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Alexandra Coghlan
Sunday, 24 June 2018
It’s a truism that history is written by the victors, but nowhere in classical music is the argument made more persuasively than in the legacy and reputation of Charles Gounod. In...
Graham Rickson
Saturday, 23 June 2018
Sei Solo: Bach's Six Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Alone Thomas Bowes (Navona)Have a look at violinist Thomas Bowes’ IMDB page. You’ve almost certainly heard him play on a...
Thomas H Green
Saturday, 23 June 2018
Norwich is remote, out near the Norfolk Broads, doing its own thing on Britain’s eastern-most edge. It’s not renowned as a place that’s contributed much to rock and pop. This may...
Caspar Gomez
Friday, 22 June 2018
Daft Punk! Kendrick Lamar! The Kinks! Yes! We blew the lid off!What? No! There IS no Glastonbury Festival 2018, I hear you cry. You think that’s going to stop Caspar Gomez? Never...
Rachel Halliburton
Friday, 22 June 2018
Iconoclasm, orgasms, and rampant rhetoric are all on irrepressible display in The Wooster Group’s recreation of the 1971 Manhattan debate that pitted Norman Mailer against some of...
Robert Beale
Friday, 22 June 2018
Adam Gorb’s The Path to Heaven, with libretto by Ben Kaye, is his longest work to date (almost two hours’ running time without interval) and on a story that could hardly be more...
Katherine Waters
Friday, 22 June 2018
In the early 20th century, Soviet filmmaker Lev Kuleshov spliced together images of people looking at things with a bowl of...
Markie Robson-Scott
Friday, 22 June 2018
Un beau soleil intérieur, the film’s French title, is part of a piece of advice given by a clairvoyant (Gérard Depardieu, in...
David Nice
Thursday, 21 June 2018
First palpable hit of the evening: a full orchestra in the pit under hyper-alert Opera North stalwart James Holmes,...
Thomas H Green
Thursday, 21 June 2018
Earlier this year, in May, Brighton hosted the Vinyl World Congress where Paul Pacifico, head of the Association of...
Saskia Baron
Thursday, 21 June 2018
The Cannes jury in 2017 gave best actress to Diane Kruger for her performance in In the Fade. She plays Katja, who turns...
Peter Culshaw
Thursday, 21 June 2018
Forgive the sports metaphor, but David Byrne knocked this one out of the park. Coming out of the concert at the Eventim...
Katherine Waters
Thursday, 21 June 2018
It’s not as immersive as New York’s The Gates, 2005, nor as magnificent as Floating Piers, 2016, in Italy’s Lake...
Ellie Porter
Thursday, 21 June 2018
Concluding a trilogy of releases that began with the EPs Not the Actual Events (2016) and Add Violence (2017) – Bad Witch is...
Tim Cumming
Wednesday, 20 June 2018
Eel Pie, the tiny eyot in the Thames, is not too a long walk from Twickenham stadium – within hollering distance, almost, if...
David Nice
Wednesday, 20 June 2018
Have you ever wondered why the Steinway grand piano is invariably the instrument of choice in every hall you visit, great or...
Katherine Waters
Wednesday, 20 June 2018
Squirrels are a breed as diverse as they are ubiquitous: they inhabit environments as extreme as desert and tundra, and all...
Bernard Hughes
Wednesday, 20 June 2018
From an early age, Barbara Strozzi would have entertained the guests of her father’s Venetian academy with songs, including...
Matthew Wright
Wednesday, 20 June 2018
It would always be difficult to follow The Epic, the 2015 release which turned LA saxophonist Kamasi Washington from leader...
disc of the day
CD: Let's Eat Grandma - I'm All Ears
Second album from eccentric teenage Norfolk duo takes them intriguingly close to pop
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tv
Natural World: The Super Squirrels, BBC Two review - silliness and facts
Gleeful take on overlooked rodent family
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Julius Caesar, BBC Four review - electrifying TV launch of all-women Shakespeare trilogy
Harriet Walter and Jade Anouka are the superlative opposite poles in a perfect ensemble
film
DVD/Blu-ray: Let the Sunshine In
Slim pickings in Paris: Claire Denis directs Juliette Binoche in a quest for the right man
In The Fade review - twisty German courtroom drama
Diane Kruger stars in ambitious thriller tackling racism, terrorism and revenge
new music
CD: Let's Eat Grandma - I'm All Ears
Second album from eccentric teenage Norfolk duo takes them intriguingly close to pop
theartsdesk at Glastonbury Festival 2018
Fallow year or no fallow year, we're going to get amongst it
theartsdesk on Vinyl 40: Talking Heads, Ornette Coleman, Crayola Lectern, Brian Eno, Ash and more
The all-encompassing monthly record review round-up
classical
Classical CDs Weekly: Bach, Prokofiev, Moonkyung Lee
Solo sonatas, piano duos and new music for violin
theartsdesk at Leipzig's Blüthner Piano Factory - a perfect family business
From the wood to the polished final article, a living lesson in piano-making
The Courtesan’s Gaze, Fieri Consort, Handel House review – historical female composers in context
A fascinating insight into the work of Barbara Strozzi and Francesca Caccini
opera
theartsdesk in Paris - following in the footsteps of Gounod
Two operatic rarities prove that a revival is long overdue
The Path to Heaven, RNCM, Manchester review - tragedy, truth, passion
New opera by Adam Gorb about the Holocaust in a moving presentation
Kiss Me, Kate, Opera North, London Coliseum review - Cole Porter delivered in true company style
Just a tad short on Broadway charisma, but this sophisticated production glides along
theatre
The Town Hall Affair, The Wooster Group, Barbican review - electric anarchy
Invigorating theatre: the 1971 Manhattan feminism vs Norman Mailer debate recreated
Finishing the Picture, Finborough Theatre review - projections in a realm of mirrors
Arthur Miller’s last play tells of a depressed self-sabotaging movie star failed by all around her
Kiss Me, Kate, Opera North, London Coliseum review - Cole Porter delivered in true company style
Just a tad short on Broadway charisma, but this sophisticated production glides along
dance
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The Sleeping Beauty, London Coliseum review - a triumph for English National Ballet
Kenneth MacMillan's timeless staging brings out the best in ENB
Michael Chance on continuing opera in Hampshire: 'good people like to work with good people'
The countertenor turned impresario launches a second season of The Grange Festival
comedy
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Bridget Christie, Brighton Festival review - politics through a domestic lens
Brexit and its fallout still an obsession
Sarah Kendall, Soho Theatre review - a superb storyteller
Australian stand-up muses on the lottery of life
gaming
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Detroit: Become Human review – a robot story with real heart
A big budget interactive story where your decisions can flip the script
Win a Luxury Weekend for Two to celebrate Brighton Festival!
Enter our competition to win a spectacular weekend at England's finest arts festival
visual arts
The London Mastaba, Serpentine Galleries review - good news for ducks?
Rockstar artist’s floating oil drums provoke questions around the purpose of public art
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'That brick red frock with flowers everywhere': painting Katherine Mansfield
Anne Estelle Rice painted the New Zealand writer 100 years ago, spinning a tale of love, friendship and artistic kinship
latest comments
Great review, captured the spirit of the night...
I know it's been 8 years since this was posted,...
Excellent review, captures my thoughts entirely....
Did notice the women thing ... will change the...
So marked, i have a 1963 photo of the bridge over...
Great review, and unbelievably fantastic concert...
This performance was powerful, declarative and...
Sorry, too many bum notes and failed intros now.