mon 21/04/2025

Reviews

Bach St John Passion, Academy of Ancient Music, Cummings, Barbican review - conscience against conformism

Boyd Tonkin

In a programme note for the St John Passion at the Barbican, the Academy of Ancient Music’s chief executive called their Easter performances of Bach’s compressed gospel tragedy a “ritual”. You understand why that word claims its place. However, there’s not much consciously liturgical about the AAM’s musical approach.

Music Reissues Weekly: 1001 Est Crémazie

Kieron Tyler

It would have been hard to pick up a copy of the album credited to and titled 1001 Est Crémazie in 1975. Just 500 copies were pressed. It didn’t reach shops but was circulated amongst the musicians playing on it, their friends, families and fellow students at Montréal’s Collège André-Grasset, the school at which those on the album were pupils.

MacMillan St John Passion, Boylan, National...

David Nice

Never make your mind up too soon about any large-scale work by a genius. Back in 2010, I had my doubts about James MacMillan’s first Passion, hearing...

Neil Young: Coastal review - the old campaigner...

Adam Sweeting

As well as generating a ceaseless stream of albums, whether live, studio or culled from his copious archives, Neil Young has also amassed a fairly...

Album: Maria Somerville - Luster

Kieron Tyler

Luster’s fifth track “Halo” has the lyric “mystical creatures… of Éirne,” referencing the Irish river and lough of the same name – both of which are...

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 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a 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?

The Penguin Lessons review - Steve Coogan and his flippered friend

Saskia Baron

P-p-p-pick up a penguin... few surprises in this boarding school comedy set in Argentina during the coup

Ghosts, Lyric Hammersmith Theatre - turns out, they do fuck you up

Gary Naylor

Ten years on, Gary Owen and Rachel O'Riordan top their triumphant Iphigenia in Splott

Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story - compelling portrait of the ground-breaking Irish writer

Markie Robson-Scott

Glitz and hard graft: Sinéad O'Shea writes and directs this excellent documentary

Donohoe, RPO, Brabbins, Cadogan Hall review - rarely heard British piano concerto

Bernard Hughes

Welcome chance to hear a Bliss rarity alongside better-known British classics

All the Happy Things, Soho Theatre review - deep feelings, but little drama

Aleks Sierz

New play about a sibling’s death is well imagined and deeply felt, but a bit slender

London Choral Sinfonia, Waldron, Smith Square Hall review - contemporary choral classics alongside an ambitious premiere

Bernard Hughes

An impassioned response to the climate crisis was slightly hamstrung by its text

The Forsythe Programme, English National Ballet review - brains, beauty and bravura

Jenny Gilbert

Once again the veteran choreographer and maverick William Forsythe raises ENB's game

Manic Street Preachers, Barrowland, Glasgow review - elder statesmen deliver melody and sing-a-longs

Jonathan Geddes

The trio ran through new songs, obscure oldies and big hits in a career spanning set

Your Friends & Neighbors, Apple TV+ review - in every dream home a heartache

Adam Sweeting

Jon Hamm finds his best role since 'Mad Men'

Goldberg Variations, Ólafsson, Wigmore Hall review - Bach in the shadow of Beethoven

Boyd Tonkin

Late changes, and new dramas, from the Icelandic superstar

Shanghai Dolls, Kiln Theatre review - fascinating slice of history inadequately told

Helen Hawkins

Amy Ng's take on two Chinese titans needs more dramatic ballast

Mahler's Ninth, BBC Philharmonic, Gamzou, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - vision and intensity

Robert Beale

A composer-conductor interprets the last completed symphony in breathtaking style

Manhunt, Royal Court review - terrifyingly toxic masculinity

Aleks Sierz

After his Olivier Award win for Oedipus, Robert Icke turns to a modern “monster”

St Matthew Passion, Dunedin Consort, Butt, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh review - life, meaning and depth

Simon Thompson

Annual Scottish airing is crowned by grounded conducting and Ashley Riches’ Christ

Midnight Cowboy, Southwark Playhouse - new musical cannot escape the movie's long shadow

Gary Naylor

Two misfits misfire in misconceived show

Music Reissues Weekly: Motor City Is Burning - A Michigan Anthology 1965-1972

Kieron Tyler

Wide-ranging overview of the US state accommodating Detroit, the ‘rock city’

St Matthew Passion, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Whelan, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin review - the heights rescaled

David Nice

Helen Charlston and Nicholas Mulroy join the lineup in the best Bach anywhere

Thanks for Having Me, Riverside Studios review - snappily performed comedy with a lightweight core

Helen Hawkins

Writer-actor Keelan Kember floods the stage with a torrent of gags but few ideas

Kraggerud, Irish Chamber Orchestra, RIAM Dublin review - stomping, dancing, magical Vivaldi plus

David Nice

Norwegian violinist and composer gives a perfect programme with vivacious accomplices

theartsdesk on Vinyl: Record Store Day Special 2025

Thomas H Green

What Record Store Day exclusives are available this year?

Sad Book, Hackney Empire review - What we feel, what we show, and the many ways we deal with sadness

Jenny Gilbert

A book about navigating grief feeds into unusual and compelling dance theatre

Small, Hallé, Wong, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - return to Shostakovich’s ambiguous triumphalism

Robert Beale

Illumination from a conductor with his own signature

The Amateur review - revenge of the nerd

Adam Sweeting

Remi Malek's computer geek goes on a cerebral killing spree

Holy Cow review - perfectly pitched coming-of-age tale in rural France

Helen Hawkins

Debut feature of immense charm with an all-amateur cast

newsletter

Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday!

Simply enter your email address in the box below

View previous newsletters

latest in today

Help to give theartsdesk a future!

It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.

It followed some...

Bach St John Passion, Academy of Ancient Music, Cummings, Ba...

In a programme note for the St John Passion at the Barbican, the Academy of Ancient Music’s chief executive called their Easter performances of...

Album: Viagra Boys - Viagr Aboys

Sweden’s most gloriously unhinged export is back, and Viagr Aboys might just be Viagra Boys at their most fun, feral and fully realised....

Music Reissues Weekly: 1001 Est Crémazie

It would have been hard to pick up a copy of the album credited to and titled 1001 Est Crémazie in...

MacMillan St John Passion, Boylan, National Symphony Orchest...

Never make your mind up too soon about any large-scale work by a genius. Back in 2010, I had my doubts about James MacMillan’s first Passion,...

Neil Young: Coastal review - the old campaigner gets back on...

As well as generating a ceaseless stream of albums, whether live, studio or culled from his copious archives, Neil Young has also amassed a fairly...

First Person: St John's College choral conductor Christ...

When I arrived at St John’s College, Cambridge, in April 2023, it was a daunting prospect to be taking over the reins of a choir with such a...

Album: Maria Somerville - Luster

Luster’s fifth track “Halo” has the lyric “mystical creatures… of Éirne,” referencing the Irish river and lough of the same name – both...

The Penguin Lessons review - Steve Coogan and his flippered...

As if penguins didn’t have enough to fret about with impending tariffs on exporting guano to America, here comes Steve Coogan to ruffle their...