theartsdesk.com, first with arts reviews, news and interviews
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…
Adam Sweeting |
Berlin always makes a flavourful setting for labyrinthine stories of betrayal and deception (see Le Carre and Len Deighton for further details), and it doesn’t disappoint in this…
Jonathan Geddes |
When David Byrne made a mention of heroes and superheroes, one audience member could not resist. "Like you" they yelled out, and while the former Talking Heads singer might not be…
David Nice |
Most concerts of operatic excerpts serve up an after dinner mint. This one offered - to follow up Menotti's image of light versus serious in art - the very bread of life, albeit…
Tim Cumming |
With two albums, The Eternal Rocks Beneath and The Pendulum Swing behind her, and tours aplenty to support them (including a recent trek with Suzanne Vega) singer songwriter…
Saskia Baron |
What a strange little film, uncertain if it’s a Hitchcockian thriller or a comedic poke at the shibboleths of psychoanalysis, A Private Life is definitively a vehicle for Jodie…
Music Reissues Weekly: This Can’t Be Today - A Trip Through The US Psychedelic Underground 1977-1988
Kieron Tyler
This Can’t Be Today - A Trip Through The US Psychedelic Underground 1977-1988 is marketed as a “3CD set documenting the 1980s American ‘paisley underground’ scene” which includes…
Demetrios Matheou
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s sophomore feature is a punkish, gothic, genre-dancing, feminist riot, whose verve, imagination and serious intent don’t really need the enforcement of an…
Ellie Roberts
When an artist as popular as Harry Styles releases an album, it’s inevitable that the noise and expectation surrounding it cloud the music initially, with fans and critics jumping…
Simon Thompson
If there was love in the Royal Scottish National Orchestra’s Valentine’s concert, then it was very much of the doomed variety. There was Romeo and Juliet, of course, as imagined…
Mark Sheerin
A brand new sign in a contemporary font (Centra No.2 I am told) signals my arrival at the wooded grounds of Goodwood Art Foundation. This contrast, between cool, clean design and…
Joe Muggs
This album raises an interesting question: how many other musical artists have had as much of a career as Joshua Idehen prior to releasing their debut album proper? The Nigerian-…
aleks.sierz
Arthur Miller is constantly being revived on London stages, and constantly remains relevant. However, his most popular plays are those from early in his career – All My Sons, The…
Jonathan Geddes
CMAT knows how to make an entrance. The opening of this show, in common with the rest of her tour, featured her band assembling onstage before a spotlight was suddenly shone on…
Adam Sweeting
It’s that time of year again. The 2026 Formula 1 season kicks off in Melbourne this coming Sunday, and as night follows day, here’s the latest series of Drive to Survive to pump…
India Lewis
Birgitta Trotzig’s Queen is a strikingly poetic, persistently grim semi-fairy tale set at one of the edges of Europe: a strange, windswept shore where pregnant women fall through…
Kathryn Reilly
As a disillusioned ex-admirer – like so many – it’s with a degree of dread that I approach Morrissey’s 14th solo album (the first for six years) not least because of the…
Nick Hasted
Scream’s commentary on and sly revival of the slasher genre was a phenomenon in the ironic Nineties. If any franchise is alive to the absurdity of six sequels it’s this one, where…
Sarah Kent
I’ll never forget watching Tracey Emin reduce an audience to tears at the Royal Festival Hall. About 25 people were expected, but some 500 turned up even though she wasn’t well…
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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.
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tv
Spies, lies and surprises in gripping German thriller
Big beasts and big bucks battle for supremacy
A pioneering TV journalist's guide to late 1950s London, and beyond
film
Director Rebecca Ziotowski gives Jodie Foster a free rein in French
Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale are a scream as lovestruck monsters on the run
new music
The former Talking Heads singer mixed old and new alike in a compelling show.
An assured third album from the acclaimed singer songwriter
Music Reissues Weekly: This Can’t Be Today - A Trip Through The US Psychedelic Underground 1977-1988
Significant box-set examination of an important strand of America’s pre-grunge musical landscape
classical
Glitzy Rachmaninov and a glittering Zemlinsky ‘Mermaid’
A great conductor returns in triumph to crown an orchestra’s anniversary celebrations
A master pianist dives deep into the farewell moods of Brahms and Beethoven
opera
World-class Irish artists celebrate International Women's Day with poise and passion
First-rate singing, playing and conducting, and the portable production has some impact
Biopic opera of the great Japanese artist Hokusai slightly misses its mark
theatre
Timely revival of Arthur Miller’s 1994 study of anti-Semitism, marriage and psychology
Five playwrights conjure the Ukrainian experience, from 2014 to today
Alexi Kaye Campbell’s new play tells the story of George Eliot’s early struggle for independence
dance
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
The kindly Skoog made history as a brutal Interrogator in a classic modern ballet
The craic's 90 in Michael Keegan-Dolan's extraordinary wild ride of an evening
comedy
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
Shaggy-dog story about a Hollywood party
books
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
Saskia Vogel brings a darker than dark tale of rural grief to English for the first time
A Harvard professor presents a sprawling urban history
visual arts
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
Three artists explore global concerns in rural West Sussex
The rise and rise of an artist
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