Arts
Inspired messiness
Can you tell how intelligent a musician is by listening to him play? Last year I discovered a recording of…
Inspired messiness
Can you tell how intelligent a musician is by listening to him play? Last year I discovered a recording of…
Modernism's dreams – and nightmares – at the Venice Architectural Biennale
Roderick Conway Morris is edified and entertained by the Venice Architectural Biennale
Belle has everything going for it – except for a decent soundtrack or script or plot or acting
Belle is based on the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the illegitimate, mixed-race daughter of a sea captain and…
The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition offers up the good, the bad and the ugly – and a sore neck
One of the great traditions of the RA’s Summer Exhibition has always been that each work submitted was seen in…
When Mondrian was off the grid
I find it easy to forget that Piet Mondrian is a Dutch artist. The linear, gridlocked works he is famed…
Terry Gilliam turns to eye-watering excess for his staging of Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini
Operas about artists are not rare. However — perhaps for obvious reasons — those artists tend to be musicians, singers,…
The Globe's larf-a-minute Antony and Cleopatra
It’s hilarious. It’s also annoying that it’s so hilarious. Jonathan Munby’s earthy and glamorous production of Antony and Cleopatra goes…
Has any band of the past 20 years been as consistently irritating as Coldplay?
It’s a long time, a very, very long time, since I bought a Coldplay album. Has any band of the…
We need something less evil than Britain's Got Talent. How about public executions?
You know what the world needs most right now? What it needs is five good-looking-ish, talented-ish blokes dressed in a…
New wonders among old shelves at the London Library
The Royal Court Theatre, the Young Vic Theatre and the London Library (above) are buildings of varied character and rich…
Tough love
The Royal Court Theatre, the Young Vic Theatre and the London Library (above) are buildings of varied character and rich…
Tough love
The Royal Court Theatre, the Young Vic Theatre and the London Library (above) are buildings of varied character and rich…
Hopkins to the rescue
It’s a long time, a very, very long time, since I bought a Coldplay album. Has any band of the…
Hopkins to the rescue
It’s a long time, a very, very long time, since I bought a Coldplay album. Has any band of the…
Nicola Benedetti interview: Bruch, boyfriends and Scottish independence
Matthew Stadlen talks to the violinist Nicola Benedetti about what drew her to Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy
Why it's good to remember that Bach could be a tedious old windbag
When I was first learning about classical music, 50 years ago, the scene was more streamlined than it is now.…
It took 11 years to bring Bill Viola to St Paul’s Cathedral – but it was worth it
Deans are a strange breed. Growing up in the Church of England, I met a wide range, their cultural tastes…
Kenneth Clark wasn’t happy simply popularising art, he liked to collect it and shape it too
Earlier this year, I sat down and watched Kenneth Clark’s groundbreaking TV series Civilisation. I vaguely remember when it was…
Grace of Monaco: a big, glistening, strutting, irresistible turkey
Grace of Monaco, the Grace Kelly biopic starring Nicole Kidman, is an absolute joy, and I highly recommend it. Unless…
Dialogues des Carmélites brings out the best in Poulenc – and the Royal Opera House
Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites is an audacious work, much more so than many others that advertise their audacity. It deals…
Dance games from Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker at Sadler’s Wells
Forget the pedantic classifications of genres, styles and schools. When it comes to dance performances, it all boils down to…
When the big-boobed whisky monster met the upper-class snoot
Lionel is a king of the New York art scene. An internationally renowned connoisseur, he travels the world creating and…
Is BBC1’s Quirke bravely unhurried – or too slow?
The work of John Banville — Booker-winning novelist and impeccably high-minded literary critic — might seem an unlikely source for…
Uncovering a Royal treasure trove
It’s rare for the public to be given access to the Royal Archives. They are housed in the forbidding Round…
