Reviews
Gianni Schicchi/Suor Angelica, RNCM, Manchester review – music does the magic
Wednesday, 12 December 2018
The Royal Northern College of Music’s December opera production was the useful double bill of Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi from Puccini’s Trittico.
The Double Dealer, Orange Tree Theatre review - high spirits and low morals
Wednesday, 12 December 2018
It's been 40 years since The Double Dealer last had a major airing (indeed, perhaps any airing) in London, so on the basis of novelty value alone, the Orange Tree's end-of-year offering is worth our attention. But as always with Restoration comedy, Congreve's 1693 story of romantic skulduggery and misalliance poses a basic problem: how do you make sense of a byzantine plot characteristic of the genre?
Mrs Wilson finale, BBC One review - stranger than...
Wednesday, 12 December 2018
As the priest said, "Understanding comes first, then forgiveness". Thus the rather enjoyable (if slightly overstretched) Mrs Wilson came to a not...
Thomas Adès, Wigmore Hall review - playful and...
Tuesday, 11 December 2018
Janáček has been an abiding passion for Thomas Adès. As both composer and performer, Adès revels in the whimsical and the absurd, and he finds both...
Sir Cliff Richard: 60 Years in Public and in...
Tuesday, 11 December 2018
It was when he was on holiday at his agreeable estate in the Algarve in August 2014 that Cliff Richard got a phone call telling him his Berkshire...
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse review - a new hope for the superhero genre
An anarchic animated adventure with a psychedelic style and whip-smart voice cast |
theartsdesk on Vinyl 45: Ian Dury, Janis Joplin, Oneohtrix Point Never, Stereolab, Charles Mingus and more
The wildest, most wide-ranging monthly record reviews out there |
Hey Colossus, Centrala, Birmingham review - lighting the experimental 2018 Christmas candles
Sonic oddballs welcome in the season of goodwill and excessive drinking |
Candide, LSO, Alsop, Barbican review - nearly the best of all possible...
Bernstein centenary reaches a smashing conclusion with a flawed masterpiece |
Care, BBC One review - a blunt but powerful polemic
Jimmy McGovern asks what we're doing about caring for the elderly |
Katie Melua and Gori Women's Choir, Central Hall Westminster, London, review - Georgia on her mind
A seriousness of purpose that is refreshing and engaging |
The Swingles, LPO, Jurowski, RFH review – austere Stravinsky, luminous Berio
Year-long Stravinsky festival wraps up with a diverse sixties showcase |
Aladdin, Hackney Empire review - Clive Rowe returns as the Dame
Susie McKenna creates fast-paced fun in a busy mix |
CD: Jessie J - This Christmas Day
High production values and some imagination in reworking of favourite Christmas songs |
Barbra Streisand: Becoming an Icon 1942-1984, BBC Four review - the way she was
The diva's journey from Brooklyn to Broadway and beyond |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Unusual Sounds
Library music compilation lacks the impact of the companion book of the same name |
Mitsuko Uchida, Royal Festival Hall review - conviction and grace
Sophisticated and fragile Schubert, delivered with exquisite beauty |
Nine Night, Trafalgar Studios review - hilarity and heartbreak
Natasha Gordon joins the company as her debut drama transfers from the National |
Sophie Bevan, Philharmonia, Rouvali, RFH review - an Alpine blaze
Generously flawed at first, the young Finn's conducting hit ever greater heights in Strauss |
A Christmas Carol, Old Vic review - Dickens adaptation returns, depth and mince pies intact
Last year's festive-season hit, re-cast, continues to enchant |
The Old Man & the Gun review - sundown on Sundance
Robert Redford's swansong is a fitting tribute to a movie legend |
Doctor Faustus, Sam Wanamaker Theatre review - female Faustus reaps rich rewards
A deceptive lightness of tone brings new resonance to the text |
True West, Vaudeville Theatre review - sizzling take on seminal Sam Shepard
Kit Harington and Johnny Flynn go hell for leather as savagery-prone siblings |
Bostridge, Pappano, Barbican review - a tough but thrilling march across the battlefield
Tenor and pianist make intense drama out of the music of modern war |
Fiddler on the Roof, Menier Chocolate Factory review - family matters in this sensitive musical revival
Trevor Nunn's intimate staging provides a soulful seasonal outing |
Cypress Hill, O2 Academy, Birmingham review – OG hip-hoppers light-up
Old school ganja-gangsters set Birmingham ablaze |
Hole, Royal Court review - anger is not quite enough
Short new play from actor Ellie Kendrick is full of ferocity, but lacks originality |
Hari Kondabolu, Soho Theatre review - from politics to papayas
US comic with an original take on all manner of things |
The Nutcracker, Royal Ballet review - a still-magical tale of two couples
Peter Wright's balance of story-telling and classical dance lacks only elan from the pit |
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latest in today
Gianni Schicchi/Suor Angelica, RNCM, Manchester review – mus...
The Royal Northern College of Music’s December opera production was the useful double bill of Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi ...
The Double Dealer, Orange Tree Theatre review - high spirits...
It's been 40 years since The Double Dealer last had a major airing (indeed, perhaps any airing) in London, so on the basis of novelty...
Mrs Wilson finale, BBC One review - stranger than fiction
As the priest said, "Understanding comes first, then forgiveness". Thus the rather enjoyable (if slightly overstretched) Mrs Wilson came...
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Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III – Aloe Blacc – is one shrewd dude. He's extremely adept at reaching out beyond the confines of his natural beat of...
Thomas Adès, Wigmore Hall review - playful and erratic Janáč...
Janáček has been an abiding passion for Thomas Adès. As both composer and performer, Adès revels in the whimsical and the absurd, and he finds...
Sir Cliff Richard: 60 Years in Public and in Private, ITV re...
It was when he was on holiday at his agreeable estate in the Algarve in August 2014 that...
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