theartsdesk com, first with arts reviews, news and interviews
Miranda Heggie
Monday, 20 January 2020
Celtic Connections, Scotland’s annual festival of folk, world and fusion music, has been brightening up dreich Glasgow Januaries since its inception in 1994. Originally proposed...
Gavin Dixon
Monday, 20 January 2020
#Beethoven250 is in full swing at the Barbican. Like most venues, they are keen to show a different side to the composer in his jubilee year. And the oratorio Christ on the Mount...
Nadine Meisner
Monday, 20 January 2020
It’s no surprise that audiences love John Cranko’s Onegin, with its vividly economical narrative (close to Tchaikovsky’s opera), attractive decors by Jürgen Rose, and intelligent...
Marianka Swain
Monday, 20 January 2020
“Take our country back!” is the rallying cry of the self-identified “real” Americans gathered to protest the arrival of immigrants. It could be a contemporary Trump rally – or,...
Richard Bratby
Monday, 20 January 2020
“Try to imagine the whole universe beginning to ring and resound” wrote Gustav Mahler of his Eighth Symphony. “There are no longer human voices, but planets and suns revolving.”...
Veronica Lee
Monday, 20 January 2020
Musical comedy siblings Nicola and Rosie Dempsey (Flo and Joan were their grandmother and great-aunt's names) get along very well – even being mistaken for lovers by one Paris...
Nick Hasted
Monday, 20 January 2020
Remembrance of clubs past motivates Neil Tennant at 65. The melancholy and wit which gave ambiguity and amused bite to the...
Jessica Payn
Sunday, 19 January 2020
"The deaf don’t believe in silence. Silence is the invention of the hearing." This is one of two author’s "Notes" to Ilya...
Kieron Tyler
Sunday, 19 January 2020
Commercially, The Beloved’s peak years kicked off in autumn 1989 when their electro house-pop began its chart run. The band...
Daniel Lewis
Sunday, 19 January 2020
Like many writers, Jeet Thayil is a bit of an outsider. And, if his track record is anything to go by, he has been happy to...
Nick Hasted
Saturday, 18 January 2020
Terrence Malick returns to his former greatness following three features of unscripted, all-star poesy, with this sombre...
Adam Sweeting
Saturday, 18 January 2020
If nothing else, you’d want to tune in to Cobra (Sky 1) for its cast. Robert Carlyle is steely and decisive as Prime...
Robert Beale
Saturday, 18 January 2020
Finding one piece for marimba soloist and string orchestra would tax the powers of many concert planners, never mind coming...
Theartsdesk
Saturday, 18 January 2020
There are films to meet every taste in theartsdesk's guide to the best movies currently on release. In our considered...
India Lewis
Saturday, 18 January 2020
Published in the year following Orr’s death at the age of 57, Motherwell is an analysis of the author’s childhood in...
Graham Rickson
Saturday, 18 January 2020
Sheku Kanneh-Mason: Elgar London Symphony Orchestra/Simon Rattle (Decca)Sheku Kanneh-Mason’s debut album included a...
Nick Hasted
Saturday, 18 January 2020
The middle-aged rap master of provocation has survived into an era of hair-trigger outrage. The wearily dignified response...
Aleks Sierz
Friday, 17 January 2020
Do you hear the people sing? In recent months, you're more likely to have heard news stories about the longest running West...
David Nice
Friday, 17 January 2020
Horns fanfared, coasted and chorused through yet another Philharmonia winner of a concert to match the impressive planning...
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 10,000 pieces, we're asking for £3.95 per month or £30 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take an annual 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
Cobra, Sky 1 review - entertaining mix of political mischief and cosmic chaos
Robert Carlyle's Tory prime minister battles internal and external crises
Messiah, Netflix review - con-artist or the Second Coming?
It's sometimes sluggish, but it keeps asking provocative questions
This Is Our Family, Sky Atlantic review - can Emma and Tony live happily ever after?
New documentary series digs deep into the lives of its subjects
film
A Hidden Life review - Nazism stoically refused
Terrence Malick's raptures find solid ground in a forgotten stand against fascism
Just Mercy review - soul-stirring true story about race and justice in America
Biopic retells a powerful narrative about perseverance in the face of injustice
new music
Celtic Connections 2020, Glasgow review - fine feast of Scottish music
Global traditions come together in Scotland's annual musical melting pot
Reissue CDs Weekly: The Beloved - Where It Is
Charming collection of what the electro house-popsters were up to before the hits
classical
Beethoven Discovery Day, Batiashvili, LSO, Rattle, Barbican review – reassessing a rarity
Soloists, chorus and orchestra shine in a rarely heard oratorio
Mahler's Eighth, CBSO, Gražinytė-Tyla, Symphony Hall Birmingham review - a symphony of 600
A rite of spring as a great orchestra launches its centenary year in epic style
Currie, Jordan, NCO, Stoller Hall, Manchester review - major marimba music
Tales of mystery and imagination from the 21st century and beyond
opera
Sukanya, RFH review - Ravi Shankar's bright-eyed, varied fable
Fine performances, but crude miking suggests this would work better as a chamber opera
prisoner of the state, Barbican review - beauty, but where is the drama?
David Lang's efficient homage to Beethoven can't eclipse the original
'Divinity is all around us': soprano Susanna Hurrell on Ravi Shankar's 'Sukanya'
Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Indian master's birth with a return to his opera
theatre
Rags: The Musical, Park Theatre review - a timely, if predictable, immigrant tale
Current events lend urgency to this historical work
Les Misérables, Sondheim Theatre review - join in our crusade
New blood courses through the West End's longest-running musical
Scrounger, Finborough Theatre review - uncomfortable play tackles disability discrimination
Athena Stevens confronts the challenges faced by wheelchair-users
dance
Onegin, Royal Ballet review - vivid and intelligent dance drama
The production may feel old-fashioned, but Cranko's graphic dance images still have power to startle
Resolution 2020, The Place review - new dance for a new decade
You take your chances with this annual bran tub of novice choreography
Le Corsaire, London Coliseum review - hugely entertaining
Don't mind the plot. ENB dance up a storm in this exuberant pirate caper
comedy
Flo & Joan, Soho Theatre review - entertaining wit and whimsy
Musical duo say Bros 'inspired' the show
Frank Skinner, Garrick Theatre review - a masterclass in owning the room
Pleasing mix of personal and professional anecdotes
Leicester Comedy Festival Gala Preview Show, De Montfort Hall review - mixed bag in mixed bill
Ian Stone ends evening on a high note
gaming
Rage 2 review – garish but great post-apocalyptic shooter
Challenge The Authority in this 'Mad Max on mushrooms' renegade romp
Win a Luxury Weekend for Two to Celebrate Brighton Festival!
An eclectic line-up spanning music, theatre, dance, visual art, film, comedy, literature and spoken word could be yours with boutique hotel and exquisite meals included
World War Z review - bloodthirsty fun with the zombie apocalypse
Chainsawing the brain-eaters as you battle against the tide of the undead
visual arts
Caravaggio & Bernini, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna - high emotion in 17th century Rome
Painting and sculpture vie for supremacy in the eternal city
Dora Maar, Tate Modern review - how women disappear
Stunning photographs and fabulous photomontages by overlooked and elusive artist
latest comments
Richard, That is an excellent and elegantly...
How nice to see a bunch of Peugeot 403's. My...
The leap forward in time was where it really...
As usual a great classic horror story completely...
I have been Vegan over 30 years and this...
I found this series frustrating. Whilst the...
So, no mention of the fact that this is theft?...
Well done to Emma she was so brave. Xana would...