Arts
Why did it take so long to recognise the worth of British folk art?
British folk art has been shamefully neglected in the land of its origin, as if the popular handiwork of past…
I think I’ve found the new Maria Callas
Some of my most enjoyable evenings, when I reviewed opera weekly for The Spectator, were spent at the Royal College…
Was Elgar’s The Kingdom an attempt to write a religious Ring Cycle?
To go from the second day of the England v. India Test match at Lord’s to the Albert Hall for…
In Norwich, a director is caught trying to murder Wagner’s Tannhäuser
Seventeen years ago the Norwegian National Opera staged two cycles of the Ring in Norwich’s Theatre Royal, performances that have…
Let’s face it, Greek tragedy is often earnest, obscure or boring. Not this Medea
Carrie Cracknell’s new version of Medea strikes with overwhelming and rather puzzling force. The royal palace has been done up…
Moon Indigo: an all-you-can-eat buffet for the eyes - but your brain will feel famished
Your enjoyment of Michel Gondry’s Mood Indigo may entirely depend on how much visual whimsy you can take, what your…
Barbie dolls? This girl aims for the head
Channel 4’s Kids and Guns (Thursday) began with an American TV advert in which a young boy’s eyes shone with…
Glasgow and the Commonwealth go back a long way; Radio 4 explores a murky past
What’s been missing from the schedules during the Commonwealth Games has been a straightforward reminder about who makes up the…
A history of remembrance
One fight that seems to have been won is that spearheaded by the War Memorials Trust to preserve the thousands…
We will remember them
One fight that seems to have been won is that spearheaded by the War Memorials Trust to preserve the thousands…
We will remember them
One fight that seems to have been won is that spearheaded by the War Memorials Trust to preserve the thousands…
Pitch perfect
To go from the second day of the England v. India Test match at Lord’s to the Albert Hall for…
Pitch perfect
To go from the second day of the England v. India Test match at Lord’s to the Albert Hall for…
How conductors keep getting better at 90
Matthew Stadlen talks to three conductors about growing old very gracefully
The Lunchbox: a love story based on food and free postage
Was Kate due a grounding after the awards extravaganza of Revolutionary Road and The Reader? Because Labor Day (12A) slipped…
Natalia Osipova interview: ‘I'm not interested in diamond tiaras on stage’
Giannandrea Poesio talks to Natalia Osipova about her ballet-based philosophy
When Mr and Mrs Clever-Nasty-and-Rich met Mr and Mrs Thick-Sweet-and-Poor
Torben Betts, head boy at Alan Ayckbourn’s unofficial school of apprentices, has written at least a dozen plays I’ve never…
Malevich: Are Tate visitors ready for this master of modernism?
Kazimir Malevich (1879–1935) is one of the founding fathers of Modernism, and as such entirely deserves the in-depth treatment with…
I can’t see the point of Glyndebourne’s La traviata
One of the highlights of last year’s Glyndebourne Festival was the revival of Richard Jones’s Falstaff, spruced up and invigorated…
The problem with Believe is you simply won’t believe any of it - unless you’re a child
The trouble with Believe is that, unless you are ten years old or under, which I’m assuming you are not,…
In which James Delingpole gets down with the kids, finds they’re sex-obsessed…
If there’s one thing everyone knows about BBC comedy it’s that it’s going downhill. According to Danny Cohen, now Director…
Does Radio 3 need a new controller?
Where next for Radio 3? Last Friday was the First Night of this year’s Proms season but it was the…
Alexander Pope, inventor of celebrity
‘The Picture of the Prime Minister hangs above the Chimney of his own Closet, but I have seen that of…
The art of celebrity
‘The Picture of the Prime Minister hangs above the Chimney of his own Closet, but I have seen that of…
Summer viewing
Was Kate due a grounding after the awards extravaganza of Revolutionary Road and The Reader? Because Labor Day (12A) slipped…
