Reviews
Martin Gayford: Modernists & Mavericks review - people, places and paint
Sunday, 22 April 2018
Back in the early Sixties Lucian Freud was living in Clarendon Crescent, a condemned row of houses in Paddington which were gradually being demolished around him. The neighbourhood was uncompromisingly working class and to his glee his neighbours included characters from the seamier side of the criminal world.
Reissue CDs Weekly: New York Dolls
Sunday, 22 April 2018
Playing Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom on 8 September 1974, the New York Dolls opened their first set of the evening with three cover versions. Muddy Waters’ “Hoochie Coochie Man” was followed by The Shangri-Las’ “(Give Him a) Great Big Kiss” and Otis Redding’s “Don’t Mess With Cupid”. They were acknowledging that blues, girl group records and soul were integral to who they were.
Ibragimova, Tiberghien, Wigmore Hall review –...
Saturday, 21 April 2018
The Brahms violin sonatas make a perfect spring evening recital. The Second and Third were inspired by a summer retreat, but all three are light,...
Rasheeda Speaking, Trafalgar Studios review -...
Saturday, 21 April 2018
Conflict and comedy can be unpredictable bedfellows, and Chicago playwright Joel Drake Johnson’s 2014 play occasionally risks overstretching itself...
Home From Home, BBC One review - Johnny Vegas as...
Saturday, 21 April 2018
Home From Home, written by newcomers Chris Fewtrell and Simon Crowther, first saw life as a pilot in the BBC’s Landmark Sitcom Season in 2016, the...
theartsdesk on Vinyl: Record Store Day Special 2018
RSD 2018 vinyl reviews of Snapped Ankles, Undertones, LUMP, Fleet Foxes, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Sparks, Miles Davis, Yazoo and more |
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society review - artery-furring whimsy
Lily James seeks postwar secrets in a Channel Islands weepie |
Bat Out of Hell, Dominion Theatre review - the Meat Loaf musical returns, batty as ever
The booming behemoth is right at home in We Will Rock You’s old digs |
True Horror, Channel 4 review - a Ronseal approach to ghost stories
New anthology based on real accounts provides the scares and not much else |
Roy Orbison In Dreams Hologram, Eventim Apollo review - it's a gig, Jim, but not as we know it
A virtual Big O takes us back to the future |
Andsnes, LPO, Jurowski, RFH review - dazzling symphonic contrasts, plus oddities
Stunning articulation in generous helpings of Stravinsky with Shostakovich and Debussy |
Funny Cow review - Maxine Peake is stellar
Fictional biopic portrays the comedy circuit from a bygone age |
Occupied, series 2, Sky Atlantic review - political conflicts looking all too actual
Jo Nesbo’s neo-Cold War drama of Russia vs the rest - aka truth vs lies - resumes |
Angela Barnes, Soho Theatre review - history with great gags
Cold War buff with a weird obsession |
Stephen: The Murder That Changed A Nation, BBC One review - ‘He was a cool guy and everybody loved him’
New three part documentary marks 25 years since the murder of Stephen Lawrence |
Tina, Aldwych Theatre review - new Tina Turner bio-musical is simply OK
Powerhouse Adrienne Warren is the saving grace of a show that plays it safe |
Monet and Architecture, National Gallery review - a revelation in paint
The king of the blockbuster seen in a new light |
The Queen's Green Planet, ITV review - right royal arboreals
Gentle cliché met gentle cliché, but this film was charming, and the concept is fabulous |
Instructions for Correct Assembly, Royal Court review - Jane Horrocks in Middle England 'Westworld'
New sci-fi drama about suburban perfection lacks the necessary human touch |
Lifeline, Channel 4 review - Spanish sci-fi drama on speed
'Walter Presents' what-if transplant drama from Madrid hits the accelerator pedal |
Obsidian Tear / Marguerite and Armand / Elite Syncopations, Royal Opera House review - an evening of high-performance mismatch
Fine dancing, but these three ballets have nothing to say to each other |
Philharmonia, Salonen, RFH review – cosmic perspectives
Unsuk Chin explores man’s relation to the universe in new oratorio |
Daliso Chaponda, Touring review - uneven but entertaining
Britain's Got Talent finalist on first UK tour |
Barbara Ehrenreich: Natural Causes review - counterintuitive wisdom on the big issues
From challenging medical myths to making sense of the great unknowns, a bravura perspective |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Brian James
First solo album from the former Damned and Lords of the New Church man is a blast |
Amy Sackville: Painter to the King review - portrait of the artist in shadow and light
A novel about Velázquez that does justice to his genius – and his mystery |
The Moderate Soprano, Duke of York's Theatre review - love and opera with a flinty edge
Roger Allam and Nancy Carroll serve David Hare's iron fist in velvet glove to perfection |
Voices of America, English National Ballet review - a punchy programme of contemporary ballet
Forsythe commission is a romping, swaggering joy of a piece |
Igor Levit, Wigmore Hall review – music for the ages
New work for Rzewski’s 80th a puzzling affair but performed with dedication and authority |
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latest in today
Martin Gayford: Modernists & Mavericks review - people,...
Back in the early Sixties Lucian Freud was living in...
Reissue CDs Weekly: New York Dolls
Playing Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom on 8 September 1974, the New York Dolls opened their first set of the evening with three cover versions....
Ibragimova, Tiberghien, Wigmore Hall review – light, bright...
The Brahms violin sonatas make a perfect spring evening recital. The Second and Third were...
Rasheeda Speaking, Trafalgar Studios review - unsettling com...
Conflict and comedy can be unpredictable bedfellows, and Chicago...
Home From Home, BBC One review - Johnny Vegas as everyman he...
Home From Home, written by newcomers Chris Fewtrell and Simon Crowther, first saw life as a pilot in the BBC’s Landmark Sitcom Season in...
CD: Willie Nelson - Last Man Standing
Willie Nelson turned 85 at the end of April, a few days after releasing his latest album and a rare set of self-penned new songs, Last Man...
theartsdesk on Vinyl: Record Store Day Special 2018
Record Store Day 2018 – Saturday April 21 – is upon us. It should really be Record Shop Day 2018 as this is the UK but let’s not quibble. Instead...
10 Questions for Courtney Pine: 'How do you express rag...
Over 30 years after he made his debut as a solo artist, woodwind multi-instrumentalist Courtney Pine is still Britain’s most prominent...
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society review - a...
There’s a serious film to be made about the German...