sat 12/07/2025

stephen walsh

Bio
Stephen is a former Observer music critic and a regular contributor to The Times, Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, Independent and the BBC. He is the author of a major biography of Stravinsky and other books on Stravinsky, Bartók and Schumann. He holds a chair in music at Cardiff University.

Articles By Stephen Walsh

The Turn of the Screw, Garsington Opera review - superb music drama on an open stage

Read more...

Rusalka, Glyndebourne Festival review - away with the distressed fairies

Read more...

Brundibár, Welsh National Opera review - bittersweet children's opera from the ghetto

Read more...

Das Rheingold, Longborough Festival Opera review - more Wagnerian excellence in a Gloucestershire barn

Read more...

I Fagiolini, Hollingworth, St George's Bristol review - Leonardo and music, immortal, invisible

Read more...

The Magic Flute, Welsh National Opera review - charming to hear, charmless to look at

Read more...

Un ballo in maschera, Welsh National Opera review - opera as brilliant self-parody

Read more...

War and Peace, Welsh National Opera review - an Operation Barbarossa that comes off

Read more...

theartsdesk at the Three Choirs Festival - religion, passion and Nordic fakery

Read more...

Prom 5, Pelléas et Mélisande, Glyndebourne review - for the ears, not the eyes

Read more...

Ariadne auf Naxos, Longborough Festival review - appetising energy and wit

Read more...

La Traviata, Longborough Festival review - muddled director, vocal mixed bag

Read more...

theartsdesk at the Leipzig Bach Festival: a cantata blockbuster

Read more...

Der fliegende Holländer, Longborough Festival review - stand and deliver on an empty stage

Read more...

Madama Butterfly, Glyndebourne review - perverse staging, outstanding cast

Read more...

BBC NOW, Alexandre Bloch, Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff review - tonal music in an avant-garde sense

Read more...

Pages

latest in today

'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages... ...
Album: Wet Leg - moisturizer

War, pestilence, famine, death. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had my fill of them all. So what better time to visit the genuinely sunny uplands...

Nye, National Theatre review - Michael Sheen's full-blo...

The National Health Service was established 77 years ago this month. Resident doctors are about to strike for more pay, long waiting lists for...

Emily Kam Kngwarray, Tate Modern review - glimpses of anothe...

It took until the last room of her exhibition for me to gain any real understanding of the work of...

Album: Tami Neilson - Neon Cowgirl

Tami Neilson’s career is long and storied. The short version is that she began with a 1990s Canadian family band (opening for Kitty Wells, aged 10...

theartsdesk at the Ravenna Festival 2025 - Cervantes, Beetho...

Anyone seeking local genius in an international festival should look no further than the annual Ravenna concerts from Riccardo Muti – Neapolitan...

Girl From The North Country, Old Vic review - Dylan's s...

Well, I wasn’t expecting a Dylanesque take on "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" as an opening number and I was right. But The Zim,...

The Estonian Song and Dance Celebration 2025 review - the ma...

The branch of the fast-food chain Hesburger in downtown Tallinn shopping centre Solaris is busy. Nothing unusual as it’s located by the entrance...

Insomnia, Channel 5 review - a chronicle of deaths foretold

A mixture of legal drama, medical mystery and psychological thriller with creepy supernatural overtones, Insomnia sometimes seems to be...