Features & Interviews
First Person: pianist Danny Driver on teaching online and the importance of music education
Saturday, 26 September 2020
There’s an old saying that goes: if life deals you lemons, make lemonade. To say that the COVID-19 pandemic is a lemon would be a huge and trivial understatement – it has had a massive effect on people’s way of life across the globe, it has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and permanently scarred many more physically, psychologically and emotionally.
Eavesdropping on Rattle, the LSO and Bartók’s Bluebeard
Wednesday, 16 September 2020
One source of advance information told us to expect a reduced version of Bartók’s one-act Bluebeard’s Castle, among the 20th century’s most original and profound operatic masterpieces.
First Person: Artistic Director John Gilhooly on...
Saturday, 12 September 2020
It is hard to believe that it’s really happening! Despite a few bumps along the way, Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber, one of the greatest Lieder...
Singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter: 'I...
Tuesday, 08 September 2020
Music has never been more important than in these dark, dislocating and death-stalked days, fear and grief visiting us in ways once unimaginable. The...
'Masses of performers are still grounded...
Sunday, 06 September 2020
Have you ever tried watching a film, programme or even an advert without the soundtrack? If so, you’ll know that music is a cornerstone of all the...
Directors Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui: 'The disability community is the world community'
Interview with the men behind Netflix's new Paralympic documentary 'Rising Phoenix' |
Theatre Unlocked 4: Shows in concert and a contemporary classic comes to TV
A New York duo celebrates Sir Noël; Samuel Beckett bewitches and bewilders once again |
A masked elegy: portraits of string players at the Fidelio Orchestra Café
Young talent captured by Nick Rutter during sessions for Strauss's 'Metamorphosen' |
Theatre Unlocked 3: Signs of activity after a long siesta
Theatre comes to life, albeit gently, and some familiar names crop up online |
'Rehearsing Beethoven with Barenboim felt like an historical moment': Vienna Philharmonic trombonist Kelton Koch on a new normal
As the Salzburg Festival flourishes, a Texan in Austria welcomes a musical rebirth |
First Person: Antonia Bain on directing a short kitchen opera for film
Scottish Opera's digital content producer on making 'The Narcissistic Fish' |
Theatre Unlocked 2: A starry premiere and musical revival alongside Greek tragedy where it began
Empty playhouses caught on camera and an online 'Merchant' complete a typically varied week of theatrical fare |
'She was Paris': RIP Zizi Jeanmaire (1924-2020)
Ballet or cabaret, Zizi's passion was for performance - preferably with her husband |
First Person: Christopher Glynn on how the Ryedale Festival flows on
Artistic director and pianist defines his hopes for an online journey |
Theatre Unlocked 1: George Floyd remembered, a classic transformed, and a call to action re climate change
A Broadway legend in concert lends musical buoyancy to this week's ever wide-ranging theatrical array |
First Person: Royal College of Music Director of Programmes Diana Salazar on a transformation in learning and teaching
The RCM’s corridors are quieter than usual but commitment to musical learning resounds |
theartsdesk Q&A: horn player Sarah Willis
Midnight recording sessions and late-running buses; playing Mozart in Havana |
Theatre Lockdown Special 13: Early Lloyd Webber, vintage Rattigan, and a Dame or two in conversation
Medeas past and present conjoin across a characteristically eclectic theatre week |
Ennio Morricone 1928-2020: A lost afternoon in his apartment in Rome
Recalling a 2003 meeting with the 'Mozart of film music' |
'She spoke through her violin': Steven Isserlis on extraordinary meetings with Ida Haendel (192?-2020)
One great and characterful instrumentalist remembered by another |
Theatre Lockdown Special 12: An American rarity, a British savoury, and fresh Apples
Nigel Slater is back, as is Richard Nelson's Apple family for a second time via Zoom |
‘We are still standing and planning for the brightest future we can’: Svend McEwan-Brown on the survival of a festival
East Neuk Festival Director finds generosity, humanity and a hunger for culture in a crisis |
'Composing supports children to understand music from the inside': educator Nancy Evans on a revolution in primary schools
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group's Director of Learning outlines a bold new project |
Theatre Lockdown Special 11: Shakespeare-as-rave, a starlit Old Vic, and, yes, those singing nuns
Some celeb-heavy revivals and a kids-friendly showstopper feature amongst this week's lineup |
'We must channel the energy and pain that is being expressed right now': Chi-chi Nwanoku OBE on time for action on diversity in classical music
Chineke! founder and double bassist explains an open letter to the Prime Minister |
Ian Holm, British film's best supporting actor
From King Lear to Bilbo Baggins - remembering the great film actor who vanquished stage fright |
Theatre Lockdown Special 10: Epic plays from the National Theatre and Broadway alongside voices raised in protest
The state of Britain then and now gets a look-in, as do animals in human form |
The power of resilience: flautist Noemi Gyori on positive ways to face adversity
How performers, and others, might best deal with the current crisis |
Theatre Lockdown Special 9: Alan Bennett revisited, and so is Oz
Some familiar titles, a 1913 rarity and a show in which the audience plays its part |
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