Arts
Saved by Spotify
We have all read about the current woeful state of the CD industry — how it is 28 per cent…
Saved by Spotify
We have all read about the current woeful state of the CD industry — how it is 28 per cent…
How will the British public take to Rubens’s fatties?
Are Rubens’s figures too fat for the British to appreciate them? Martin Gayford investigates
Mohammed — in pictures
Two months ago I was sitting beside the tomb of a descendant of the Prophet Mohammed, telling a story about…
Andrea Chénier, Royal Opera House, review: like a Carry On - but without the jokes
Who on earth could have predicted that a hoary old operatic melodrama set in revolutionary France would find resonance in…
Confessions of an illegal downloader
I’ve never been into shoplifting, though I once had a friend who was. And, no, before you ask, I’m not…
Young Vic’s Bull, review: a new Mike Bartlett play to bore you into catalepsy
A knockout show at the Young Vic. Literally. The stage has been reconfigured as a boxing ring to make Mike…
A Most Violent Year, review: mesmerising performances - and coats
A Most Violent Year is a riveting drama even though I can’t tell you what it’s about, or even what…
Broadchurch, review: ‘unwatchable’
Probably the two greatest advances in western culture in my lifetime have been the Sopranos-style epic serial drama and the…
Radio 4’s War and Peace: almost as good as the book
To have listened to Radio 4’s marathon ten-hour adaptation of Tolstoy’s War and Peace as it was being broadcast on…
Culture buff
This is a great time of the year to make progress with that stack of unread books. One of my…
Stolen pleasures
I’ve never been into shoplifting, though I once had a friend who was. And, no, before you ask, I’m not…
Stolen pleasures
I’ve never been into shoplifting, though I once had a friend who was. And, no, before you ask, I’m not…
Shirley Williams: Saving my mother from the scriptwriters
Jasper Rees talks to Shirley Williams about the forthcoming screen portrayal of her mother
ENB’s Swan Lake: the rights and wrongs of ballet thighs
There’s been heated disagreement over the past week about what’s right and wrong. Is the rocket-propelled ex-Bolshoi enfant terrible Ivan…
Geometry in the 20th and 21st centuries was adventurous - and apocalyptic
Almost a decade ago, David Cameron informed Tony Blair, unkindly but accurately, ‘You were the future once.’ A visitor to…
Royal Opera’s Orfeo, Roundhouse: shouts its agenda so loudly the music struggles to be heard
What a week to stage an opera about art’s power to challenge institutional authority, oppression — even death itself. Orfeo’s…
Old Vic’s Tree: Beckett plus Seinfeld - plus swearing
‘Fucking hell. You twat. Fuck off. Fuck. Fuck.’ These dispiriting words are the opening line of Tree, a newish play…
Wild made me want to puke
Wild is yet another film based on a true story, as currently seems to be in vogue for some reason.…
Channel 4’s Cyberbully: an unashamedly old-fashioned drama in being both well made and moral
Channel 4’s Cyberbully (Thursday), written by Ben Chanan and David Lobatto, turned out to be a brilliantly gripping drama, even…
Was Beethoven influenced by yoga?
How many digital radios have you bought over the years? How many are still working? Of the four I used…
Australia’s film awards – put your money on the pulpy stuff
If I were asked to name my favourite job over the past 15 years, since I took leave of my…
Culture buff
Wanting to love it was not enough; Mr Turner just didn’t quite do it for me. Mike Leigh’s new film…
Let the wrong one in
There’s been heated disagreement over the past week about what’s right and wrong. Is the rocket-propelled ex-Bolshoi enfant terrible Ivan…
What unites Churchill, Dali and T.S. Eliot? They all worshipped the Marx Brothers
Ian Thomson celebrates the anarchic genius of Groucho and his brothers
