Arts
Still ugly but worth catching for the chorus and orchestra: Royal Opera’s Tannhäuser reviewed
A classical concert programme is like a set menu, and for this palate the most tempting orchestral offering in the…
Both compelling and repulsive: The Whale reviewed
I can’t work out if Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, which stars Brendan Fraser as a man weighing 600lb – that’s…
Two of Scotland’s most inventive solo musicians: Fergus McCreadie, Maeve Gilchrist + Mr McFall’s Quartet reviewed
Folk is the Schiphol of Scottish music. Eventually, every curious traveller passes through. From arena rockers to rappers, traditional music…
The county that inspired a whole way of painting: Sussex Landscape, at Pallant House, reviewed
In a national vote on which county’s landscape best embodies Englishness, every county would presumably vote for itself. But when…
My hunt for the Holy Grail: Damned drummer Rat Scabies interviewed
Revd Steve Morris talks to former Damned drummer Rat Scabies about his journey from punk rock to the Holy Grail
Rite of summer
It’s a strange period of relaxation, isn’t it? The post-Christmas and New Year period in the lead up to Australia…
Pure, heavenly escapism: The Unfriend, at the Criterion Theatre, reviewed
The Unfriend is a smart new family comedy which opens on the sunlit deck of a cruise ship. Peter and…
A brilliant show : The 1975, at the O2, reviewed
The great country singer George Jones was famed not just for his voice, but also for his drinking. Once, deprived…
A ‘look at these funny people’ doc that could have been presented by any TV hack: Grayson Perry’s Full English reviewed
For around a decade now, Grayson Perry has been making reliably thoughtful and entertaining documentary series about such things as…
Mel C’s debut as a contemporary dancer is impressive: How did we get here?, at Sadler’s Wells, reviewed
‘We hope you enjoy the performance,’ announced the Tannoy before the lights went down for How did we get here?…
A crash course in all things Hispanic: RA’s Spain and the Hispanic World reviewed
‘Spain must be much more interesting than Liverpool,’ decided the 12-year-old Archer M. Huntington after buying a book on Spanish…
Cheesy but full of love: The Fabelmans reviewed
There can’t be anyone anywhere who hasn’t somehow been touched by a Steven Spielberg film. Some of us, for example,…
Stirring and sophisticated: RLPO, Chooi, Hindoyan, at the Philharmonic Hall, reviewed
Daniel Barenboim was supposed to perform with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra earlier this month. His recent health concerns made…
The art of art restoration
Frank Lawton talks to Maurizio De Luca, former chief restorer at the Vatican, about the pitfalls of his profession
Cardinal virtues
George Pell is dead. Although he was 81, no one would have predicted it. The Cardinal who had had to…
Comes close to perfection: Watch on the Rhine, at the Donmar Warehouse, reviewed
Watch on the Rhine is the curiously misleading title chosen by Lillian Hellman for a wartime family drama that became…
Beautiful bleakness crowned with slivers of hope: John Cale’s Mercy reviewed
There’s a case to be made for John Cale being the most daring ex-member of the Velvet Underground. Lou Reed…
Is Matthew Parris the modern Plutarch? Radio 4’s Great Lives reviewed
Whenever I listen to Great Lives on Radio 4, which is often, I am reminded of the gulf between fame…
Heist drama with a novelty spin that isn’t very novel: Netflix’s Kaleidoscope reviewed
Kaleidoscope is a fairly routine eight-part heist drama with a supposed novelty spin: apart from the beginning and the end,…
Formulaic and untrue: Bank of Dave reviewed
Bank of Dave is the ‘true(ish)’ story, as this puts it, of Dave Fishwick, the Burnley businessman who wanted to…
The grisliest images are the earliest: Bearing Witness? Violence and Trauma on Paper, at the Fitzwilliam Museum, reviewed
‘Graphic’ scenes of violence are now associated with film, but the word betrays an older ancestry. The first mass media…
Why I hate Beethoven’s Pastoral symphony
Norman Lebrecht on his hatred of Beethoven’s Pastoral
Feast of epiphanies
January 6, the end of the twelve days of Christmas and the Feast of the Epiphany when the three wise…
