Features & Interviews
Robert Hastie: 'a seam of love runs through the play' - interview
Monday, 12 November 2018
Robert Hastie is a little late for our meeting. Directing Shakespeare's darkest tragedy in London while also running Sheffield Theatres must sometimes cause a logjam of simultaneous demands, but whatever the morning's problem in the north of England, he remains smiling, relaxed, thoughtful and gracious during a break from rehearsals.
Don Quixote rides again, and again
Wednesday, 07 November 2018
It’s a story of a mad old man who imagines himself to be a knight errant. On his quests he sees virgins in prostitutes and castles in roadside inns. His adventures have spawned an adjective that describes delusional idealism, typified by the activity of tilting one’s lance and charging at windmills one has mistaken for an army of giants.
First Person Plural: the Calidore String Quartet...
Saturday, 03 November 2018
Classical musicians spend much of their lives inhabiting the realms of the past. To effectively practise and perform the music of Bach, Brahms,...
Refreshing the sonic spectrum: disability and...
Thursday, 01 November 2018
Classical music struggles to shrug off the perception of being something of a rarefied world. Or “hermetically sealed” as Charles Hazlewood, founder...
More Blood, More Tracks review - Bob Dylan opens...
Wednesday, 31 October 2018
You get plenty of Dylan for your buck these days, with the Mondo Scripto exhibition currently at the Halcyon Gallery in London, and a totemic and...
theartsdesk in Stockholm: the Birgit Nilsson Prize unites two great Wagnerian sopranos
Nina Stemme does honour to her compatriot, who would have been 100 this year |
Montserrat Caballé (1933-2018): from Bellini to 'Barcelona'
Glimpses of the Spanish soprano who could float a line like no other |
James Graham: 'the country of Shakespeare no longer recognises arts as a core subject'
Full transcript of the playwright's passionate speech about the importance of the arts at the Hospital Club's h100 Awards |
Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto: 'We figured Molière would have toyed with it too'
The co-adaptors of the RSC's new 'Tartuffe' talk about translating a French classic to our times now |
10 Questions for singer Live Foyn Friis
Charismatic Norwegian singer on her journey through genre |
'I read French from left to right and Arabic from right to left': remembering Algerian rebel rocker Rachid Taha
Recalling a night out drinking in Paris with the Algerian rocker who died this week |
Jeanie O'Hare: 'The play taught me how European we really are'
The playwright introduces 'Queen Margaret', her new play for the Royal Exchange, Manchester |
Sir Peter Hall: a day of thanksgiving and celebration for a colossus of culture
A year after his death, the great director was honoured by the stars at Westminster Abbey and the National Theatre |
'You won't be able to handle this lady': remembering Fenella Fielding
The vampish comic actress has died at 90 not long after receiving an OBE |
Like a baton out of hell: Conductors at the 2018 Proms
Chris Christodoulou snaps mostly men at work, but the women are coming |
'I saw that death is beautiful, unspeakable and strange': on filming 'Island'
Filmmaker Steven Eastwood introduces his documentary about the last moments of life |
theartsdesk in Cologne: urban boutique on the Rhine
c/o Pop festival clouded by uncertainties about Britain’s departure from the EU |
theartsdesk at the Suoni dal Golfo Festival - romantics shine in the Bay of Poets
A Liszt novelty proves worth revealing, while a fine pianist takes a castle by storm |
theartsdesk at the Lucerne Festival - all-Beethoven and all-Ravel concerts from the greatest
Haitink conducts an unearthly 'Pastoral' while Chailly ignites symphonic dances |
h 100 Awards: Art, Design and Craft - making art public
Showcasing the strength of British visual culture, and the people bringing it to public attention |
theartsdesk at bOing! International Family Festival - the best of European children's theatre
Visual and aural adventures at well-programmed weekend introduce the young to the arts |
Neil Simon: 'I don’t think you want it really dark'
The great technician of stage comedy, who has died at 91, recalls writing the likes of Sweet Charity and The Odd Couple |
h 100 Young Influencers of the Year: James Bingham on community choirs
The first of the four finalists in theartsdesk's award in association with The Hospital Club writes provocatively about a choral crisis |
'I wanted a juke box that plays nothing but flip-sides' - Jeremy Sams on The Enchanted Island
Creator of a 'new' Baroque opera anticipates British Youth Opera's takeover of a Met hit |
theartsdesk at Itinéraire Baroque 2018 - canaries in front of a Périgord altar
Distinguished Dordogne dweller Ton Koopman and friends meet in a Romanesque priory |
theartsdesk at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music - stratospheric performances by a tropical sea
New artistic director Kathryn Stott personalises a much-loved Antipodean fixture |
h Club 100 Awards: Video games - pioneers with heart and soul
High tech meets high calibre in this year’s list of gaming’s brightest sparks |
F Off: National Youth Theatre puts social media on trial
NYT's new work is aimed at digital natives. Its playwright introduces it |
Greed as the keynote: Robert Carsen on the timelessness of 'The Beggar's Opera'
The director brings his contemporary take on John Gay's satire to the Edinburgh Festival |
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