Richard Wilson on a musical midsummer night film premiere
Mendelssohn around London with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields |
The superstar, the Svengali and a rising young talent
What can singer-songwriter Tom Webber learn from the Costello legacy? |
First Person: composer Gavin Higgins on his new cantata 'The Faerie Bride'
Aldeburgh premiere tonight for setting of Welsh tale about acceptance of the other |
10 Questions for art historian and fiction writer Chloë Ashby
On sights, acts of seeing and book 'Wet paint', inspired by Manet’s 'A Bar at the Folies-Bergère' |
Venice Biennale 2022 review - The Milk of Dreams Part 1: The Giardini
The biggest and most challenging exhibition you’ll be seeing in some time |
First Person: folk violinist István 'Szalonna' Pál on true Magyar style
Lynchpin of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble on their visit to London |
First Person: Christina McMaster - seeking musical cures for modern malaise
Lying down and listening; a pianist and healer contemplates her work |
theartsdesk at the Dresden Music Festival - orchestral abundance in a spectacular setting
The Saxon city’s world-famous orchestras front and centre in a full programme of events |
'How that music was created remains to me a complete mystery': John Tomlinson on fellow Lancastrian Harrison Birtwistle
The great bass remembers the composer who wrote two roles with his voice in mind |
Clubbing with the Stones: Live at El Mocambo
Prior to their European tour, one of the band's finest ever gigs sees the light of day |
'An invitation to stillness and reflection': saxophonist and composer Christian Forshaw on collaborating with top choir Tenebrae
On the vocal quality of his chosen instrument and an invitation to stillness |
First Person: playwright Naomi Wallace on finally hearing her work performed in English
Set in America, 'The Breach' was first seen in Paris, as its author explains |
First Person: composer Michael Price on responding to Bach's Second Brandenburg Concerto
'The Malling Diamond' is one of six commissions for an ambitious Music@Malling project |
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