Arts
A classic in the making: Glyndebourne's Poulenc double bill reviewed
One morning in the 20th century, Thérèse wakes up next to her husband and announces that she’s a feminist. Hubby,…
The Dane gets an interpretive dance makeover: Ian McKellan's Hamlet reviewed
Ian McKellen’s Hamlet is the highlight of Edinburgh’s opening week. In this experimental ballet, Sir Ian speaks roughly 5 per…
Primeval Voice
So, Archie Roach is dead at 66. It’s hard to read of the artistic triumphs and the personal catastrophes without…
Why Merseyside is the natural home for a Shakespearean theatre
A neglected little town in Merseyside is the natural home for Shakespeare North, says Robert Gore-Langton
The making of The Godfather was almost as dramatic as the film: Paramount+'s The Offer reviewed
It’s hard to imagine in the wake of GoodFellas, The Sopranos and Gomorrah but there was a time, not so…
I feel sorry for those stupid enough to believe that ballet is racist or transphobic
Sick though one may be of the way that the poison dart of ‘woke’ is lazily flung at what is…
Why is the post-colonial guilt only applied to Western classical traditions? Radio 3's World of Classical reviewed
The blurb accompanying the Radio 3 series World of Classical, inviting us to ‘join the dots between classical music traditions…
She’s pop’s Damien Hirst: Beyoncé’s Renaissance reviewed
You feel a little sorry for Renaissance, the first solo album by Beyoncé in more than six years. It just…
I can't recommend this Cole Porter musical highly enough: Anything Goes, at the Barbican, reviewed
The Barbican’s big summer show is billed on the website as ‘the sold-out musical sensation, Anything Goes’. The term ‘sold-out’…
Neighbours no more
It’s cheering to hear such good reports of the performance of Mahler’s second symphony by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under…
Stupendously good: Much Ado About Nothing, at the Lyttelton Theatre, reviewed
Simon Godwin’s Much Ado About Nothing is set in a steamy Italian holiday resort, the Hotel Messina, in the 1920s.…
In defence of country-pop
Sam Kriss on why country-pop is the most modern music there is
Alienatingly sweet and warm: BBC2's The Newsreader reviewed
When TV makes shows about TV, it rarely has a good word to say for itself. In the likes of…
As cool and refreshing as a selection of sorbets: RA's Milton Avery show reviewed
‘I like the way he puts on paint,’ Milton Avery said about Matisse in 1953, but that was as much…
Spare us the preaching: The Railway Children Return reviewed
It doesn’t help the cause of The Railway Children Return that the original 1970 Railway Children film is currently on…
As good, and inventive, as modern rock music gets: Black Midi's Hellfire reviewed
Grade: A+ The difficult question with Black Midi was always: are you listening to them in order to admire them,…
Convincing performances and unexpected sounds: Opera Holland Park's Delius/Puccini double bill reviewed
Delius and Puccini: how’s that for an operatic odd couple? Delius, that most faded of British masters, now remembered largely…
Call of the wild
It’s fascinating to hear that Warwick Thornton––who took the world by storm some years ago with that knockout indigenous film…
The joy of volcano-chasing
Mary Wakefield on Katia and Maurice Krafft, who loved volcanoes and each other
This lot should be sent to prison too: Where the Crawdads Sing reviewed
Where the Crawdads Sing is based on the bestselling book (by Delia Owens) that I picked up from one of…
Why we should all be dropping acid
Many years ago a man on the end of my cigarette stole my soul. Mr Migarette (for such was his…
A belter of a podcast, featuring a mad South African: Smoke Screen reviewed
I go back and forth on tobacco companies. On the one hand, they are merchants of death. On the other,…
With everything working properly, this would have been a lot of fun: Grange Park's La Gioconda reviewed
There are composers who are known for a single opera, and there are operas that are known for only a…
An entertaining display, clearly destined for Netflix: Patriots, at Almeida Theatre, reviewed
Patriots, by Peter Morgan, is a drama documentary about recent Russian history. And though it’s a topical show it’s not…
A showstopper is at the heart of this winning show: Dulwich Gallery's Reframed – The Woman in the Window reviewed
Themed exhibitions pegged to particular pictures in museum collections tend to be more interesting to the museum’s curators than to…
