Arts
The greatest female composer you’ve never heard of
One of the most intriguing piano concertos of the late 19th century is unknown to the public – and no…
Gratuitously twisty, turny nonsense: Sky Max’s Poker Face reviewed
Imagine if you had the power always to tell whether or not someone was lying. You’d have it made, wouldn’t…
Let’s hear it for the lesser-spotted nepo daddy
Rob Grant releases his debut album, Lost at Sea, this week. A 69-year-old millionaire and former ad man, furniture exec…
The final scenes are a knockout: Glyndebourne’s Don Giovanni reviewed
Are you supposed to laugh at the end of Don Giovanni? Audiences often do, and they did at the end…
Wikipedia does more justice to this fascinating story than this film: Chevalier reviewed
Chevalier is a biopic of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, whom you’ve probably never heard of, as I hadn’t. He…
Perfect radio for a nation of grumblers: Radio 4’s Room 101 with Paul Merton reviewed
Welcome back to Room 101, which has returned to the radio – after nearly 30 years on TV – and…
The 19th century Chinese craze for all things European
By the 1800s, the mechanical clock had become a status symbol for wealthy Chinese. The first arrived with Jesuit missionaries…
We must save this Tudor masterpiece for the nation
Jonathan Ruffer calls for the return to Britain of the Tudor tapestry that proclaims the birth of the Church of England
A campy and colourful role
It’s good to report that the latest revival of The Rocky Horror Show with Jason Donovan as Frank-N-Furter is true…
Can we know an artist by their house?
Can we know an artist by their house, asks Laura Freeman
Much better than the film: Mrs Doubtfire, at Shaftesbury Theatre, reviewed
Mrs Doubtfire is a social comedy about divorce. We meet Miranda, a talentless, bitter mother, who tires of her caring…
Exceptional career woman, unexceptional painter: Lavinia Fontana, at the National Gallery of Ireland, reviewed
Reviewing the Prado’s joint exhibition of Sofonisba Anguissola and Lavinia Fontana in the Art Newspaper three years ago, Brian Allen…
One of the most tuneless, vapid, dismaying things I’ve ever seen: Mötley Crüe, at Bramall Lane, reviewed
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything worse than Mötley Crüe in Sheffield. Nothing more tuneless, empty, vapid and dismaying.…
Wonderfully naturalistic and intriguingly odd: BBC2’s The Gallows Pole reviewed
In advance, The Gallows Pole: This Valley Will Rise was touted as a radical departure for director Shane Meadows. After…
How Ukrainians are making the lives of even anti-Putin Russian artists impossible
Zoe Strimpel talks to the anti-Putin Russian artists who have been cancelled since the invasion of Ukraine
One kind of masterpiece
It’s strange the world of classics and demi-classics and popular classics we inhabit. Right at the moment there’s the chance…
Stunts, gimmicks, tricks, hot air: snapshots from the edge of modern dance
This month I’ve been venturing into the further reaches of modern dance – obscure territory where I don’t feel particularly…
Are surgical museums such the Hunterian doomed?
Margaret Mitchell on the ethics of museums of anatomical specimens
Spooky, classy dystopian sci-fi: Apple TV+’s Silo reviewed
Back once more to our favourite unhappy place: the dystopian future. And yet again it seems that the authorities have…
Dazzling – if you ignore the music: Beyoncé, at Murrayfield Stadium, reviewed
Scheduling open-air concerts in mid-May in northern Europe is a triumph of hope over experience. I last spent time with…
Looking for a male role model? Check out the silverback gorilla
One so often hears about famous people who are horrible when they think no one important is looking – barking…
Ugly and humdrum: Brokeback Mountain, at @sohoplace, reviewed
Brokeback Mountain, a play with music, opens in a scruffy bedroom where a snowy-haired tramp finds a lumberjack’s shirt and…
I may never recover: Sisu reviewed
When I went into the Sisu screening I knew only that it was a Finnish film, so was expecting an…
