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features & interviews
theartsdesk |

The death of country star Dolly Parton has been a shock that reverberated worldwide. Not the fact that it happened: she was 80 and in ill health and passed after a life well lived. Rather it's been the aftermath – and specifically the outpouring of love – that has been unprecedented.

Nick Manasseh |

So the tune we'll discuss today in the imaginary seminar that occupies a certain part of my brain is….

Peter Culshaw
Squint and you could be in 1968 - although this lot are rather better dressed and healthier than most hippies. I did see a bumper sticker “The…
Steve Burns
Hi. I’m Steve, creator of the solo show bearing my name on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and I’d like to make something perfectly clear: I’m alive.…
Boyd Tonkin
What does a spectacular backdrop give to – or maybe take from? – a music festival? Exit the Wigmore Hall and, however transcendent the performance,…

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Justine Elias.
Dip your toes into these Homeric movies before Christopher Nolan’s 'The Odyssey' ties us to its mast
Ibrahim Maalouf
The Lebanese-French musician's father was behind a unique musical innovation
Peter Culshaw
The Fez Festival Of World Sacred Music and the Fes Gathering bring the world together
Saskia Baron
A potential camera in every hand: SMart celebrates smartphone directors
Helen Charlston
Eloquent thoughts on the wonder of 'Dichterliebe' and a new work inspired by it
Tim Cumming
The follow-up to comeback album 'Hackney Diamonds' is a raucous, joyful late-period classic
caspar.gomez
With no Glastonbury Festival 2026, our intrepid reporter offers us mementos and tall tales
Mark Kidel
To mark the centenary of a jazz great, we explore a soundtrack that eclipsed the film
Rachel Halliburton
Her large sculpted butterflies act both as an inspiration and a warning
Benjamin Baker
At the World's Edge festival travels from mountains to metropolis
Guido Martin-Brandis
Workshops ahead of a new production of 'Imeneo' help bring young people to opera
Matt Wolf
'One Battle After Another' is the big winner over 'Sinners' amid a leaden Oscars that mixed impassioned politics with too much painful filler
Bill Rosenfield
Early Coward play 'The Rat Trap' gets kickstarted afresh at the Park Theatre
Katie Bray
'How do you take your Weill? Sarcastic, sultry, or with a sardonic smile?'
theartsdesk
Turn the page on 2025 with our finest books of the year
theartsdesk
In a year of great indies, our critics chose the best
Kerem Hasan
English National Opera's production of a 21st century milestone has been a tough journey
David Nice
Specialists in French romantic music unveil a treasure trove both live and on disc
Oliver Pashley
Compositions by members of this unusual quartet feature for the first time
Clara Marshall Cawley
Five days of free events with all sorts of audiences around Manchester starts tomorrow
James Saynor
The star was more admired within the screen trade than by the critics
ALA.NI
She usually sings about affairs of the heart - 'TIEF' is different, explains the star
Rachel Halliburton
Music Director Julián Vat and pianist Matias Feigin compare notes on Piazzolla
Mark Kidel
Remembering an artist with a gift for the transcendent

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