Reviews
Frang, LPO, Jurowski, RFH review - every beauty revealed
Sunday, 06 April 2025
When Vladimir Jurowski returns to what used to be “his” London Philharmonic Orchestra, you’d better jump. I would have done on Wednesday had I been able to get to his heady mix of Russian and Ukrainian rarities; luckily I could on Saturday night, because an outwardly standard programme of early 19th century works proved perfect, raising Schumann’s much-denigrated Violin Concerto to the level of Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture and Schubert’s “Great” C major Symphony.
Music Reissues Weekly: Ibex Band - Stereo Instrumental Music
Sunday, 06 April 2025
Stereo Instrumental Music was recorded in July 1976 and originally issued only on cassette. The release was organised by what was credited as the “Sun Shine Music Shop,” an enterprise which seems to have left no additional imprint. No further “Sun Shine Music Shop” albums are known.
Levit, Sternath, Wigmore Hall review - pushing...
Saturday, 05 April 2025
Igor Levit is a master of the unorthodox marathon, one he was happy to share last night with 24-year-old Austrian Lukas Sternath, his student in...
Rhinoceros, Almeida Theatre review - joyously...
Saturday, 05 April 2025
Is the theatre of the absurd dead? In today’s world, when cruel and crazy events happen almost daily, the idea that you can satirize daily life by...
Mr Burton review - modest film about the birth of...
Saturday, 05 April 2025
Many know that the actor Richard Burton began life as a miner’s son called Richard Jenkins. Not so many are aware of the reason he changed his name....
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Restless review - curse of the noisy neighbours
Assured comedy-drama about an ordinary Englishwoman turned vigilante |
MobLand, Paramount+ review - more guns, goons and gangsters from Guy Ritchie
High-powered cast impersonates the larcenous Harrigan dynasty |
Ed Atkins, Tate Britain review - hiding behind computer generated doppelgängers
Emotions too raw to explore |
Four Mothers review - one gay man deals with three extra mothers
Darren Thornton's comedy has charm but is implausible |
The Importance of Being Oscar, Jermyn Street Theatre review - Wilde, still burning bright
Alastair Whatley honours his subject in a quietly powerful performance |
Stiletto, Charing Cross Theatre review - new musical excess
Quirky, operatic show won't please everyone, but will delight many |
Misericordia review - mushroom-gathering and murder in rural France
A deadpan comedy-thriller from the director of ‘Stranger by the Lake’ |
Owen Wingrave, RNCM, Manchester review - battle of a pacifist
Orpha Phelan brings on the big guns for Britten’s charge against war |
Apex Predator, Hampstead Theatre review - poor writing turns horror into silliness
New play about motherhood and vampirism is disappointingly incoherent |
Balanchine: Three Signature Works, Royal Ballet review - exuberant, joyful, exhilarating
A triumphant triple bill |
Howard Amos: Russia Starts Here review - East meets West, via the Pskov region
A journalist looks beyond borders in this searching account of the Russian mind |
A Working Man - Jason Statham deconstructs villains again
A meandering vehicle for the action thriller star |
Connolly, BBC Philharmonic, Paterson, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - a journey through French splendours
Magic in lesser-known works of Duruflé and Chausson |
This City is Ours, BBC One review - civil war rocks family cocaine racket
Terrific cast powers Stephen Butchard's Liverpool drug-ring saga |
Album: Erlend Apneseth - Song Over Støv
Norwegian musical impressionist’s journey into the centre of a vortex |
Music Reissues Weekly: Yeah Man, It's Bloody Heavy
The ne plus ultra of British heavy rock |
Biss, National Symphony Orchestra, Kuokman, NCH Dublin review - full house goes wild for vivid epics
Passionate and precise playing of Brahms and Berlioz under a dancing master |
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Musical, Theatre Royal Bath review - not a screaming success
1950s America feels a lot like 2020s America in this portmanteau show |
Verdi Requiem, Philharmonia, Muti, RFH review - new sparks from an old flame
Discoveries on a veteran maestro's epic journey |
Wilko: Love and Death and Rock'n'Roll, Southwark Playhouse review - charismatic reincarnation of a rock legend
Johnson Willis captures the anarchic energy and wit of the late guitarist |
The End review - surreality in the salt mine
Unsettling musical shows the lengths we go to avoid the truth |
Playhouse Creatures, Orange Tree Theatre review - jokes, shiny costumes and quarrels, but little drama
April De Angelis’s 1993 play is a delightful if sketchy account of Restoration female actors |
La finta giardiniera, The Mozartists, Cadogan Hall review - blooms in the wild garden
Mozart's rambling early opera can still smell sweet |
La Cocina review - New York restaurant drama lingers too long
Struggles of undocumented immigrants slaving in a Times Square kitchen |
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It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.
It followed some...
Frang, LPO, Jurowski, RFH review - every beauty revealed
When Vladimir Jurowski returns to what used to be “his” London Philharmonic Orchestra, you’d better jump. I would have done on Wednesday had I...
Music Reissues Weekly: Ibex Band - Stereo Instrumental Music
Stereo Instrumental Music was recorded in July 1976 and originally issued only on cassette. The release was organised by...
Blu-ray: Yojimbo / Sanjuro
Akira Kurosawa described his 1961 hit Yojimbo as a tale of “rivalry on both sides, and both sides are equally bad… we are weakly caught...
Levit, Sternath, Wigmore Hall review - pushing the boundarie...
Igor Levit is a master of the unorthodox marathon, one he was happy to share last night with 24-year-old Austrian Lukas Sternath, his student in...
Rhinoceros, Almeida Theatre review - joyously absurd and abs...
Is the theatre of the absurd dead? In today’s world, when cruel and crazy events happen almost daily, the idea that you can satirize daily life by...
Mr Burton review - modest film about the birth of an extraor...
Many know that the actor Richard Burton began life as a miner’s son called Richard Jenkins. Not so many are aware of the reason he...
Album: The Waterboys - Life, Death and Dennis Hopper
Mike Scott is The Waterboys. Launched by wide-eyed 1980s folk-...
Restless review - curse of the noisy neighbours
Horror comes in many forms. In writer-director Jed Hart’s...