Features & Interviews
10 Questions for Courtney Pine: 'How do you express rage?'
Friday, 20 April 2018
Over 30 years after he made his debut as a solo artist, woodwind multi-instrumentalist Courtney Pine is still Britain’s most prominent and influential jazz musician. He had a crucial role in reviving interest in jazz in the 1980s and 1990s, and has been an important role model for black British musicians.
theartsdesk in Bremen: 150 years of A German Requiem
Wednesday, 18 April 2018
They did things differently in 1858. Between the movements of Brahms's surprising new Requiem in the Biblical German of Martin Luther, resounding in Bremen's Romanesque Cathedral on Good Friday, came "Erbarme dich" from Bach's St Matthew Passion, Schumann's "Abendlied" and "I know that my redeemer liveth" from Handel's Messiah.
Helaine Blumenfeld: Britain’s most successful...
Tuesday, 17 April 2018
Sexy is an overused word in the arts but it’s an adjective you can’t help applying to some of Helaine Blumenfeld’s voluptuous marble sculptures as...
theartsdesk in Kraków - Easter music with a...
Tuesday, 03 April 2018
Held annually every Holy Week, Kraków’s Misteria Paschalia is one of the continent’s most vibrant early music festivals. With an increasing focus on...
Soprano Ruby Hughes on Handel's last prima...
Saturday, 31 March 2018
Who was Giulia Frasi? This is so often the response I get when I mention the name of this Italian singer who came to London and became Handel’s last...
Manon, Royal Ballet review - glitter and betray
Francesca Hayward makes a virtue of a pleasure-loving enigma in pacy MacMillan revival |
theartsdesk at the Lucerne Easter Festival: Haitink, Schiff and an alternative Passion
Greatest living conductor lights the way as mentor in three days of musical excellence |
Glyndebourne Opera Cup - a view from inside
A Mozartian challenge pulls its weight at prestigious new forum for young singers |
Listed: The 10 Best Biblical Novels
An Easter pick of Scriptural stories that command belief |
Sir Matthew Bourne remembers Scott Ambler 1960-2018 – 'A prince among men'
New Adventures Artistic Director's tribute to his core collaborator and star performer |
'There's a poetry in painting that gives endless possibilities'
Painter Alexandra Baraitser on curating her sixth exhibition, 'Silent Painting' |
Antony Sher: Year of the Mad King - extract
The actor's Lear Diaries tell of his preparation to clamber up theatre's tallest peak for the RSC |
'In order to write my book I had to kill Jane Austen'
Rachel Halliburton's novel The Optickal Illusion confronts the settled narrative of Regency heroines |
theartsdesk in Korea: national pride and candour
Music and art without borders in a country cut in half |
Oscars 2018: The shape of a snoozefest
Frances McDormand, Gary Oldman and 'The Shape of Water' triumph at a very serious ceremony |
theartsdesk in Germany - Baltic mastery in Berlin and Leipzig
Neeme Järvi conducts an Estonian epic, Latvian Andris Nelsons becomes 21st Gewandhauskapellmeister |
theartsdesk in Minsk: feasting with Belarus Free Theatre
The renowned underground theatre company confronts the past and present at home and abroad |
'The greatest play ever written': translating The Cherry Orchard
Rory Mullarkey introduces his new version of Chekhov's masterpiece for Bristol Old Vic |
Tony Banks: ‘You either do it by diplomacy or you do it by violence’ - interview
From Genesis to regeneration, the keyboard player's tale |
Clio Barnard: 'We need to talk about sexual abuse' - interview
The director of 'Dark River' discusses tackling sexual trauma and why she’s drawn to Yorkshire |
'These star-crossed lovers are so young': adapting Brighton Rock
How to turn Graham Greene's novel into a play: the playwright Bryony Lavery explains |
John Mahoney: 'I wanted to be like everybody else'
How the Manchester-born star of 'Frasier' became a naturalised Midwesterner |
Having a Verdi ball: conductor Richard Farnes on Opera North's upcoming production
Hugely respected former Music Director on returning for 'Un ballo in maschera' |
Best of 2017: Dance
Classical ballet dominates the highlights reel as chosen by theartsdesk's critics |
Best of 2017: Comedy
The shows that have stayed with me |
Best of 2017: Classical concerts
UK orchestras on top form, while there's a bright future for enterprise elsewhere |
Best of 2017: Opera
Company spirit and artistic teamwork top of the list |
Bach Cantatas - not just for Christmas
Plan a year of listening to the greatest music known to man |
Bolshoi's controversial Nureyev ballet opens – to ovations and bans
Creator Kirill Serebrennikov, under house arrest, denied permission to see his own ballet |
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