mon 13/01/2025

theartsdesk com, first with arts reviews, news and interviews

Theartsdesk
Friday, 31 January 2025
It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.It followed some hectic and intensive months when a disparate and eclectic...
Adam Sweeting
Monday, 13 January 2025
It seems The Osmonds may not have been the worst outrage perpetrated on an unsuspecting public by the Mormons. American Primeval is set in the 1850s, and is based around the real-...
Robert Beale
Monday, 13 January 2025
Top Brownie points for the BBC Philharmonic for being one of the first (maybe the first?) to celebrate the birth centenary of Pierre Boulez this year. His Rituel – in memoriam...
Gary Naylor
Monday, 13 January 2025
There are two main reasons to revive classics. The first is that they are really good; the second is that they have something to say about how the world is changing, perhaps more...
Veronica Lee
Monday, 13 January 2025
Europe's biggest comedy festival, which showcases established stars, works in progress, workshops and competitions, kicks off next month, and this gala show certainly whetted our...
Thomas H Green
Monday, 13 January 2025
Rooted in South African electronic styles such as kwaito, amapiano and gqom, the music of Moonchild Sanelly also shows a rich in awareness of US and European hip hop and pop....
Sebastian Scotney
Sunday, 12 January 2025
Can any line from The Second Act be taken at face value? Not really. “I should never have made this film,” confides Florence...
Kieron Tyler
Sunday, 12 January 2025
Yeti Lane’s second album The Echo Show was released in March 2012. The Paris-based duo’s LP was stunning: holding together...
Graham Rickson
Saturday, 11 January 2025
 Paavo Järvi: The Complete Erato Recordings (Erato)Big box sets celebrating great conductors are piling up thick and...
Guy Oddy
Saturday, 11 January 2025
Phoebe Lunny and Lilly Macieira are furious. Livid with the rapist cops, sleazy men, gentrifying landlords, nepo babies and...
Adam Sweeting
Friday, 10 January 2025
As Bono once commented about Luciano Pavarotti, “the opera follows him off stage”. Legendary soprano Maria Callas would have...
Gary Naylor
Friday, 10 January 2025
This Celine Dion jukebox musical has been a big hit in New York, but crossing The Atlantic can be perilous for any...
Tom Carr
Friday, 10 January 2025
Travel back in time to the mid 2000s and you would be hard pressed to escape "Take Me Out" by Franz Ferdinand on the air...
Helen Hawkins
Thursday, 09 January 2025
Babygirl starts with the sound of sex, piped in over the credits. There's a lot of it on our screens at the moment, from...
Markie Robson-Scott
Thursday, 09 January 2025
Iris (Laure Calamy) and her husband Stéphane (Vincent Elbaz) haven’t had sex for four years. Waiting at school for the...
Kieron Tyler
Thursday, 09 January 2025
The title Cold Blows The Rain encapsulates it. A mournful, unembellished female voice sings of loss. The musical backing is...
Adam Sweeting
Wednesday, 08 January 2025
Jesse Eisenberg's first film as writer/director was 2022’s When You Finish Saving the World, which met with modest acclaim....
Kathryn Reilly
Wednesday, 08 January 2025
Sometimes magic really can’t be recreated. However hard it’s strived for. The incendiary magic that was Dr Dre and Snoop...
Graham Rickson
Tuesday, 07 January 2025
Czech theatre theorist Ivo Osolsobě’s tick-list for what constitutes an "authentic" musical is quoted in this release’s...

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★★★ LIEPE, NYOI, COTTIS, DUBLIN A spirited shot at Shostakovich

★★★★ SAS ROGUE HEROES, SERIES 2, BBC ONE Paddy Mayne's renegade warriors invade Italy

★★★★ A REAL PAIN Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin take a Holocaust tour of Poland

★★★ BABYGIRL Nicole Kidman gets hot and bothered about a sexy intern’s power plays

★★★ LOCKERBIE: A SEARCH FOR TRUTH, SKY ATLANTIC A gruelling dramatisation

★★★★ NICKEL BOYS An immersive elegy to black teenage crime and punishment

★★★★★ BLU-RAY: THE HOP-PICKERS Ground-breaking and colourful Czech musical

AMERICAN BAROQUE - CHAMBER POP AND BEYOND 1967-1971 Harpsichords, string quartets, woodwind and a summer-into-autumn melancholy

disc of the day

Album: Moonchild Sanelly - Full Moon

The rising South African sex'n'beats whirlwind is on ripe dancefloor-friendly form

The future of Arts Journalism

 

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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?

tv

American Primeval, Netflix review - nightmare on the Wild Frontier

Peter Berg's Western drama is grim but gripping

SAS Rogue Heroes, Series 2, BBC One review - Paddy Mayne's renegade warriors invade Italy

Second helping of Steven Knight's hard-rockin' World War Two drama

film

The Second Act review - absurdist meta comedy about stardom

French A-listers puncture their profession in a hall of mirrors

Maria review - Pablo Larraín's haunting portrait of an opera legend

Angelina Jolie puts body and soul into her portrayal of Maria Callas

Babygirl review - would-be steamy drama that only flirts with transgression

Nicole Kidman gets hot and bothered about a sexy intern’s power plays

new music

Album: Moonchild Sanelly - Full Moon

The rising South African sex'n'beats whirlwind is on ripe dancefloor-friendly form

Music Reissues Weekly: Celebrate Yourself! The Sonic Cathedral Story 2004-2024

With the help of a sympathetic label, shoegazing once again confirms its resonance

Album: Lambrini Girls - Who Let the Dogs Out

Politically-savvy hardcore punk rock with a Riot Grrrl flavour

classical

Chamayou, BBC Philharmonic, Wigglesworth, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - Boulez with bonbons

Assurance and sympathy from Mark Wigglesworth for differing French idioms

Classical CDs: Antiphons, ale dances and elves

Big box sets, neglected symphonies and Norwegian songs

Liepe, National Youth Orchestra of Ireland, Cottis, NCH, Dublin review - a spirited shot at Shostakovich

All energy devoted to a symphonic epic, played with total commitment

opera

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Best of 2024: Opera

Comedy takes gold over a year rich in standout performance

theatre

The Maids, Jermyn Street Theatre review - new broom sweeps clean in fierce revival
Class, in its 21st century manifestation, colours much performed play
Best of 2024: Theatre
The classics were reclaimed afresh, and the acting more often than not astonished

dance

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Best of 2024: Dance

It was a year for visiting past glories, but not for new ones

Nutcracker, English National Ballet, Coliseum review - Tchaikovsky and his sweet tooth rule supreme

New production's music, sweets, and hordes of exuberant children make this a hot ticket

comedy

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Best of 2024: Comedy

Authentically good memories of the year

Books

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Best of 2024: Books

As 2024 comes to an end, we look back at the books that have thrilled and enthralled us

William J. Mann: Bogie & Bacall review - beyond the screen

Why we're still in love with Bogart and Bacall, and their legendary Hollywood romance

visual arts

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Best of 2024: Visual Arts

A great year for women artists

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