reviews
theartsdesk |

We are bowled over! 

We knew that theartsdesk.com had plenty of supporters out there – we’ve always had a loyal readership of arts lovers and professionals alike – but the response to our appeal to help us relaunch and reboot has been something else.

David Nice |

Range, I decided on Monday night, was what makes for great performances: range of emotions, dynamics, pitches. It was as true of Abel Selaocoe and his fine fellow musicians (★★★★★) as it had been of the Belcea Quartet with Tabea Zimmermann at the Wigmore Hall last week.

Liz Thomson
Judy Garland's Carnegie Hall comeback concert on Sunday, 23 April 1961 has often been lauded as "the greatest night in show business history", though…
Demetrios Matheou
It’s 1959. Trinidad is fighting for independence from British colonial rule, while the US is beginning to stake its own control over the island,…
Adam Sweeting
Can you remember what you were doing on 23 June 2016? You might well have been out to cast your vote in the EU referendum, which has thrown its…

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

Boyd Tonkin
In concert, Mozart's farewell opera burns bright
Bernard Hughes
Striking performances by a quartet with a strong sense of identity
Rachel Halliburton
A versatile ensemble of four brings the countercultural classic to life
stephen.walsh
Not much to look at, good on the ear
Guy Oddy
Independent Country’s shindig takes on a grey Saturday and wins out
Jonathan Geddes
Yorkshire sextet were exciting at times, but not consistently so
Kieron Tyler
Overdue - albeit digital-only - return of the former Servants lynchpin’s 2002 solo album
Nick Hasted
The Brat star convinces in a freewheeling, nouvelle vague-ish Polish excursion
Aleks Sierz
New play about the real and the fake in the online world is both humorous and distressing
Thomas H. Green
L.A.-based Welsh singer delivers a sweaty maximalist pop love-in
David Nice
'Santtu' clearly loves 'Symphonia Domestica', the composer's family mock-epic
David Nice
Mozart with other-worldly refinement, focused passion in Brahms
Bernard Hughes
This not-a-biography of the 80s pop icon feels like an overextended magazine feature
Demetrios Matheou
Fictionalised account of Keith Jarrett’s iconic concert feels as improvised as its subject
Rachel Halliburton
The OIivier is exploited to its full epic potential in scenes of war and redemption
David Nice
The Norwegian soprano has arrived as a great recitalist in partnership with a vivid pianist
Sebastian Scotney
A jazz supergroup on hallowed ground in Burgundy
Helen Hawkins
The latest tranche of Korean contemporary dance offered a mesmerising instant classic
David Nice
Not a huge number of laughs, but plenty of vocal charm from tenor and soprano
Guy Oddy
Robin Dallaway’s crew return to the stage after a 40-year break
David Nice
Niamh O'Sullivan is the perfect Knight of the Rose in classy revival
Adam Sweeting
Friendships tested to destruction in Catherine Shepherd's satirical drama
Jonathan Geddes
The Manchester foursome's post-punk and garage rock remains danceable and rousing.
Bernard Hughes
40th anniversary event overcomes disruption with exquisite music-making

the future of arts journalism

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing! 

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

latest in today

We are bowled over! We knew that theartsdesk.com had plenty of supporters out there – we’ve always had a loyal readership of arts…
Range, I decided on Monday night, was what makes for great performances: range of emotions, dynamics, pitches. It was as true of Abel…
Judy Garland's Carnegie Hall comeback concert on Sunday, 23 April 1961 has often been lauded as "the greatest night in show business…
It’s 1959. Trinidad is fighting for independence from British colonial rule, while the US is beginning to stake its own control over the…
Can you remember what you were doing on 23 June 2016? You might well have been out to cast your vote in the EU referendum, which has thrown…
While it’s four years since the Bobby Lees’ excellent Bellevue album was released, they haven’t been stumbling around in the slow lane…
“Never have I had such a day,” sings the baffled Emperor Tito as he wearily forgives all and sundry for their conspiracies, treacheries,…
There’s not – and never has been, really – that much discourse about commercial dance music as music. It’s either talked about by ageing…
Danish by name, and very much Danish by appearance (the cellist is Norwegian, but we’ll let that go). This quartet combines a glorious…
Kurt Vonnegut’s hallucinatory countercultural classic, Slaughterhouse Five, famously took his experience of being a prisoner of war in…