theartsdesk com, first with arts reviews, news and interviews
Sarah Collins
Tuesday, 07 April 2020
When Amer Deghayes departed for Syria in a truck leaving from Birmingham, a worker from a youth arts organisation in Brighton had been trying to get in touch with him. She wanted...
Matt Wolf
Tuesday, 07 April 2020
One of the most blistering stage performances in recent memory gets a renewed lease on life with the streaming of the 2019 screen version, aired last autumn on BBC Four, of ...
Joe Muggs
Tuesday, 07 April 2020
The Colors studio in Berlin has quietly created one of the biggest new brands in music from filming back-to-basics performances with laser-focused branding. From international...
Aleks Sierz
Tuesday, 07 April 2020
Artemisia Gentileschi has definitely had a hard time. Although she was an outstanding Renaissance painter in the style of Caravaggio, and the first woman to become a member of...
Thomas H Green
Tuesday, 07 April 2020
For the duration of this C19 Lockdown, rather than the usual sprawling monthly epic, theartsdesk on Vinyl will be presented regularly in bite-sized editions, roving across the...
Graham Rickson
Tuesday, 07 April 2020
These three films come from Buster Keaton’s mid-1920s purple patch, the high spots of which prompted critic Roger Ebert to describe Keaton as “arguably the greatest actor-director...
Adam Sweeting
Monday, 06 April 2020
While not the most headline-catching show on Netflix, Ozark has been steadily accruing critical accolades (including a...
David Nice
Monday, 06 April 2020
Necessity has certainly been the mother of invention over the past three weeks, and orchestras especially, left in the...
Marianka Swain
Monday, 06 April 2020
The latest in Sadler’s Wells’ Digital Stage programme – an impressively assembled online offering to keep audiences...
Kathryn Reilly
Monday, 06 April 2020
The scenes at flamenco legend Camarón de la Isla’s chaotic, thronged funeral which open this lovingly-made documentary give...
Veronica Lee
Monday, 06 April 2020
Rachel Fairburn says she didn't know what to wear for the gig. She's dressed in an all-black ensemble; hotpants, animal-...
Guy Oddy
Monday, 06 April 2020
The perfect introduction to Newcastle’s mighty Pigsx7 is undoubtedly to be made in the live arena, for it’s here they...
Kieron Tyler
Sunday, 05 April 2020
A raga-rock circularity. Finger cymbals. A distant, etiolated female vocal. A fuggy atmosphere. A kinship with Jefferson...
Mark Kidel
Sunday, 05 April 2020
David Lynch’s second feature, his only period movie, is as good as anything else he has ever done, building on the...
Aleks Sierz
Saturday, 04 April 2020
Armchair theatre-lovers rejoice. During the lockdown, the National Theatre is streaming a selection of its past hits for...
Owen Richards
Saturday, 04 April 2020
Horror has always been a good vehicle for satire, from John Carpenter’s They Live to Jordan Peele’s Get Out. Some metaphors...
Graham Rickson
Saturday, 04 April 2020
Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas Fazil Say (Warner Classics)“This is a 605 minute piece containing 32 sonatas.” There...
Liz Thomson
Saturday, 04 April 2020
Talk about a great big melting pot! The eighth studio album by the man born 36 ago as Andrew Heissler in Bloomington,...
Veronica Lee
Friday, 03 April 2020
You may have seen Lazy Susan's excellent BBC pilot last year; now a series has been commissioned from Freya Parker and...
disc of the day
Blu-ray: Buster Keaton - Three Films, Vol. 2
Technical brilliance and belly laughs: three features from a great director at his peak
tv
Ozark, Series 3 review, Netflix - money-laundering saga hits new heights
A superb cast and powerful writing are making this show a classic
Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema, BBC Four review - the undying allure of the spying game
A voyage through the secret world on celluloid
The Trip to Greece, Series Finale, Sky 1 review - bittersweet swansong for the cantankerous comrades
Farce, vanity and profound seriousness somehow hang together
film
Blu-ray: Buster Keaton - Three Films, Vol. 2
Technical brilliance and belly laughs: three features from a great director at his peak
Camarón: The Film, Netflix review – the life story of an influential and passionate cantaor
The real gypsy king lived fast, died young and changed flamenco forever
new music
Colors performance stream on YouTube review - vocalists on lockdown
The normally slickly branded music channel adapts to circumstances with surprising effect
theartsdesk on Vinyl Lockdown Special 1: Napalm Death, Brazilian jazz-pop, 1980s indie and more
Stay-at-home music for stay-at-home times: the first of our twice-weekly vinyl specials
Album: Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Viscerals
Geordie rockers sharpen up to kick out the jams
classical
Classical Music/Opera direct to home 5 - orchestral manoeuvres in the light
Filleted Bach, Beethoven and Ravel, complete anthemic Sibelius
Classical CDs Weekly: Beethoven, Prokofiev, A Tale of Two Violas
Weighty piano sonatas from Germany and Russia, plus a disc of string duets
'Most significant is the experience of being confronted by different ideas': Steven Osborne on free piano lessons from quarantine
One of the world's great pianists on why he needs to teach right now
opera
The Turn of the Screw, Opera North, OperaVision review - claustrophobic visions of terror and beauty
Strongly-cast revival keeps the ambiguities of Henry James's ghost story in play
Le nozze di Figaro, Garsington Opera, OperaVision review - natural comedy, musical sublimity
Durable period setting enshrines perfect characterisations. Plus a Handel special
Classical music/Opera direct to home: 3 - Two Jenůfas
If you want searing music-drama, Janáček's are the place to start - but choose carefully
theatre
Cyprus Avenue, Royal Court Theatre online review - a mind in mesmerising meltdown
Stephen Rea rivets once again in David Ireland play
It’s True, It’s True, It’s True, Breach Theatre online review – a riveting watch
BBC film version of a Renaissance rape trial is resonant and completely relevant
One Man, Two Guvnors, National Theatre at Home review – bliss, utter comic bliss
NT Live version of this masterpiece of farce is now available for free
dance
Rumpelstiltskin, Sadler's Wells Digital Stage review - spins an engaging yarn for young audiences
balletLORENT provides a sunnier take on the the Brothers Grimm
Richard Alston Dance Company, Final Edition, Sadler's Wells review - farewell and thank you, Sir Richard
Amid tears and cheers, the company takes a final bow
Isadora Now, Barbican Theatre review - a little piece of history
Attempt to revive the spirit of Isadora Duncan is of academic interest, little more
comedy
Blu-ray: Buster Keaton - Three Films, Vol. 2
Technical brilliance and belly laughs: three features from a great director at his peak
Lazy Susan, Soho Theatre On Demand review - sketch duo's ingeniously plotted show
Freya Parker and Celeste Dring examine male behaviour
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
10 Questions for Irina Nalis
Multidisciplinary thinking at a multidisciplinary festival in a time of crisis
Léon Spilliaert, Royal Academy review - a maudlin exploration of solitude
The world seen through the eyes of melancholy
Among the Trees, Hayward Gallery review - a mixture of euphoria and dismay
Our complex relationship with trees explored to powerful effect
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