Features & Interviews
A masked elegy: portraits of string players at the Fidelio Orchestra Café
Friday, 07 August 2020
Out of a silent and empty City of London, unusually still even for a Sunday afternoon, it felt surreal to come upon a centre of light and activity. Raffaello Morales, Renaissance man, conductor of the Fidelio Orchestra and owner/impresario of its eponymous café which has played host to great performances over the past month, had mustered 23 of the finest London-based players to tackle the ultimate in works for string orchestra.
Theatre Unlocked 3: Signs of activity after a long siesta
Thursday, 06 August 2020
After a weeklong hiatus due to an absence of noteworthy material, this column is back heralding the return, as well, of something resembling live theatre.
'Rehearsing Beethoven with Barenboim felt...
Monday, 03 August 2020
Joining the Vienna Philharmonic as a student and young professional was an absolute thrill. I had begun to play with the orchestra as an academist in...
First Person: Antonia Bain on directing a short...
Wednesday, 29 July 2020
The Narcissistic Fish is a brand new opera specifically created to be filmed. Set in Leith and written in Scots, it tells the story of restaurant...
Theatre Unlocked 2: A starry premiere and musical...
Thursday, 23 July 2020
Theatres will begin gently unlocking their doors as we head into August. In the meantime, a beleaguered community continues to find fresh and...
'She was Paris': RIP Zizi Jeanmaire (1924-2020)
Ballet or cabaret, Zizi's passion was for performance - preferably with her husband |
First Person: Christopher Glynn on how the Ryedale Festival flows on
Artistic director and pianist defines his hopes for an online journey |
Theatre Unlocked 1: George Floyd remembered, a classic transformed, and a call to action re climate change
A Broadway legend in concert lends musical buoyancy to this week's ever wide-ranging theatrical array |
First Person: Royal College of Music Director of Programmes Diana Salazar on a transformation in learning and teaching
The RCM’s corridors are quieter than usual but commitment to musical learning resounds |
theartsdesk Q&A: horn player Sarah Willis
Midnight recording sessions and late-running buses; playing Mozart in Havana |
Theatre Lockdown Special 13: Early Lloyd Webber, vintage Rattigan, and a Dame or two in conversation
Medeas past and present conjoin across a characteristically eclectic theatre week |
Ennio Morricone 1928-2020: A lost afternoon in his apartment in Rome
Recalling a 2003 meeting with the 'Mozart of film music' |
'She spoke through her violin': Steven Isserlis on extraordinary meetings with Ida Haendel (192?-2020)
One great and characterful instrumentalist remembered by another |
Theatre Lockdown Special 12: An American rarity, a British savoury, and fresh Apples
Nigel Slater is back, as is Richard Nelson's Apple family for a second time via Zoom |
‘We are still standing and planning for the brightest future we can’: Svend McEwan-Brown on the survival of a festival
East Neuk Festival Director finds generosity, humanity and a hunger for culture in a crisis |
'Composing supports children to understand music from the inside': educator Nancy Evans on a revolution in primary schools
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group's Director of Learning outlines a bold new project |
Theatre Lockdown Special 11: Shakespeare-as-rave, a starlit Old Vic, and, yes, those singing nuns
Some celeb-heavy revivals and a kids-friendly showstopper feature amongst this week's lineup |
'We must channel the energy and pain that is being expressed right now': Chi-chi Nwanoku OBE on time for action on diversity in classical music
Chineke! founder and double bassist explains an open letter to the Prime Minister |
Ian Holm, British film's best supporting actor
From King Lear to Bilbo Baggins - remembering the great film actor who vanquished stage fright |
Theatre Lockdown Special 10: Epic plays from the National Theatre and Broadway alongside voices raised in protest
The state of Britain then and now gets a look-in, as do animals in human form |
The power of resilience: flautist Noemi Gyori on positive ways to face adversity
How performers, and others, might best deal with the current crisis |
Theatre Lockdown Special 9: Alan Bennett revisited, and so is Oz
Some familiar titles, a 1913 rarity and a show in which the audience plays its part |
'This experience has revealed just how much I love music': pianist Paul Lewis on life in lockdown
On the eve of his return to an empty Wigmore Hall, a very individual artist reflects |
The music of isolation: conductor Ian Page on 18th century 'Sturm und Drang'
Inspiring mind behind the Mozartists marks the launch of a seven-volume series |
Classical music/Opera direct to home 14 - sound and vision at the highest level
Esoteric Berlin delights, two fine UK concerts, vivid Puccini and classical awards for all |
Theatre Lockdown Special 8: A film star plays tough, and several familiar titles are examined anew
Tom Hiddleston reminds us of his stage roots, as does Christopher Walken as Captain Hook |
Christo (1935-2020) - 'Beauty, science and art will always triumph'
One of the great visionaries of our era, Christo believed absolutely in art for art's sake |
First Person: Gabriel Prokofiev on 14 years of his Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra
The composer reflects on a 21st century classic, newly recorded |
Theatre Lockdown Special 7: Party politics and a Broadway titan or two
Early James Graham joins various Broadway legends, Irving Berlin and Jerry Herman amongst them |
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