theartsdesk com, first with arts reviews, news and interviews
Kieron Tyler
Sunday, 16 May 2021
With the Spiral Scratch EP, Buzzcocks became the first British band of the punk rock era to issue a do-it-yourself seven-inch. Everything was organised and paid for by the band:...
Mark Kidel
Sunday, 16 May 2021
Martin Ritt’s 1965 classy screen adaptation of John Le Carré’s bestseller “The Spy Who Came in From the Cold” is an antidote to the full-colour hi-jinx of the Bond franchise...
New York City Ballet 2021 Spring Gala online review - Balanchine and Robbins shine in a dark theatre
Jenny Gilbert
Saturday, 15 May 2021
It’s official. Masks are coming off across America while theatres remain dark. Over here, theatres are about to re-open and masks must be worn. An identical situation gives rise...
Bernard Hughes
Saturday, 15 May 2021
The Royal Northern Sinfonia handed its players artistic control of the programme for this livestream from the Sage, Gateshead and if the result lacked coherence it certainly had...
Adam Sweeting
Saturday, 15 May 2021
Darkest Hour may have been director Joe Wright’s finest hour, but we can say for certain that, despite its impressive cast, The Woman in the Window isn’t. Concocted from A J Finn’...
Adam Sweeting
Saturday, 15 May 2021
Ancient Rome has always been a popular playground for film and TV, whether it’s Ben Hur, Gladiator or the 2005 TV series Rome. This Italian-made series for Sky Atlantic was shot...
Markie Robson-Scott
Saturday, 15 May 2021
It’s not until the final moments of End of Sentence that Frank (John Hawkes) lets himself laugh – he’s swimming in the icy...
Kathryn Reilly
Saturday, 15 May 2021
Well this is rather groovy! National treasure and the man with that voice, Matt Berry has been locked away in his lair,...
Tim Cumming
Friday, 14 May 2021
It won’t be long now before concert halls and back rooms, arts centres and festival grounds fill with people again, and live...
Harry Thorfinn-George
Friday, 14 May 2021
With all eyes on her in 2018, Jorja Smith’s debut was surprisingly level-headed and mature, filled with the introspection...
Boyd Tonkin
Thursday, 13 May 2021
In 1992 Martin Amis published a story, “Career Move”, in which the writers of sensational screenplays with titles like...
Veronica Lee
Thursday, 13 May 2021
In the UK, we usually get a peek inside The Villages in Florida every four years, when intrepid reporters take to their golf...
Adam Sweeting
Thursday, 13 May 2021
The issue of public inquiries into the conduct of the military is in the headlines again, with a current focus on Northern...
Florence Hallett
Thursday, 13 May 2021
When Turner’s Modern World opened at Tate Britain last autumn only to close again days later, we might have felt then an...
Nick Hasted
Thursday, 13 May 2021
“The Changingman” came to sound a little rich in the years after it introduced Stanley Road, as Weller settled into a style...
Lydia Bunt
Wednesday, 12 May 2021
In the first short story of Lucy Caldwell’s collection Intimacies, “Like This”, one of the worst possible things that could...
Nick Hasted
Wednesday, 12 May 2021
Anxiety, injustice and desperate disorder are the themes of these six disparate noirs. In one, The Dark Past, Lee J. Cobb’s...
Adam Sweeting
Tuesday, 11 May 2021
With over eight million copies sold in its 50-year lifespan, Déjà Vu was, as Cameron Crowe writes in the booklet...
Peter Quantrill
Tuesday, 11 May 2021
The drunkard in spring; the lonely man in autumn; the long goodbye. Mahler’s last song-cycle often seems to embody solitude...
tv
Domina, Sky Atlantic review - a little less conversation, a little more action required
Sluggish start to Roman girl-power saga
The Pursuit of Love, BBC One review - extravagantly entertaining
Nancy Mitford novel makes a smashing small screen transfer
film
The Woman in the Window review - hitching a ride with Hitch
Joe Wright's derivative thriller squanders its impressive cast
End of Sentence review - an American father and his estranged son reconcile in Ireland
An exploration of masculinity: John Hawkes stars in an unassuming road movie
new music
Reissue CDs Weekly: The Outsiders - Count For Something
Box set tracking Adrian Borland’s pre-Sound path through punk
Music books to end lockdown: Sam Lee, Hawkwind, Dylan, Richard Thompson, and the Electric Muses
From nightingale song to sonic attack via folk rock and the world's greatest songwriter, spring 2021's best music books
Album: Jorja Smith - Be Right Back
Stop-gap mini-album from Walsall's neo-soulstress has slow-burning appeal
classical
Royal Northern Sinfonia, Sage Gateshead online review – a grab bag of players’ favourites
Piazzolla the centrepiece of an imaginative and varied programme
Das Lied von der Erde, Kožená, Staples, LSO, Rattle, Barbican online review - more joy than sorrow
New life around the corner in Mahler’s multi-faceted farewell
Ryedale Spring Festival online review - sowing the seeds of live music
Music and visuals combine in this seasonal celebration
opera
Europe Day Concert, St John's Smith Square online review – celebrating in style
Portuguese tenor Luis Gomes shines bright in a lively multinational programme
Christa Ludwig, 1928-2021: a selective tribute
The German mezzo-soprano embraced the light and the dark at a transcendental level
The Seven Deadly Sins / Mahagonny Songspiel, Royal Opera online - modern morality tales mesh uneasily
More time needed in knocking this fascinating Brecht/Weill double bill into shape
theatre
Being Mr Wickham, Original Theatre Company online review - an uncontroversial apologia
Adrian Lukis proves himself far better at portraying Austen's rake than he is at writing him
Money, Southwark Playhouse online review - ethical dilemmas for the Zoom generation
A vivid and credible production that is also limited by its form
Tarantula, Southwark Playhouse online review – spine-tingling love and trauma
Philip Ridley’s new monologue is a dazzling masterclass in storytelling
dance
New York City Ballet 2021 Spring Gala online review - Balanchine and Robbins shine in a dark theatre
Dancers return to the Lincoln Center in Sofia Coppola's quietly moving short film
The Royal Ballet - variations on a comeback
How one major ballet company survived to dance another day
comedy
Mark Watson's Carpool Comedy Club, the Hop Farm review - strong kick-off to 2021 live comedy
Kent venue provided picturesque backdrop
Loyiso Gola, Netflix review - South African muses on race, religion and friendship
Reflections that make you stop and think
Books
Music books to end lockdown: Sam Lee, Hawkwind, Dylan, Richard Thompson, and the Electric Muses
From nightingale song to sonic attack via folk rock and the world's greatest songwriter, spring 2021's best music books
Sam Riviere: Dead Souls review – whip-smart literary satire with a techno tinge
A poet-turned-novelist hunts for the real thing in an age of fakes
Lucy Caldwell: Intimacies review - exploring the empty spaces
Double-edged stories capture the mingled pains and pleasures of femininity
visual arts
Turner's Modern World, Tate Britain review - the universal artist
The great painter resists the confines of his own era, despite Tate's best efforts
Points of Departure, Brighton Festival 2021 review - Ray Lee's harbour-based sound art impresses
At Shoreham's working port, something strangely wonderful is happening
Rachel Whiteread: Internal Objects, Gagosian Gallery review - apocalyptic sheds
A triumphant change of direction from the queen of casting
latest comments
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