Reviews
Prom 3, CBeebies: A Musical Trip to the Moon review - a celebration of the Apollo 11 landing
Monday, 22 July 2019
This year’s Proms for children were entitled “Off to the Moon”, and audiences were invited on a musical space voyage to mark the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11. The format was a mix of orchestral music, kids’ programmes on big screens and CBeebies presenters keeping the show rolling.
Helen Schjerfbeck, Royal Academy review - watchful absences and disappearing people
Monday, 22 July 2019
Light creeps under the church door. Entering as a slice of burning white, it softens and blues into the stone interior, seeming to make the walls glow from the inside. Beneath the lintel, a milder slot of sun pours upwards. To the right, a plain column, only half in the composition, supports an arch which merges with the back wall, disappearing against its horizontal plane. The chapel is empty but its stillness feels peopled. Here, absence is watchful.
Lights, Camera, Malta!, BBC Concert Orchestra,...
Monday, 22 July 2019
With sapphire blue waters, year-round sun and architecture that spans centuries and cultures, it’s little wonder than Malta is a favourite location...
Prom 2, Bell, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Hrůša...
Sunday, 21 July 2019
Eighty years ago this summer, Neville Chamberlain’s indifference to the peoples of Czechoslovakia – “a quarrel in a far away country between people...
Vic Marks: Original Spin review - trouble in...
Sunday, 21 July 2019
In cricket, timing is everything. Played a fraction early and that silky cover drive finds a batsman out to lunch as the ball cannons into his stumps...
Reissue CDs Weekly: Peter Laughner
Major box-set tribute to the important American underground catalyst |
Gossip, SWG3, Glasgow - a reunion tour worth celebrating
Dance-punk trio bring pre-Pride party vibes to Glasgow |
Prom 1, BBCSO, Canellakis review - space-age First Night
Programme lacks logic, but choral spectacular opens the season in style |
Tell It to the Bees review - taboo love in 1950s Scotland
A woman doctor changes the lives of a struggling factory worker and her young son |
Die Zauberflöte, Glyndebourne Festival review – high jinks in the Grand Mozart Hotel
Some delicious singing cuts through fanciful upstairs-downstairs frolics |
Pavarotti review - enjoyable but superficial survey of a superstar
Ron Howard's portrait of the fabled tenor leaves his inner life unexamined |
Beuys' Acorns, Bloomberg Arcade London review – not much to look at, but important all the same
An installation that could make a difference |
Varda by Agnès review - a richly moving film farewell
Her wonderful personality to the fore, Agnès Varda shares her life and work |
The Lion King review - a dazzling photocopy
A technological triumph doesn't touch the heart |
Yorkshire Sculpture International review - Hepworth and Moore loom large
A new festival seals Yorkshire's bid to be Britain's home of sculpture |
Gwen review - gothic horror set in north Wales
Period film underuses Maxine Peake and gives starring role to rainy Welsh hills instead |
Boogarins, Jazz Cafe review - psychedelic hues and Brazilian grooves
A trippy conversation where the psyche-pop-rock doesn't get lost in translation |
k.d.lang, Brighton Dome review - superb revival of classic album
Iconic Ingénue revisited after 25 years |
The Night of the Iguana, Noël Coward Theatre review - Clive Owen and Lia Williams burn bright
Star cast deliver a terrific revival of Tennessee Williams's last masterpiece |
The Day We Walked on the Moon, ITV review - it was 50 years ago to the day
You've heard it all before, but this was an entertaining ride |
Inside the Social Network: Facebook's Difficult Year, BBC Two review - how big can it get?
A force for good or Big Brother in the making? |
CD: The Flaming Lips – King’s Mouth
An audacious and charming conceptual fantasy album |
Equus, Trafalgar Studios review - passionate intensity
Lean and hungry brilliance in Ned Bennett's production of Peter Shaffer |
Tao of Glass, Royal Exchange, Manchester review - brilliant, enchanting tales fascinate
Phelim McDermott's show about the bits that were left over |
Elbow and New Order, Lucca Summer Festival review – a meeting of Mancunian minds?
Much-loved bands at the opposite end of the pop spectrum magic up a spectacular night |
Whitewash, Soho Theatre review - a wild-at-heart linguistic joy-ride
Energetic two-hander offers a sparky portrait of a transforming city |
Django Bates Belovèd Trio, Evan Parker, Wigmore Hall review – a one-off or a premiere?
The best was left until the end |
Don Giovanni, Longborough Festival Opera review - Mozart in the urinal
Coarsened, disembowelled and only quite well sung |
Bob Dylan and Neil Young, BST Hyde Park review - flat-out brilliant and strangely compelling
The Godfather of Grunge knocks it out of the park, while Uncle Bob serves up more challenging fare |
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latest in today
Prom 3, CBeebies: A Musical Trip to the Moon review - a cele...
This year’s Proms for children were entitled “Off to the Moon...
Helen Schjerfbeck, Royal Academy review - watchful absences...
Light creeps under the church door. Entering as a slice of burning white, it softens and blues into the stone interior, seeming to make the walls...
Lights, Camera, Malta!, BBC Concert Orchestra, Malta review...
With sapphire blue waters, year-round sun and architecture that spans centuries and cultures, it’s little wonder than Malta is a favourite...
Prom 2, Bell, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Hrůša review – Boh...
Eighty years ago this summer, Neville Chamberlain’s indifference to the peoples of Czechoslovakia – “a quarrel in a far away country between...
Vic Marks: Original Spin review - trouble in Taunton
In cricket, timing is everything. Played a fraction early and that...
Reissue CDs Weekly: Peter Laughner
“As much as I love New York City, it’s all too obvious that Cleveland is about to become the musical focal point that the Big Apple has been on...
Gossip, SWG3, Glasgow - a reunion tour worth celebrating
If there was a downer during the giddy, gleeful Glasgow stop of Gossip’s recent run of shows, it was only when front...
Making Noise Quietly review - poetic if occasionally preciou...
Robert Holman’s 1986 Bush Theatre play – seen most recently in London at the Donmar Warehouse in 2012 – makes for a beautifully acted curio of a...
Prom 1, BBCSO, Canellakis review - space-age First Night
A new commission, a Romantic tone poem and a choral spectacular – standard fare for the First Night of the...