reviews

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The Art of Fugue, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Circa, QEH - an inspiring combination of Bach and acrobatics

Rachel Halliburton |

I have to confess, I hadn’t been sure what to expect when I heard about The Art of Fugue staged with acrobats. This latest collaborative experiment in the Southbank Centre’s Multitudes 2026 season – the multi-arts festival with orchestral music at its centre – sounded somewhat counterintuitive; one of the Western canon’s most cerebral works twinned with an extrovert celebration of the human body.

Big Thief, 02 Academy, Brixton review - an evening of understated radiance

Katie Colombus
In an era of excessive production for live shows, it is striking to see a band of Big Thief’s stature walk onto a stage this large and offer almost…

Osborne, Lartigau, RPO, Petrenko, RFH review - orchestral classic ruined by a tiresome film

Bernard Hughes
Messiaen’s Turangalîla, his sprawling 10-movement, 75-minute extravaganza, is garish, graphic and glorious. It is a full-bore, Technicolor, over-the-…

Olivia Dean, OVO Hydro, Glasgow review - pop's new star has a slow start but euphoric finish

Jonathan Geddes
In just over three years Olivia Dean has gone from taking the stage at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow to selling out two nights at the city’s…

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Altstaedt, Várjon, Hallé, Adès, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - the Unanswered Question answered?

Robert Beale
A scenic journey through 20th and 21st century landscapes

Between the River and the Sea, Royal Court review - wry take on insoluble antagonisms

aleks.sierz
Autobiographical show about the Middle East prefers utopian longing to political engagement

Kraggerud, Irish Chamber Orchestra, RIAM, Dublin review - Mozart and movement

David Nice
Fiddly but felt, the interpretations of the ICO's Norwegian violinist-director always compel

In the Print, King's Head Theatre - a moment that changed the newspaper industry for ever

Rachel Halliburton
A spiky depiction of the struggle between trade union leader Brenda Dean and Rupert Murdoch

Mint, BBC One review - when crime families collide

Adam Sweeting
Charlotte Regan's genre-jumping drama defies categorisation

The Dream of Gerontius, LSO and Chorus, Pappano, Barbican review - drama beyond belief

Boyd Tonkin
Tenderness, and terror, outshine majesty in Elgar's journey of the soul

Jasper Høiby's 3Elements, Bristol Beacon review - incandescent jazz conversation

Mark Kidel
Brilliant trio seamlessly combine composition and improvisation

Bergerac, Season 2, U&Drama review - murder most tasteful, served sunny side up

Helen Hawkins
Well paced and excellently cast, this revival still needs more of a sense of danger

Láng, Bretz, BBCSSO, Chan, City Halls, Glasgow review - Bluebeard's Castle threatens and yearns

Simon Thompson
Love among the chills in Bartók’s House of Horrors

Avenue Q, Shaftesbury Theatre review - we need that puppet sex now, and the rest

Gary Naylor
Can it be as good as it was 20 years go? Of course it can!

Gerald Barry's Salome, NSO Ireland, Kuhn, National Concert Hall, Dublin review - funny-queasy genius

David Nice
Paradoxically both ordered and wild(e), with weird twists and superb performances

The Rite by Heart, Aurora Orchestra, Multitudes Festival, RFH - exhilarating display of changing rhythms and moods

Rachel Halliburton
This semi-dramatised evening was as illuminating as it was exhilarating

The Flying Dutchman, Welsh National Opera review - running, jumping and standing still

stephen.walsh
Lusty singing, plenty of space and not a sail in sight

Carsie Blanton & the Burning Hell, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham review - a fine revolutionary singalong

Guy Oddy
Socialist troubadours spread hope and optimism

Frang, LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - Los Angeles meets Leningrad

Boyd Tonkin
Secret handshakes between works that weathered trauma

The Blue Trail review - take it to the river

Saskia Baron
Full steam ahead for Rodrigo Santoro and Denise Weinberg

Diamanti review - welcome to the vaginodrome

Markie Robson-Scott
Soap-opera in the Roman style: Ferzan Özpetek's opulent, melodramatic meta drama

Heart Wall, Bush Theatre review - deeply felt, but frustratingly incomplete

aleks.sierz
New play about family trauma and grief is subtle, sensitive, but pitted with plot holes

theartsdesk on Vinyl Record Store Day Special 2026

Thomas H. Green
Check our reviews of 28 Records Store Day exclusives

Harry Enfield, Touring review - 40 years of arsing about

Veronica Lee
The character comic looks back at his career

Rebuilding review - finding hope after wildfire devastation

Markie Robson-Scott
The things that got left behind: Max Walker-Silverman directs a film of quiet beauty

The Capture, Series 3, BBC One review - fake it till you make it

Adam Sweeting
Is anything real in Ben Chanan's digital dystopia?

Nicholas Royle: Finders, Keepers review - a never-ending story

Jon Turney
A small-scale journey through literary afterlives unveils a world of wonders

Northern Chamber Orchestra, Beyers, King’s School Macclesfield review - the high-wire experience

Robert Beale
Orchestral music without a conductor has its own unique frisson

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'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages of love and support
We are bowled over! We knew that theartsdesk.com had plenty of supporters out there – we’ve always had a loyal readership of arts…
The Art of Fugue, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Circa, QEH - an inspiring combination of Bach and acrobatics
I have to confess, I hadn’t been sure what to expect when I heard about The Art of Fugue staged with acrobats. This latest collaborative…
Big Thief, 02 Academy, Brixton review - an evening of understated radiance
In an era of excessive production for live shows, it is striking to see a band of Big Thief’s stature walk onto a stage this large and…
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