Features & Interviews
theartsdesk at the Ravenna Festival - Italians, Ukrainians and an American promote peace
Saturday, 21 July 2018
The Russian critic was not happy. Ukrainians had rebuffed her at the first of Riccardo Muti's big "Roads of Friendship" concerts this year in Kiev the previous weekend, and after the stupendous repeat spectacular in Ravenna as well as a very beautiful choral concert below the stunning apse mosaics of Sant' Apollinare in Classe (pictured below), she confidentially whispered to me, "this is a terrible festival," as if she expected me to agree.
'Stepping right out of my comfort zone': James Gilchrist on mixing Debussy with jazz
Thursday, 12 July 2018
Debussy is having a good year. It is wonderful to see such wide and varied celebrations of his life and work, and to let the century since his death bear witness to the huge influence he has had on writers in every field of music.
Charlotte Jones: ‘Plays come from your scar...
Tuesday, 10 July 2018
I think it’s always a dangerous sport to try and consciously unravel where your ideas come from. Lest you break the spell and inadvertently silence...
theartsdesk at the East Neuk Festival 2018 - Bach...
Friday, 06 July 2018
There is a tide in the best-planned festivals that comes in and out almost imperceptibly, bringing with it changes as the days move on. Put it down...
theartsdesk in Orkney: St Magnus Festival 2018 -...
Saturday, 30 June 2018
With – unusually – no visiting orchestra at this year’s St Magnus International Festival in far-flung Orkney (the fall-out from delayed funding...
10 Questions for Trumpeter Keyon Harrold
Acclaimed trumpeter discusses crossing genres, speaking out and Miles Davis |
theartsdesk in Paris - following in the footsteps of Gounod
Two operatic rarities prove that a revival is long overdue |
theartsdesk at Leipzig's Blüthner Piano Factory - a perfect family business
From the wood to the polished final article, a living lesson in piano-making |
Ismaili a Go-Go: How the Aga Khan funded a music renaissance
Musical extravaganza focusing on enigmatic Central Asia comes to the Royal Albert Hall |
'That brick red frock with flowers everywhere': painting Katherine Mansfield
Anne Estelle Rice painted the New Zealand writer 100 years ago, spinning a tale of love, friendship and artistic kinship |
theartsdesk at the Setúbal Music Festival 2018: youth leads the way
Community spirit infusing high-level events in a Portuguese port |
Michael Chance on continuing opera in Hampshire: 'good people like to work with good people'
The countertenor turned impresario launches a second season of The Grange Festival |
Franco Fagioli on performing the Baroque: 'a challenge is to interpret beyond the musical notation'
The Argentinian countertenor on the pleasures and challenges of singing Handel and Co |
Ryuichi Sakamoto: 'Ideally I'm recording all the time, 24 hours a day' - interview
From Xenakis to Oneohtrix Point Never via Bowie and Bootsy, Sakamoto recalls an extraordinary life in music |
Michel Hazanavicius: 'Losing himself is how he found himself'
The Oscar-winning director's new film, 'Redoubtable', charts the turning point in the life and career of the legendary Jean-Luc Godard |
Jazz FM Awards 2018 - a banner year for Ezra Collective
Free jazz icons to bona fide jazz royalty are honoured at the fifth edition of the Awards |
theartsdesk in Ramallah - the music biz turns its sights on Palestine
A new music Expo aims to highlight a music culture with massive potential |
10 Questions for Courtney Pine: 'How do you express rage?'
Pioneering solo jazz artist hails the community of jazz |
theartsdesk in Bremen: 150 years of A German Requiem
Paavo Järvi conducts Brahms's dramatic masterpiece in its original cathedral location |
Helaine Blumenfeld: Britain’s most successful sculptor you’ve never heard of
The director of a new Sky Arts documentary profile of the sculptor explores her work |
theartsdesk in Kraków - Easter music with a British focus
Edinburgh’s Dunedin Consort in residence at one of Poland’s flagship music festivals |
Soprano Ruby Hughes on Handel's last prima donna
Giulia Frasi researched and reincarnated in a much-loved singer's latest CD |
Manon, Royal Ballet review - glitter and betray
Francesca Hayward makes a virtue of a pleasure-loving enigma in pacy MacMillan revival |
theartsdesk at the Lucerne Easter Festival: Haitink, Schiff and an alternative Passion
Greatest living conductor lights the way as mentor in three days of musical excellence |
Glyndebourne Opera Cup - a view from inside
A Mozartian challenge pulls its weight at prestigious new forum for young singers |
Listed: The 10 Best Biblical Novels
An Easter pick of Scriptural stories that command belief |
Sir Matthew Bourne remembers Scott Ambler 1960-2018 – 'A prince among men'
New Adventures Artistic Director's tribute to his core collaborator and star performer |
'There's a poetry in painting that gives endless possibilities'
Painter Alexandra Baraitser on curating her sixth exhibition, 'Silent Painting' |
Antony Sher: Year of the Mad King - extract
The actor's Lear Diaries tell of his preparation to clamber up theatre's tallest peak for the RSC |
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