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…
Nick Hasted |
Alabaster DePlume, aka Mancunian Gus Fairbairn, has been an antically charming performer, confounding unsuspecting crowds with tenderly comic philosophy, voice Tiny Tim-eccentric…
Matt Wolf |
If it's possible for snippets from live theatre to play in the mind on a perpetual loop, the London theatre during 2025 offered many such moments that I am (very happily) finding…
Helen Hawkins |
It’s 1952 on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, seven years after the Enola Gay dropped a bomb on the Japanese empire, but one skinny New Yorker is still waging war against it, armed…
David Nice |
It was a year for outstanding individual performances, especially from relative newcomers, and at least three flawless ensembles, less so for the Total Work of Art. That would…
graham.rickson |
Image
My album of the year came as a real surprise to me, Arvo Pärt’s output hitherto not leaving much of an impression…
howard.male
What is a documentary maker supposed to do when someone as gifted and empathic as Francis Whately has already covered most of the Bowie bases with three detailed and hypnotic…
theartsdesk
SASKIA BARON1 One Battle After Another2. Sinners3 It was Just an Accident4 Palestine 365 Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight6 April7 Motherboard8 Holy Cow9 The…
Liz Thomson
For as long as I can remember – back when I was not yet a teenager, listening to Joan Baez first as a way to learn guitar – voices and lyrics have been the elements that have…
Boyd Tonkin
If this time of year should prompt everyone to count their blessings, then one precious musical gift shines brightly over Smith Square Hall this week. For the choral ensemble…
Pamela Jahn
The first time you see Renate Reinsve in Sentimental Value you want to catch her, hug her, slap her (as her character requests), or do anything to calm her down. Reinsve…
Gary Naylor
Peace and Goodwill to All Men outside. Inside, on stage at least, there’s not much peace nor goodwill to be had on the horror-filled Saturday afternoon before Christmas. A high-…
Barry Joseph
As a boy growing up in the 1970s, I loved lazy afternoons spent on the red shag carpet of my family’s living room while listening to my parents’ collection of LPs.Sharing top…
graham.rickson
Fantômas was the creation of French pulp novelists Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre, whose titular criminal genius made his first print appearance in 1911. An amoral sadist with…
Mark Kidel
Vox Luminis, the vocal and instrumental group based in Namur and led by Lionel Meunier, continued their residency at the Wigmore Hall, hot on the heels of a memorable rendition of…
Katie Colombus
Some albums announce themselves with a roar. Others arrive quietly, kind of casually strolling into your life when you weren’t looking. Returning to Myself did the latter. Brandi…
Kieron Tyler
UK prog-rockers Gracious! acquired their exclamation mark when their first album was released in July 1970. Up to this point, they were Gracious. Barney Bubbles, who designed…
Boyd Tonkin
When, in late 2021, I heard the UK premiere of Sir James MacMillan’s Christmas Oratorio, it truly felt like a heaven-sent gift of musical and vocal splendour after the long famine…
Adam Sweeting
Whether there really was a poisonous professional rivalry between Mozart and Antonio Salieri, composer to the Imperial court in Vienna, seems less than likely, but the success of…
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Saxophonist's beautiful, bittersweet melodies confront a time of war
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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
From stage to screen to five-part TV series
Where's Edmund Blackadder when you need him?
Jeremy Renner keeps chaos at bay in Taylor Sheridan's traumatic crime drama
film
Josh Safdie's relentless directing style is by turns entertaining and exhausting
Documentary adds little to what we know about British rock's greatest solo star
new music
Saxophonist's beautiful, bittersweet melodies confront a time of war
Documentary adds little to what we know about British rock's greatest solo star
classical
Bach's Christmas marvel shines like new
Music illuminates the heart at the darkest time of the year
opera
Emily D'Angelo shines as Handel's impetuous, besotted protagonist
Playing from strength in a game where the Royal Northern has all the cards
theatre
From big, bold musicals to solo shows, London theatre landed again on multiple fronts
Good illusions but pacing stymies the shocks
Sheader has assembled a dream cast to channel affluent prudery of Edwardian Bradford
dance
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
On its second time out, ENB's production is a winner where it counts
A strong revival for this stage adaptation of a British film classic
comedy
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
Reunion of sketch show's creators
Storytelling that playfully wrongfoots the audience
books
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
Writer Barry Joseph recounts his moments of clarity and connection with Stephen Sondheim’s lifelong love of puzzles
Bennett’s virtuosic prose returns to ponder intimacy, but treads some old ground
visual arts
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
The sky’s the thing
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