Reviews
I Fagiolini, Hollingworth, Kings Place review - magnificent Monteverdi Vespers
Sunday, 01 October 2023
It was great to see Kings Place full on Saturday night for I Fagiolini’s take on the Monteverdi Vespers, added, rock’n’roll style, as an “additional date due to public demand” after the Friday show sold out. And it was superb.
PJ Harvey, Roundhouse, London review - incandescent perfection
Sunday, 01 October 2023
London’s Roundhouse is a very special venue. For decades the circular shed, with its elegant ironwork supporting structures has hosted a wonderful and varied series of performances. Like a great cathedral, the space has a hallowed feel about it. The culmination of a sold-out UK tour, PJ Harvey’s exquisitely paced and passionate set, as much pagan ritual as perfect entertainment, makes the most of this womb of a space.
Music Reissues Weekly: Bowes Road Band - Back in...
Sunday, 01 October 2023
The acronym “HCA” in the title stands for Hornsey College of Art, the North London college which, in late May 1968, was occupied by its students and...
James Blake, Alexandra Palace review - victory...
Saturday, 30 September 2023
James Blake’s sold-out show at Ally Pally is his only UK stop this tour and it feels like a homecoming of sorts – while Blake now lives in Los...
Close-Up: The Twiggy Musical, Menier Chocolate...
Friday, 29 September 2023
The Biba dresses are way too colourful, the shop’s interior about 10 times too bright… and did anybody really say ”happening threads” in 1965?Taking...
The Creator review - bold, beautiful, flawed sci-fi epic
John David Washington goes on the run with a child AI |
Falstaff, Opera North review - going green and having fun
Verdi’s comic masterpiece with a retro feel of its own |
The Old Oak review - a searing ode to solidarity
Syrian refugees polarise Durham villagers in Ken Loach's affecting drama |
Unbelievable, Criterion Theatre review - Derren Brown-directed show misses his otherworldly danger
Pantomime vibe undermines the unique frisson of the magician's art |
Black Sabbath: The Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Birmingham Hippodrome review - two very different art forms merge
Carlos Acosta creates shining gold from heavy metal and ballet |
Fung, RPO, Schwarz, Cadogan Hall review - high style from new cellist and conductor on the block
Classics have new life and vitality alongside a modest British rarity |
Michael Peppiatt: Giacometti in Paris review - approaching the impossible
The artist’s life winds along the streets of Paris in a sprawling study of influence and resistance |
Frank and Percy, The Other Palace review - two-hander fails to escape a very short leash
Ian McKellen and Roger Allam as the lonely men who bond over their dogs |
The Continental, Prime Video - welcome to the expanding John Wick universe
Origin story of the hitman's hotel makes a sluggish start |
Ailey 2, Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury review - young, black and fabulous
The younger sibling of the Alvin Ailey family visits for the first time in 12 years |
Untitled F*ck M*ss S**gon Play, Young Vic review - committed and important play let down by heavy-handed writing
Satirical comedy-drama labours its points across an uninterrupted two hours |
Surprised by Oxford review - wishy-washy romance ticks the sightseeing boxes
Ryan Whitaker's film of Carolyn Weber's memoir of Christian conversion pulls its religious punches |
Strange Way of Life review - Pedro Almodóvar's queer Western
A sheriff and his old lover spark again in a thin frontier drama |
Octopolis, Hampstead Theatre review - blue, blue, electric blue
New play about the relations between humans and other life forms has profound depths |
The National, OVO Hydro, Glasgow, review - commanding arenas with ease
A lengthy show served as a thrilling reminder of the Ohio band's rich catalogue |
Annie Ernaux: Shame review - the translation of pain
Tanya Leslie gracefully translates the Nobel Prize winner’s treatise on the traumas that make us |
Mahler 2, LPO, Gardner, RFH review - an interpretation of superlative resonance and clarity
LPO Principal Conductor's spiritually open, intellectually rigorous approach pays off |
Mad Rush, Carol Williams, RFH review - a rainbow of organ colours
A born entertainer at the highest level takes on the Royal Festival Hall's refurbished giant |
The Nettle Dress review - a moving story exquisitely told
A widower weaves his way out of grief |
The Ossianic Ballads, Edinburgh Quartet, Màiri MacMillan, National Library of Scotland review - good ingredients get lost in the mix
New life given to ancient Gaelic songs results in a less than lively performance |
Music Reissues Weekly: Shake That Thing - The Blues in Britain 1963-1973
Box-set compendium of US-inspired Brits lacks inquisitiveness |
Marina Abramović, Royal Academy review - young performers stand in for the absent artist
This pioneer of performance art is the first woman to show in the main galleries |
Mlima's Tale, Kiln Theatre review - simple, powerful tale about the rape of Africa
Lynn Nottage’s 2018 play gets an exquisite staging with moving performances |
La Traviata, Welsh National Opera review - memorable revival, unforgettable lead
Stacey Alleaume has an astonishing feeling for the stage, her Violetta one in a thousand |
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I Fagiolini, Hollingworth, Kings Place review - magnificent...
It was great to see Kings Place full on Saturday night for I Fagiolini’s take on the Monteverdi Vespers, added, rock’n’roll style, as an...
Music Reissues Weekly: Bowes Road Band - Back in the HCA
The acronym “HCA” in the title stands for Hornsey College of Art, the North London college which, in late May 1968, was occupied by its students...
PJ Harvey, Roundhouse, London review - incandescent perfecti...
London’s Roundhouse is a very special venue. For decades the circular shed, with its elegant ironwork supporting structures has hosted a wonderful...
James Blake, Alexandra Palace review - victory lap for Nort...
James Blake’s sold-out show at Ally Pally is his only UK stop this tour and it feels like a homecoming of sorts – while Blake now lives in Los...
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The Creator review - bold, beautiful, flawed sci-fi epic
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Falstaff, Opera North review - going green and having fun
There’s a charmingly retro feel to Opera North’s new Falstaff, which comes from it being done as part of their new “...