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Rachel Halliburton |

Fire and ice are the elements invoked at the start of Handel’s remarkable opera of jealousy and betrayal, yet what gives it its power is the world of subtlety and shadow that lies between them. In Jetske Mijnssen’s dynamic, darkly witty directorial debut at the Royal Opera House, she creates a canvas on which each character’s contradictions can be felt to the full, capturing every nuance of their rapturous highs and sonorous lows. 

Sebastian Scotney
This album truly is a delightful surprise. Winter Songs Vol. 2 is simply more fun, it swings harder and is filled with far more freshness than I…
Robert Beale
From the team who gave us a sparkly L’étoile just a year ago, comes a fun-filled production of Prokofiev’s wacky, surreal and glorious comedy romp.…
Justine Elias
Fear of being alone with our own thoughts, as much as fear of missing out, prevents most of us from disconnecting from our electronic devices and…

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Boyd Tonkin
Inward struggle meets global strife in music of the troubled soul
Helen Hawkins
Seymour Hersh finally talks to a documentary team about his investigative career
Robert Beale
Drama and vocal strength combine with a touch of operatic style
Kieron Tyler
Album of previously unissued BBC recordings is a valuable addition to the British jazz maverick’s catalogue
Adam Sweeting
Jeremy Renner keeps chaos at bay in Taylor Sheridan's traumatic crime drama
Graham Fuller
Jafar Panahi's devastating farce lays bare Iran's collective PTSD
David Nice
Clear-sighted Bruckner follows transcendent Mozart and Schumann
Bernard Hughes
Iconoclastic re-working of the ineffable String Quintet divides opinion
James Saynor
A queer romance in the British immigration gulag
Helen Hawkins
The 23-year-old Noel Coward scrubs up well as a provocative farceur
Liz Thomson
A reminder of when hope and music rhymed
Rachel Halliburton
An enthrallingly authoritative account of the 'Quartet for the End of Time'
mark.kidel
Dancing to feed the spirit and the soul
Boyd Tonkin
A new eco-concerto joins some well-loved musical landscapes
Rachel Halliburton
This is Athens as a violent dictatorship
Thomas H. Green
Pop-rockers on fine musical form but undermined by stop-start dynamics
Gary Naylor
Classic musical, staged in intimate setting, loses little
Kieron Tyler
Too-often below par box-set version of the album which used to be called ‘Axis: Bold As Love’
Adam Sweeting
Vintage documentary series boosted by sound and vision upgrades
aleks.sierz
Adaptation of the John Le Carré Cold War thriller could do with more fleshing out
Jonathan Geddes
The Hives were on typically brash, sweaty form
Robert Beale
Four voices and four strings capture hibernian experience from Lassus to the recent past
Clare Stevens
A splendid if in some ways provisional inauguration

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We are bowled over! We knew that theartsdesk.com had plenty of supporters out there – we’ve always had a loyal readership of arts…
Fire and ice are the elements invoked at the start of Handel’s remarkable opera of jealousy and betrayal, yet what gives it its power is…
This album truly is a delightful surprise. Winter Songs Vol. 2 is simply more fun, it swings harder and is filled with far more freshness…
From the team who gave us a sparkly L’étoile just a year ago, comes a fun-filled production of Prokofiev’s wacky, surreal and glorious…
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