tue 14/10/2025

Reviews

'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages of love and support

Tom Birchenough

We are bowled over! 

Solomon, OAE, Butt, QEH review - daft Biblical whitewashing with great choruses

David Nice

Forty years ago, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment was born, and I heard Handel’s Solomon in concert for the first time. Charles Mackerras’s sprightly performance convinced me it was a masterpiece. Now I’m not so sure, despite the presence of two national singing treasures, Nardus Williams and Helen Charlston, and great double choruses superbly delivered by 32 vibrant voices under the ever-reliable guidance of John Butt. 

The Woman in Cabin 10 review - Scandi noir meets...

Justine Elias

A fizzy mystery cocktail with a twist and a splash, The Woman in Cabin 10, based on Ruth Ware’s bestseller, sails along like the sleek superyacht...

Two-Piano Gala, Kings Place review - shining...

David Nice

Never mind the permutations (anything up to eight hands on the two pianos); feel the unwavering quality of the eight pianists and the 13 works, each...

Music Reissues Weekly: Marc and the Mambas -...

Kieron Tyler

A month after Soft Cell’s "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" single peaked at number three in the UK charts, Marc Almond issued a single credited to Marc and...

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Troilus and Cressida, Globe Theatre review - a 'problem play' with added problems

Gary Naylor

Raucous and carnivalesque, but also ugly and incomprehensible

London Film Festival 2025 - crime, punishment, pop stars and shrinks

Adam Sweeting

Daniel Craig investigates, Jodie Foster speaks French and Colin Farrell has a gambling habit

I Swear review - taking stock of Tourette's

James Saynor

A sharp and moving tale of cuss-words and tics

Clarkston, Trafalgar Theatre review - two lads on a road to nowhere

Gary Naylor

Netflix star, Joe Locke, is the selling point of a production that needs one

Carmen, English National Opera review - not quite dangerous

David Nice

Hopes for Niamh O’Sullivan only partly fulfilled, though much good singing throughout

Ghost Stories, Peacock Theatre review - spirited staging but short on scares

Gary Naylor

Impressive spectacle saves an ageing show in an unsuitable venue

R:Evolution, English National Ballet, Sadler's Wells review - a vibrant survey of ballet in four acts

Jenny Gilbert

ENB set the bar high with this mixed bill, but they meet its challenges thrillingly

Trio Da Kali, Milton Court review - Mali masters make the ancient new

Mark Kidel

Three supreme musicians from Bamako in transcendent mood

Giustino, Linbury Theatre review - a stylish account of a slight opera

Alexandra Coghlan

Gods, mortals and monsters do battle in Handel's charming drama

A House of Dynamite review - the final countdown

Nick Hasted

Kathryn Bigelow's cautionary tale sets the nuclear clock ticking again

Echo Vocal Ensemble, Latto, Union Chapel review - eclectic choral programme garlanded with dance

Bernard Hughes

Beautiful singing at the heart of an imaginative and stylistically varied concert

Susanna, Opera North review - hybrid staging of a Handel oratorio

Robert Beale

Dance and signing complement outstanding singing in a story of virtue rewarded

Scott, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Whelan, RIAM, Dublin review - towards a Mozart masterpiece

David Nice

Characteristic joy and enlightenment from this team, but a valveless horn brings problems

Music Reissues Weekly: The Earlies - These Were The Earlies

Kieron Tyler

Lancashire and Texas unite to fashion a 2004 landmark of modern psychedelia

Hamlet, National Theatre review - turning tragedy to comedy is no joke

Demetrios Matheou

Hiran Abeyeskera’s childlike prince falls flat in a mixed production

France, LPO, Gardner, RFH review - the sound of other worlds

Boyd Tonkin

From a snowbound contemporary classic to Mahler's folk-tale heaven

Like Water for Chocolate, Royal Ballet review - splendid dancing and sets, but there's too much plot

Helen Hawkins

Christopher Wheeldon's version looks great but is too muddling to connect with fully

Lee Miller, Tate Britain review - an extraordinary career that remains an enigma

Sarah Kent

Fashion photographer, artist or war reporter; will the real Lee Miller please step forward?

Rohtko, Barbican review - postmodern meditation on fake and authentic art is less than the sum of its parts

Rachel Halliburton

Łukasz Twarkowski's production dazzles without illuminating

Lee, Park Theatre review - Lee Krasner looks back on her life as an artist

Gary Naylor

Informative and interesting, the play's format limits its potential

Ariodante, Opéra Garnier, Paris review - a blast of Baroque beauty

Mark Kidel

A near-perfect night at the opera

Murder Before Evensong, Acorn TV review - death comes to the picturesque village of Champton

Adam Sweeting

The Rev Richard Coles's sleuthing cleric hits the screen

Kanneh-Mason, Britten Sinfonia, Shave, Milton Court - a grin and a big beaming smile

Bernard Hughes

A pair of striking contemporary pieces alongside two old favourites

Urchin review - superb homeless drama

Demetrios Matheou

Frank Dillane gives a star-making turn in Harris Dickinson’s impressive directorial debut

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