Features & Interviews
Remembering Wilko: unforgettable encounters with the Dr Feelgood guitarist
Monday, 28 November 2022
Looking back on the most exciting, atmospheric and musically challenging gigs I’ve seen to date, there are several contenders in each category. But for the distinction of THE MOST DISTURBING GIG I’VE EVER BEEN TO there is only one possible option: the night in autumn 1973 when I saw a band called Dr Feelgood supporting Ducks Deluxe, a bluesy soully pub rock band in – of all places – Surbiton Assembly Rooms.
An open letter from Dame Sarah Connolly and colleagues to Arts Council England
Monday, 28 November 2022
The decision of Arts Council England to withdraw funding from the English National Opera and force it to move out of London is not only another hammer blow to the opera industry but it has huge ramifications for the extensive number of British freelance artists the company employs.
First Person: conductor Leo Hussain on why we...
Wednesday, 16 November 2022
I still remember vividly my first encounter with ENO. I was taken, as a nine-year-old boy, on a school trip to see a performance of Peter Grimes. And...
'We needed to find the perfect sound of...
Monday, 14 November 2022
The projection screen reflects light onto the Foley stage. I can just make out the edges of the built-in cement and metal surfaces around the...
'We wanted to emphasise the “ordinariness”...
Saturday, 12 November 2022
I was first approached by Quaker Concern for the Abolition of Torture (Q-CAT) in 2016 with the idea of a creating a piece of music to raise awareness...
Leslie Phillips: 'I can be recognised by my voice alone'
Saying goodbye to the actor famous for saying hello |
First Person: composer and co-founder of The Multi-Story Orchestra Kate Whitley on car-park creativity
Enabling young people from all walks of life to be themselves in a wonderful environment |
‘Stripping naked the process of making theatre’: Martin Crimp talks about his latest play
The playwright talks about 'Not One of These People', which he is performing himself, digital creativity and constraints on authorship |
First Persons: co-music directors Jasdeep Singh Degun and Laurence Cummings on their new Opera North 'Orpheus'
Premiering tonight in Leeds, a project that's so much more than lip-service to diversity |
theartsdesk in Kyiv - defiant new operatic epic in an empty gallery
Plaintive affirmation of the human and the divine in the Khanenko Museum of Art |
'Serving the community means representing the narratives of our time': Elena Dubinets on her responsibilities as the LPO's Artistic Director
Music as home, from Rachmaninov to Iyer, in the London Philharmonic's new season |
theartsdesk at Musikfest Berlin - orchestral and choral rainbows around the clock
Superb musicians from Berlin and elsewhere in far from conventional repertoire |
First Person: violinist and music director Bjarte Eike on bringing the Playhouse to his 'Alehouse Sessions'
Barokksolistene's freewheeling spirit of delight returns to the Southbank tomorrow |
Jean-Luc Godard (1930-2022)
Remembering cinema's eternal, loving revolutionary |
BBC Proms 2022 - silence after Mass
No official Last Night, for the first time ever, but it's been an extraordinary season |
First Person: Geoffrey Paterson on conducting the London Sinfonietta and working with Marius Neset
The conductor's 51st concert with a legendary ensemble due at the Proms tomorrow |
First Persons: Glyndebourne's sustainability advisers Sara and Jeremy Eppel on creating eco-friendly opera
This season's production of 'The Wreckers' leads the way towards net zero |
First Person: Michael Volpe on the utopian thinking behind his new If Opera company
Bold aims for country-house opera with a difference |
First Person: tenor Cyrille Dubois on recording all Fauré's songs
Chapter and verse on a fascinating project, already much acclaimed here |
First Person: Mark Bromley of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain celebrates a milestone in its history
This splendid institution's CEO explains its egalitarian role in the musical ecosystem |
theartsdesk at the Pärnu Music Festival 2022 - conductors from 15 to 85, and the greatest players
The biggest and best musical family in the world gathers again by the shores of the Baltic |
Bob Rafelson (1933-2022): New Hollywood's raging bull
A bruising encounter with the late director on inventing Jack Nicholson, and terminal films |
First Person: Angela Slater on reaping the rewards of the LPO's Young Composers programme
Working with the best musicians towards one of a number of premieres on Thursday |
2022 Parliamentary Jazz Awards: baubles, bromides and birthdays
A welcome return to in-person for this 18th edition of the awards |
theartsdesk in Zurich - forging a brilliant new Ring
Gianandrea Noseda, Andreas Homoki and top cast dazzle in an unforgettable 'Rheingold' |
First person: Ukrainian violinist Valeriy Sokolov on performing while his homeland is destroyed
His home city of Kharkiv in ruins, a great musician plays on |
First Person: director Richard Wilson on a musical midsummer night film premiere
Mendelssohn around London with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields |
The superstar, the Svengali and a rising young talent
What can singer-songwriter Tom Webber learn from the Costello legacy? |
First Person: composer Gavin Higgins on his new cantata 'The Faerie Bride'
Aldeburgh premiere tonight for setting of Welsh tale about acceptance of the other |
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