Arts
The quiet radicalism of the Chieftains
Pop quiz time: which act was named Melody MakerGroup of the Year in 1975? The answer is not, as you…
It was cheap schlock then, and it's expensive schlock now: Adele's 30 reviewed
Grade: C The problem I have is that I thought she was pretty awful before — when she was just…
Eddie Izzard is so bad I'm hoping he gets dismembered: Sky's The Lost Symbol reviewed
If it weren’t for this job I sometimes wonder whether I’d even bother watching TV at all. This mood strikes…
Worth seeing for Lady Gaga but little else: House of Gucci reviewed
Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci has been much anticipated. The cast is stellar. It’s based on a luscious, true story…
40 per cent sublime, 60 per cent ridiculous: ENO's The Valkyrie reviewed
It’s the final scene of The Valkyrie and Wotan is wearing cords. They’re a sensible choice for a hard-working deity:…
It's amazing how little insight Paul McCartney has into the Beatles' genius
The Paul people are out in force these days. A New Yorker profile, a book and a new documentary have…
Guilt-free hilarity: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at Charing Cross Theatre reviewed
World-class sex bomb Janie Dee stars in a fabulously silly revival of the American comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha…
His final paintings are like Jackson Pollocks: RA's Late Constable reviewed
On 13 July 1815, John Constable wrote to his fiancée, Maria Bicknell, about this and that. Interspersed with a discussion…
The forgotten story of the pioneering surgeon who healed disfigured airmen
Lloyd Evans on a musical that tells the story of the pioneering maverick whose methods for treating disfigured second world war airmen revolutionised plastic surgery
Don’t forget the motor city
No Sudden Move, Directed by Steven Soderbergh, Streaming on Amazon Prime
Sean Connery
Anyone who cares about the theatre should rush to see Kendall Feaver’s Wherever She Wanders which Griffin Theatre Company is…
The art and science of Fabergé
From quartz to quince: Daisy Dunn on the art and science of Fabergé
Benedict Cumberbatch is spectacular: The Power of the Dog reviewed
Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog could also be called The Power of Benedict Cumberbatch, as he’s so spectacular.…
One of many soul acts looking back 50 years and doing very good business: Black Pumas, at the Roundhouse, reviewed
No musician ever went bust overestimating the public desire to hear classic soul. Slapping on a Motown backbeat has revived…
Some jolly TV artifice and a rare moment of authenticity: C4’s Miriam and Alan – Lost in Scotland reviewed
Thanks to Covid, the days are gone — or at least suspended — when a TV travel programme meant a…
A gem that should be released online: Park Theatre’s Abigail’s Party reviewed
Mike Leigh’s classic, Abigail’s Party, has been revived under the direction of Vivienne Garnett. The script is a guilty secret…
Decent dream pop: Beach House’s Once Twice Melody reviewed
Grade: B+ Everything these days devolves to prog — and not always very good prog. Where once synths were vastly…
The supreme pictures of the Courtauld finally have a home of equal magnificence
When the Courtauld Gallery’s impressionist pictures were shown at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris in 2019, the Parisian public…
The astonishing stories behind today’s culture wars: Radio 4’s Things Fell Apart reviewed
Martin McNamara, the writer of Mosley Must Fall, a play on Radio 4 this week, must have had a jolt…
Hockney’s Rake’s Progress remains one of the supreme achievements
With Glyndebourne’s The Rake’s Progress, the show starts with David Hockney’s front cloth. The colour, the ingenuity, the visual bravura:…
Bert Newton
And so the world finally bestirs itself in the direction of going out because it’s now allowable. A young millennial…
The unseen Victoria Wood
For a few years now I have been living with Victoria Wood. That sounds all wrong, obviously, and yet no…
Albrecht Dürer was a 16th-century Andy Warhol
Gossipy, amusing, a little vain, Albrecht Dürer was a 16th-century Andy Warhol, says Martin Gayford
The best podcasts about money
Stories about money are never about money. They are about pain, about family, about atrocity, about luck, about health, about…
The sound of a hunch coming good
Graeme Thomson talks to the cult singer Joan Wasser about the robotic nature of pop, finding salvation in songwriting and Tony Allen
