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A Merry Little Christmas Eve: theartsdesk recommends

theartsdesk Thursday, 24 December 2009

As we all have only one shopping day left, theartsdesk hopes to make Christmas Eve a little easier by offering a few enlightened recommendations. From our writers on new and classical music, opera and ballet, film and comedy, here is a list of CDs and DVDs that we hope will enhance your 11th-hour shopping experience. Happy Christmas from all at theartsdesk.

DVDs

The Cultural Highlights of the Decade, BBC Online

Jasper Rees Friday, 11 December 2009

This week the BBC News online magazine is running a Portrait of the Decade. Each day has brought a consideration of the words, the events, the people, the objects and, today, the cultural highlights of the decade. I was invited to consider those highlights.

Comment

theartsdesk in Cheltenham: Screenwriters gather

Ellin Stein Sunday, 01 November 2009

He's a real nowhere boy: Aaron Johnson as the pre-Beatle John Lennon

The Victorian Gothic (with 1970s additions) maze of Cheltenham Ladies’ College is a far cry from the sun-blasted soundstages of Los Angeles, particularly at this time of year when it’s surrounded by deep piles of swirling autumn leaves. Nevertheless, this past week saw the high-ceilinged, wood-panelled College corridors filled with over 400 scriptwriters, both aspiring and established, rushing to the seminars, panels and pitching sessions offered as part of the Cheltenham Screenwriters'...

Comment

Ludovic Kennedy, 1919-2009

Jasper Rees Monday, 19 October 2009

Ludovic Kennedy, whose death at the age of 89 was announced today, will be remembered for many achievements beyond his contribution to broadcasting. But for those who grew up when there were only three channels to choose from, he informed a generation’s idea of what a broadcaster ought to be.

theartsdesk in Milan: Death of a Quiz Show Host

william Ward Sunday, 27 September 2009

Italy's quiz-show host Mike Bongiorno: 'a Warholian genius for fascinating, entrancing dullness'

“Guarda, è come se fosse morta la regina Elisabetta, sai?” I didn’t really need the comparison with the hypothetical demise of our own beloved monarch to be spelled out for me by my partner, a somewhat reserved professor of Paediatric Neurology at one of Rome’s leading hospitals, in order to drive home the deep shock engendered by the sudden death of Italy’s best-loved veteran TV compère on the collective psyche of a nation.