Arts
It made me want to go to sleep and never wake up: Vampire Weekend’s Father of the Bride
Grade: B– One of the things not to like about Vampire Weekend, other than their cloying preppiness, Ezra Koenig’s ingratiating…
Broadway production of Come From Away
We all remember where we were when first hearing of 9/11. Some people were on trans-Atlantic flights. When the US…
The joy of jousting
Emperor Maximilian I liked to say he invented the joust of the exploding shields. When a knight charged and his…
Maybe the best thing this skag head’s ever done: Peter Doherty & the Puta Madres reviewed
Grade: A Old skag head’s back, then — older (40 now!), probably none the wiser, still a very good songwriter.…
Why do we still use the Qwerty keyboard layout and not Dvorak?
‘Can you fly down this evening?’ she was asked by her boss in the Delhi office of the BBC. ‘Yes,…
Did the makers of When I Grow Up have no qualms turning a small boy into a hate figure?
Channel 4’s When I Grow Up had an important lesson for middle-class white males everywhere: you’re never too young to…
An abdication of interpretative responsibility: Royal Opera’s Billy Budd reviewed
The climactic central scene of Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd ends unexpectedly. The naval court has reached a verdict of death,…
Can Deborah Ross finish her Tolkien review before it fades from memory?
Tolkien is a biopic covering the early life of J.R.R. Tolkien (Nicholas Hoult) and it is not especially memorable. I’m…
One of the great whodunnits: Old Vic’s All My Sons reviewed
It starts on a beautiful summer’s morning in the suburbs of America. A prosperous middle-aged dad is chatting with his…
Moore’s art has never looked better: Henry Moore at Houghton Hall reviewed
Henry Moore was, it seems, one of the most notable fresh-air fiends in art history. Not only did he prefer…
Royal portraits at Bendigo
One of our favourite places in London is in St Martin’s Place, just around the corner from Trafalgar Square and…
What makes British art British?
There’s no avoiding the Britishness of British art. It hits me every time I walk outside and see dappled trees…
Hearing Gilbert & Sullivan on period instruments was a revelation
‘I consider that music is, by its very nature, essentially powerless to express anything at all,’ wrote Stravinsky in one…
Notre Dame is an architectural nullity
Notre Dame is only important from a Shakespeare’s-birthplace point of view. Architecturally it is a nullity beside the cathedrals of…
Not nearly as good as the book: Bel Canto reviewed
Bel Canto is an adaptation of the Ann Patchett novel first published in 2001, which I remembered as being brilliant…
Why was Something Understood cut?
It was never given the choicest slot in the schedule, airing first thing on Sunday morning with a repeat at…
Why has Frankie Boyle gone so soft?
‘I spend a lot of time helping teenagers who’ve been sexually abused…’ — beat — ‘…find their way out of…
One of the most astonishing things I’ve ever seen in the theatre: A German Life reviewed
It starts at a secretarial college. The stage is occupied by a dignified elderly lady who recalls her pleasure at…
![[Photo: Marco Borggreve]](https://www.spectator.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Stanislav_Kochanovsky.jpg?w=410&h=275&crop=1)
Stanislav Kochanovsky
The Melbourne Symphony was really on to something in 2017 when it engaged a young Russian conductor for a Rachmaninov…
Whitby Abbey is at the heart of Britain’s spiritual and literary history
The 199 steps up to the ruins of Whitby Abbey are a pilgrimage; they always have been. And any good…
A beautiful exhibition of a magnificent painter: Sean Scully at the National Gallery reviewed
Sean Scully once told me about his early days as a plasterer’s mate. At the age of 17 he was…
The daunting, uplifting prose of The Psalms
As if in defiance of the BBC’s current obsession with programming designed to entice in that elusive young and modish…
I admire the scale and ambition of Game of Thrones – but isn’t it just a little bit corny?
If you’ve ever faced the social embarrassment of having to admit that you’ve never seen Game of Thrones (Sky Atlantic,…
The early death of Lili Boulanger is the most grievous of all among composers
Total immersion weekends can prove tricky. The established masters don’t need them, while lesser-known figures often turn out to be…
A gratifying evocation of 1960s sweets – but I wanted more: Toast reviewed
Nigel Slater is popular because he’s an exceptionally meek cook. Not for him the sprawling restaurant empire or the transatlantic…
