Reviews
'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages of love and support
Friday, 14 November 2025
We are bowled over!
Scott, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Whelan, RIAM, Dublin review - towards a Mozart masterpiece
Monday, 06 October 2025
One miracle of musical performance is that a work you’ve loved for years can be revealed as never before in an outstanding interpretation. That happened to me last week at the New Ross Piano Festival when 22-year-old pianist Magdalene Cho turned us upside down in Bach’s Sixth Partita. It happened again last night when Peter Whelan and his Irish Baroque Orchestra hit 1788 with one of the three symphonic masterpieces Mozart composed in a single summer, the 39th.
Music Reissues Weekly: The Earlies - These Were...
Sunday, 05 October 2025
The reappearance of These Were The Earlies for its 21st-anniversary is a surprise. Although The Earlies' debut LP received a maximum-marks review...
Hamlet, National Theatre review - turning tragedy...
Saturday, 04 October 2025
The National’s latest production of Hamlet opens with a bang: a sureness of style, atmosphere and refreshing comedic effect, accompanied by a...
France, LPO, Gardner, RFH review - the sound of...
Saturday, 04 October 2025
Even in the 21st century, it may not take that long for an outlandish literary experiment to jump genres and become an established musical classic....
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Like Water for Chocolate, Royal Ballet review - splendid dancing and sets, but there's too much plot
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
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
Łukasz Twarkowski's production dazzles without illuminating |
Lee, Park Theatre review - Lee Krasner looks back on her life as an artist
Informative and interesting, the play's format limits its potential |
Ariodante, Opéra Garnier, Paris review - a blast of Baroque beauty
A near-perfect night at the opera |
Murder Before Evensong, Acorn TV review - death comes to the picturesque village of Champton
The Rev Richard Coles's sleuthing cleric hits the screen |
Kanneh-Mason, Britten Sinfonia, Shave, Milton Court - a grin and a big beaming smile
A pair of striking contemporary pieces alongside two old favourites |
Urchin review - superb homeless drama
Frank Dillane gives a star-making turn in Harris Dickinson’s impressive directorial debut |
Lapwood, Hallé, Wong, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - journeys into space
Star of the console takes us on a cosmic dance , while Elgar brings us back to earth |
Measure for Measure, RSC, Stratford review - 'problem play' has no problem with relevance
Shakespeare, in this adaptation, is at his most perceptive |
theartsdesk at the New Ross Piano Festival - Finghin Collins’ musical rainbow
From revelatory Bach played with astounding maturity by a 22 year old to four-hand jazz |
Mr Blake at Your Service review - John Malkovich in unlikely role as an English butler
Weird comedy directed by novelist Gilles Legardinier |
The Importance of Being Earnest, Noël Coward Theatre review - dazzling and delightful queer fest
West End transfer of National Theatre hit stars Stephen Fry and Olly Alexander |
Justin Lewis: Into the Groove review - fun and fact-filled trip through Eighties pop
Month by month journey through a decade gives insights into ordinary people’s lives |
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight review - vivid adaptation of a memoir about a Rhodesian childhood
Embeth Davidtz delivers an impressive directing debut and an exceptional child star |
Lady Gaga, The Mayhem Ball, O2 review - epic, eye-boggling and full of spirit
One of the year's most anticipated tours lives up to the hype |
Get Down Tonight, Charing Cross Theatre review - glitz and hits from the 70s
If you love the songs of KC and the Sunshine Band, Please Do Go! |
Nick Helm, Touring review - brash comic shows his vulnerable side
Matters of the heart and heavy metal |
Slovenian avant-folk outfit Širom’s 'In the Wind of Night, Hard-Fallen Incantations Whisper' opens the door to inner space
Unconventional folk-based music which sounds like nothing else |
One Battle After Another review - Paul Thomas Anderson satirises America's culture wars
Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, and Sean Penn star in a rollercoasting political thriller |
Black Rabbit, Netflix review - grime and punishment in New York City
Jude Law and Jason Bateman tread the thin line between love and hate |
Kerry James Marshall: The Histories, Royal Academy review - a triumphant celebration of blackness
Room after room of glorious paintings |
The Hack, ITV review - plodding anatomy of twin UK scandals
Jack Thorne's skill can't disguise the bagginess of his double-headed material |
Punch, Apollo Theatre review - powerful play about the strength of redemption
James Graham's play transfixes the audience at every stage |
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