Reviews
Perianes, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Payare, Barbican review - elegance and drama but not enough bite
Wednesday, 20 November 2024
When the Venezuelan Rafael Payare was appointed as conductor of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (OSM) two years ago, his first action was to blast his way through a French Berlitz course.
English Teacher, Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow review - Mercury winners step up in size with style
Wednesday, 20 November 2024
Props designed like flowers were scattered across the QMU stage for English Teacher's performance. A fitting choice given the Leeds group are evidently in full bloom these days, with an upgraded venue in Glasgow due to demand and, of course, a Mercury Music Prize collected along the way for debut album “This Could Be Texas”.
Kemah Bob, Soho Theatre review - Thailand,...
Wednesday, 20 November 2024
Kemah Bob is a regular on television and radio panel shows and well established on the comedy circuit, but Miss Fortunate is her full-length debut....
[title of show], Southwark Playhouse review - two...
Wednesday, 20 November 2024
Not just a backstage musical, a backroom musical!In the 70s, Follies and A Chorus Line took us into the rehearsal room giving us a chance to look...
Album: Father John Misty - Mahashmashana
Wednesday, 20 November 2024
The word “mahashmashana” – महामशान in Sanskrit – translates as “great burying ground.” Co-opted as the title of Josh Tillman’s sixth album as Father...
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La Serenissima, Wigmore Hall review - an Italian menu to savour
Tasty Baroque discoveries, tastefully delivered |
Jon Fosse: Morning and Evening review - after thoughts
Damion Searls thoughtfully translates the wise words of 2023’s Nobel Prize winner |
Roman Rabinovich, Wigmore Hall review - full tone in four styles
Fascinating Haydn, Debussy and Schumann, odd Beethoven |
Wyn, Dwyer, McAteer, RSNO & Choirs, Diakun, Usher Hall, Edinburgh review - ebullient but bitty
‘Carmina Burana’ is fun in parts, but Langer’s ‘Dong’ doesn’t flow |
Kenny Barron Trio, Ronnie Scott's review - a master of the cool
Eloquent story-telling from jazz giant |
Gerhardt, BBC Philharmonic, Chauhan, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - from grief to peace
Anna Clyne, Shostakovich and Richard Strauss tell us about loss, struggle and healing |
Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat review - jazz-themed documentary on the 1960s Congo Crisis
Musicians played different roles in the struggles of the newly independent African country |
Gladiator II review - can lightning strike twice?
Sir Ridley Scott makes a big, bold return to the Roman Empire |
Music Reissues Weekly: Magazine - Real Life, Secondhand Daylight, The Correct Use of Soap
The first three albums from Howard Devoto’s post-punk marvels hit the shops again |
Bob Dylan, Royal Albert Hall review - cracked ritual from rock elder
A glorious mixture of mask and authenticity |
The Elixir of Love, English National Opera review - a tale of two halves
Flat first act, livelier second, singers not always helped by conductor and director |
Maddaddam, Royal Ballet review - superb dancing in a confusing frame
Wayne McGregor's version of Margaret Atwood's dystopia needs a clearer map |
ARK: United States V by Laurie Anderson, Aviva Studios, Manchester review - a vessel for the thoughts and imaginings of a lifetime
Despite anticipating disaster, this mesmerising voyage is full of hope |
The Sound Voice Project, Linbury Theatre review - an art installation that has strayed into an opera house
A worthy project fails to ignite as art |
Joy review - the birth pangs of in vitro fertilisation
Subtle drama about the quest to give women a childbearing choice |
Wolves on Road, Bush Theatre review - exciting dialogue, but flawed plotting
New play about young black men and cryptocurrency is sadly predictable |
Rachel Chinouriri, Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow review - a formidable and genre-hopping talent
The singer lifted elements from throughout pop history during an exciting set |
Bach Brandenburg Concertos, OAE, QEH review - forever young
Zest, dash and fun in rejuvenated favourites |
Paris Has Fallen, Prime Video review - Afghan war veteran wreaks a terrible vengeance
Cynical politicians and amoral arms dealers feel the heat |
Natalie Palamides: Weer, Soho Theatre review - a romcom of two halves
Comic plays male and female roles simultaneously |
Amyl and the Sniffers, O2 Academy, Birmingham review - rowdy Aussies let loose
Melbourne pub rockers set Sunday evening alight |
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, BBC One review - handsome finale for Hilary Mantel adaptation
Mark Rylance is on top form as his Thomas Cromwell re-emerges after nine years |
Andrej Power, LSO, Mäkelä, Barbican review - singing, shrieking rites of darkness and light
Radical masterpieces by Sibelius and Stravinsky have never sounded more extraordinary |
Burnt Up Love, Finborough Theatre review - scorching new play
Super writing and acting jolts us out of complacency |
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FaithNYC is a vehicle for the singer and songwriter Felice Rosser, an original rooted in reggae...
Perianes, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Payare, Barbica...
When the Venezuelan Rafael Payare was appointed as conductor of the Orchestre Symphonique...
English Teacher, Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow review - Merc...
Props designed like flowers were scattered across the QMU stage for English Teacher's performance. A fitting choice given the Leeds group are...
Kemah Bob, Soho Theatre review - Thailand, massage and menta...
Kemah Bob is a regular on television and radio panel shows and well established on the comedy circuit, but Miss Fortunate is her full-...
[title of show], Southwark Playhouse review - two guys and t...
Not just a backstage musical, a backroom musical!
In the...
Album: Father John Misty - Mahashmashana
The word “mahashmashana” – महामशान in Sanskrit – translates as “great burying ground.” Co-opted as the title of Josh Tillman’s sixth album as...
La Serenissima, Wigmore Hall review - an Italian menu to sav...
For 30 years, La Serenissima have re-mapped the landscape of the Italian Baroque repertoire so that its towering figures, notably Vivaldi, no...
Jon Fosse: Morning and Evening review - after thoughts
Jon Fosse talks a lot about thinking. He also thinks – hard – about talking. His prolific and award-winning career in poetry, prose, and drama,...
Roman Rabinovich, Wigmore Hall review - full tone in four st...
Is this the same Roman Rabinovich who drew harp-like delicacy from one of Chopin’s Pleyel pianos, and seeming authenticity from a 1790s grand...