Interviews with leading figures from the arts
theartsdesk Q&A: Gianandrea Noseda on conducting Mahler and the Pan-Caucasian Youth Orchestra
Wednesday, 16 October 2019
There's something about the very opening of a Mahler symphony which gives you an idea of how the rest of the performance will go. In the case of the Second, the inescapable "Resurrection", it's the ferocity behind the upper string tremolo and the wildness of the uprush from cellos and basses.
'A laboratory for everything': Jasper Parrott on the future of his classical music agency
Saturday, 05 October 2019
Fiftieth anniversary? It seems incredible but also so exhilarating not least because these times we live in now seem to me to be a golden age for music of all kinds and in particular for what we label so inadequately classical music.
10 Questions for conductor Charles Hazlewood
Monday, 23 September 2019
Charles Hazlewood (b. 1966) has worked across the gamut of orchestral music, his career showcasing the multitude of ways it can be perceived and...
10 Questions for author Martin Gayford
Saturday, 21 September 2019
Over the past four decades Martin Gayford, The Spectator’s art critic, has travelled the world, been published in an amazing range of print and...
theartsdesk Q&A: composer Alastair White on...
Wednesday, 31 July 2019
A robe can be many things. Sure, it’s a garment, but it can also be cover, a disguise, a costume or a uniform. It’s also something composed of many...
theartsdesk Q&A: Lia Williams on the challenges of theatre
As 'The Night of the Iguana' opens, the actor renowned for playing dual roles talks Tennessee Williams, Pinter - and Wallis Simpson |
Bob Dylan Special - theartsdesk Q&A: Scarlet Rivera
The violinist on 'Desire' and 'Rolling Thunder Revue' talks about working with Dylan at his peak |
'I wrote a letter to Björk in Icelandic and it did the trick': Helgi Tomasson on an intervention that saved a ballet
The artistic director of San Francisco Ballet heralds its all-new season at Sadler's Wells |
Chamber Music, Brighton Festival 2019 review - Wu-Tang Clan depths divined
The social and musical roots of the Wu-Tang Clan's debut discussed |
10 Questions for Cellist Raphael Wallfisch
On composers in exile, the forgotten beauty of English cello concertos, and why you shouldn’t mess with Beethoven |
10 Questions for Director Benedikt Erlingsson
Woman at War's Icelandic director on eco-activism, being chained to a whaling ship and a peculiar Cold War childhood |
10 Questions for Musician Will Gregory
The Goldfrapp mainstay talks physics, Moogs, Morricone and his work with the British Paraorchestra |
10 Questions for Musician Soumik Datta
The British-Indian sarod player talks jazz, colonialism, film and more |
theartsdesk Q&A: playwright William Nicholson
The 'Shadowlands' author talks about CS Lewis, love, pain and being a writer |
10 Questions for actress and playwright Nicôle Lecky
The rising star of stage and screen talks grime, feminism, sex work, Nicki Minaj and SENSE8 |
theartsdesk Q&A: Bananarama
The indestructible girl group on singing, clubbing, post-punk, Lemmy, George Michael and much more |
Director Jason Barker: ‘Trans lives are often portrayed so bleakly’
A Deal with the Universe filmmaker shares the story behind his pregnancy |
Interview with director Agnès Varda, who has died at 90
The French/Belgian filmmaking legend talked with Demetrios Matheou about her career |
10 Questions for Brighton Festival CEO Andrew Comben
Helmsman talks art forgery, politics and the highlights of this year's programme |
Q&A special: The making of Local Hero
As it becomes a stage musical, the film's writer-director and stars recall the birth of a masterpiece |
An encounter with John Richardson, Picasso's biographer who has died at 95
Picasso's definitive biographer recalls the artist he knew |
10 Questions for Candice Edmunds of Theatre Company Vox Motus
The Glasgow-based artistic director talks theatre with a difference |
Director Toby Macdonald: 'Comedy is something people need at the moment'
Old Boys director talks about adapting Cyrano de Bergerac into a boarding school |
Q&A Special: Actor Bruno Ganz on playing Hitler
The Swiss actor, who has died aged 77, was the first to play the Führer in a lead role in German |
theartsdesk Q&A: Musician, writer and performance artist Cosey Fanni Tutti
The “Wrecker of Civilisation” on artistic independence, magick and motherhood |
theartsdesk Q&A: Robert MacFarlane's Spell Songs
The nature writer discusses a stage version of The Lost Words, featuring musicians including Julie Fowlis and Seckou Keita |
theartsdesk Q&A: Matthew Heineman on directing 'A Private War'
Getting inside the mind of Sunday Times reporter Marie Colvin |
theartsdesk Q&A: Composer Michel Legrand
He worked with everyone: the veteran composer tells his life story |
Screenwriter Adam Price on 'Ride Upon the Storm' - 'If we discuss faith, we will possibly not kill each other'
Lars Mikkelsen stars in new Channel 4 drama Ride Upon the Storm about a flawed priest battling his many demons |
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 10,000 pieces, we're asking for £3.95 per month or £30 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take an annual subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
latest in today
In the Long Run, Series 2, Sky 1 review - Idris Elba's...
Dust off the record player: Idris Elba’s Eighties comedy...
Richard Hawley, Barrowland, Glasgow - black clad crooner...
When Richard Hawley arrived onstage, he had a confession to make. “I like to talk”, he declared, before adding “and play rock n’ roll”. Both were...
theartsdesk Q&A: Gianandrea Noseda on conducting Mahler...
There's something about the very opening of a Mahler symphony...
The Peanut Butter Falcon review - sentimental comedy is so d...
It’s an uncomfortable feeling to find oneself completely at odds with an audience in a cinema, but it happens. The recent London Film Festival...
Lenny Henry's Race Through Comedy, Gold review - illumi...
Sir Lenny Henry, PhD and CBE, is scarcely recognisable as the teenager who made his TV debut on New Faces in 1975. He’s been a stand-up...
Bill Frisell's Harmony, Cadogan Hall review – superb Am...
“Bill Frisell is all about sound and melody and enhancing whatever context he is in.” That quote, which defines both the American guitarist’s...
Zauberland, Linbury Theatre review - an adaptation that adds...
Dichterliebe is a song-cycle full of gaps, silences, absences. Where is the piano at the start of “Ich hab’ im Traum geweinet” when the...
Chaos in the Cockpit: Flights from Hell, Channel 5 review -...
Apparently your odds of dying in a plane crash are about one in 11 million, while chances of death in a car accident are about one in 5,000....
Bevan, The Sixteen, Genesis Sixteen, Christophers, Barbican...
Verdi, Elgar, Janáček, John Adams - just four composers who achieved musical transcendence to...