Arts
Songs of love and hate
As Sunday night’s storm clouds gathered, one of rock’s great polymath-storytellers whipped up a tempest of his own on the…
Welcome home, Malcolm Morley
Andrew Lambirth talks to Malcolm Morley
The master of living, breathing landscapes
One sometimes forgets when looking at French 19th-century art that the painting revolution that produced Impressionism coincided with a political…
Braque in full flight
Towards the end of his life, Georges Braque described his vision in the following terms: ‘No object can be tied…
The big tease
Perhaps the greatest irony of many in this first solo London show of Sarah Lucas is that it is sponsored…
Dear Simon Jenkins, please stop moaning about developers
When architectural preservationists meet at the tedious conferences and grim councils of despair that feed oxygen to their nihilistic and…
A rich, colourful romp
Bold decisions are at the core of great artistic directorship. And Tamara Rojo, the ballet star leading English National Ballet,…
The Light Princess badly needs a mission
There are many pleasures in The Light Princess, a new musical by Tori Amos. George MacDonald’s fairy story introduces us…
Damian Thompson: I may be in danger of becoming an opera queen
It’s taken 40 years, but I’ve finally developed a taste for the one type of classical music that I couldn’t…
I hope you spotted the epic 'existential struggle' in Les vêpres siciliennes — I didn't
Verdi’s Les vêpres siciliennes is his least performed mature opera, even in its more familiar version as I vespri siciliani.…
Deborah Ross: The Selfish Giant is not fresh, but it's superbly performed
The Selfish Giant is a British social-realism film in the tradition of all such films from Kes onwards, so it…
Will the women of The X Factor stop perving?
Will the women on ITV’s The X Factor (Saturday) stop perving? I suppose there are two ways to tackle the…
Grayson Perry is an inspired choice for the Reith Lectures
You’ve probably already read or heard somewhere that the inspiration for Grayson Perry’s current series of Reith Lectures on Radio…
Jeremy Deller curates a fascinating and funny exhibition in Manchester
All That Is Solid Melts Into Air is an art show largely without art (at Manchester Art Gallery until 19…
Mine of information
All That Is Solid Melts Into Air is an art show largely without art (at Manchester Art Gallery until 19…
In defence of developers
When architectural preservationists meet at the tedious conferences and grim councils of despair that feed oxygen to their nihilistic and…
Mine of information
All That Is Solid Melts Into Air is an art show largely without art (at Manchester Art Gallery until 19…
Entertaining romp
Bold decisions are at the core of great artistic directorship. And Tamara Rojo, the ballet star leading English National Ballet,…
Tim Rice: How to get ahead in musicals
Tim Rice’s latest venture is about to open in the West End. Here he takes us through the happy accidents that have led to his hit musicals
Come over here, Tom Stoppard
David Blackburn talks to Gwyneth Williams,who wants to revitalise Radio 4’s coverage of the arts
Andrew Lambirth: Emilio Greco's early work is undeniably his best
Emilio Greco (1913–95) is considered to be one of Italy’s most important modern sculptors, and certainly he was a successful…
Michael Tanner: With seven scenes, Eugene Onegin really doesn't need any more pauses
This year’s live relays of New York Met performances have a markedly Slav flavour, with Shostakovich’s rare The Nose next…
Did gay Conservatives have it easier in the past? Tory Boyz makes me think they did
Bang! The race is on. James Graham is the celebrated author of This House, a superb examination of Labour’s administrative…
Tom Hanks is the greatest actor alive
The main thing you should know about Captain Phillips is that it really puts you through the wringer. It’s based…
James Delingpole: The Wrong Mans leaves me gasping with exhilaration and glee
Among the criticisms rightly levelled at the BBC are that its commissioning editors are overcautious, unimaginative, unadventurous and over-reliant on…
