Reviews
Martin Gayford: The Pursuit of Art review - devotion, distilled
Sunday, 15 September 2019
This is a book about experiences that go beyond reading about art. Martin Gayford’s 20 short essays about press trips and self-motivated travel concern meetings – in the flesh, in real time and space – with art that includes murals, sculptures and glacier waters, and with artists through interviews and studio visits.
Reissue CDs Weekly: Caravan
Sunday, 15 September 2019
Last week in central London, the Covent Garden branch of the book and music chain Fopp was selling CD sets branded as “5 Classic Albums” and “Original Album Series”. Each collected five CDs of the same number of albums. Amongst what could be picked up were collections by Kevin Ayers, Fairport Convention, Steve Hackett and Man. The asking price for each was £10.
Temple, Sky 1 review - down in the tube station...
Saturday, 14 September 2019
At first, the opening episode of Sky 1’s enticing new drama Temple looked like it was going to be mostly concerned with a heist gone wrong. A gang of...
For Sama review - besieged, bombed, and defiant...
Saturday, 14 September 2019
People who idly use the phrase “it’s like living in a war zone” when considering their domestic mess should see Waad al-Kateab’s documentary For Sama...
Amsterdam, Orange Tree Theatre review -...
Saturday, 14 September 2019
An excellent director makes a rare misstep with Amsterdam, in which a compelling if tricksy play is given an arch and mannered production that only...
Phoenix review - Norwegian family tragedy with an autobiographical slant
Mesmerising child performers but Camilla Strøm Henriksen's debut doesn't quite deliver |
Gazelle Twin, Mirth, Marvel and Maud review - sardonic folk
Gorgeously anarchic music that preaches to the converted |
The Shock of the Future review - for the music nerds
Retro French synth drama focuses on the music over character |
Hustlers review - strip club crime pays
Jennifer Lopez exploits Wall Street's appetite for sex and drugs |
Prom 72/3: Aurora Orchestra, Collon review – Berlioz not quite lost in showbiz
Stagey stunts but fine music in dramatised 'Symphonie fantastique' |
Edwyn Collins, Concorde 2, Brighton review - enjoyable evening of tight guitar pop
The Orange Juice frontman stays mostly seated but delivers a rousing, dynamic gig |
What Girls Are Made Of, Soho Theatre review - euphoric gig-theatre
Cora Bissett recalls the highs and lows of being a teenage Britpop star |
Honeyland review - tipping nature's balance
Insightful documentary on Europe's last wild beekeeper |
The King of Hell’s Palace, Hampstead Theatre review - Chinese scandal freezes the blood
New docu-drama about a distressing case of 1990s corruption and cover-up |
Alvin Ailey, Programme C review - black, beautiful, brilliant
America's No.1 rounds off its triumphant visit with a diddly-doo-wop |
Downton Abbey review – business as usual
The film version of the popular TV series is perfectly pleasant |
Prom 71: Dunedin Consort, Butt review – Bach to the drawing-board please
Solo moments were all too brief |
For Services Rendered, Jermyn Street Theatre review – uneven revival of 1930s drama
A mixed bag of performances from a big cast in Somerset Maugham's anti-war play |
Preludes, Southwark Playhouse review - journeying into the mind of Rachmaninoff
Dave Malloy's innovative musical immerses us in a creative crisis |
A Doll's House, Lyric Hammersmith review - Ibsen tellingly transposed to colonial India
Tanika Gupta's layered version launches a new era |
Suicidal: In Our Own Words, Channel 5 review - why are so many men killing themselves?
Harrowing and heartbreaking documentary in which six male mental health patients open up |
Sofie Hagen, Soho Theatre review - sex weekend in Swansea, anyone?
The tricks that memories play |
Prom 69: Stikhina, Czech Philharmonic, Bychkov – dark textures and powerful passions
Distinctive sound expertly shaped by the Prague players' new conductor |
Spotlight on The Troubles: A Secret History, BBC Four review - Ulster's bitter sectarian war revisited
Meticulous and horrifying account of 30 years of terror and political chaos |
CD: Metronomy - Metronomy Forever
Double album finds band at both their most accessible and most challenging |
The Flaming Lips, Brixton Academy review - an explosion of joy
A reminder of rock's potency |
Prom 68: Goerke, Gould, RPO, Albrecht review - the art of transition
Wagner Night at the Proms set ablaze by orchestral splendour and vocal lustre |
Prom 66: In the Name of the Earth review - John Luther Adams's ambitious choral spectacular
Massed choirs fill the Albert Hall with ecological contemplation and rattling coffee-cups |
Torch Song, Turbine Theatre review - impressive return for Harvey Fierstein's seminal gay drama
Matthew Needham in lithe drag queen form opens new London venue |
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latest in today
Martin Gayford: The Pursuit of Art review - devotion, distil...
This is a book about experiences that go beyond reading about art. Martin Gayford’s 20 short essays about press trips and self-motivated travel...
Reissue CDs Weekly: Caravan
Last week in central London, the Covent Garden branch of the book and music chain Fopp was selling CD sets branded as “5 Classic Albums” and “...
Temple, Sky 1 review - down in the tube station at midnight
At first, the opening episode of Sky 1’s enticing new...
For Sama review - besieged, bombed, and defiant in Syria
People who idly use the phrase “it’s like living in a war...
Amsterdam, Orange Tree Theatre review - suffocatingly manner...
An excellent director makes a rare misstep with Amsterdam, in which a compelling if tricksy...
Gazelle Twin, Mirth, Marvel and Maud review - sardonic folk
Elizabeth Bernholz, known on stage as Gazelle Twin, comes straight from a line of musical visionaries – rebels and misfits whose...
Phoenix review - Norwegian family tragedy with an autobiogra...
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The Shock of the Future review - for the music nerds
The Shock of the Future is for anyone who's watched a music...
CD: Mudhoney - Morning in America
Mudhoney’s new album Morning in America is a strange beast. Made up of outtakes from last year’s Digital Garbage, a cover...