Arts

Geoffrey Blainey

18 April 2020 9:00 am

He coined the phrase ‘tyranny of distance’ which not only entered the language but encapsulated the view that many Australians…

The musical benefits of not playing live

18 April 2020 9:00 am

Many performers hated playing live. But freed from the stage they often made their best and wildest work, argues Graeme Thomson

Reflections on isolation: the first lockdown dramas reviewed

18 April 2020 9:00 am

High Tide got there first. The East Anglian theatre company has produced a series of lockdown mini-dramas, Love in the…

The Amazon Prime doc that will convert anyone to cricket

18 April 2020 9:00 am

Imagine rooting for the Australian cricket team. If you’re Scottish, Welsh or Irish — or Australian obviously — it might…

The bleak brilliance of Hud

18 April 2020 9:00 am

Hud is a film that has haunted me for decades. I was never sure why. It seemed to be something…

The genius of Joe Rogan

18 April 2020 9:00 am

Last month, just before coronavirus conquered the airwaves entirely, millions of Americans gave up two hours to hear a professor…

The marvel of Mozart’s letters

18 April 2020 9:00 am

It’s 1771, you’re in Milan, and your 14-year-old genius son has just premièred his new opera. How do you reward…

How to succeed in sculpture (without being a man)

18 April 2020 9:00 am

Whee-ooh-whee ya-ya-yang skrittle-skrittle skreeeek… Is it a space pod bearing aliens from Mars? No, it’s a podcast featuring aliens from…

Anne Glenconner

11 April 2020 9:00 am

It is said that Shakespeare wrote King Lear in quarantine from the plague. Some have been suggesting that this year’s…

Absorbing and meticulously researched play about Partition: Drawing the Line reviewed

11 April 2020 9:00 am

Theatres have taken to the internet like never before. Recorded performances are being made available over the web, many for…

Haunting and beautiful: Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus’s Songs of Yearning reviewed

11 April 2020 9:00 am

Grade: A It has taken 33 years — during which time this decidedly strange Liverpool collective have put out only…

The best recordings of my favourite Passion

11 April 2020 9:00 am

In the autumn of 1632, a man called Kaspar Schisler returned home to the small Bavarian town of Oberammergau. He…

The perfect film for family viewing: Belleville Rendez-Vous revisited

11 April 2020 9:00 am

The selection of a film for family viewing is a precise and delicate art, particularly with us all now confined…

Why do Radio 3 presenters adopt the tone stupid adults use when addressing children?

11 April 2020 9:00 am

Anyone who has listened regularly to Radio 3 over the decades — not to mention the Third Programme, which Radio…

An extraordinary tale: BBC2’s The Countess and the Russian Billionaire reviewed

11 April 2020 9:00 am

There can’t be many programmes that bring to mind quotations from both Henry Kissinger and Boney M., but BBC2’s The…

Watching dance online is an advantage, not a concession: BalletBoyz – Deluxe reviewed

11 April 2020 9:00 am

Another day in isolation, another bid to find joy in my lone state-sanctioned walk. (Pro tip: stay out longer than…

The life of Artemisia Gentileschi is made for Netflix, but it’s the art that really excites

11 April 2020 9:00 am

The life of Artemisia Gentileschi is made for Netflix, says Laura Freeman, but it’s her art that really excites

Welder, banjo player, comedian, actor, and now artist – Billy Connolly interviewed

11 April 2020 9:00 am

William Cook talks to Billy Connolly – welder, banjo player, comedian, actor, and now artist – about growing up in Glasgow, ditching the mike stand and living with Parkinson’s

Lloyd Rees Solitude 1978

4 April 2020 9:00 am

‘How much of our village do we burn to contain this?’. That was the chilling headline of an article in…

The joy of Haydn's string quartets – here are the best recordings

4 April 2020 9:00 am

As Joseph Haydn was getting out of bed on the morning of 10 May 1809, a cannonball landed in his…

Taylor Swift is fascinating – but you really wouldn't want to be her

4 April 2020 9:00 am

There had been some question about whether Taylor Swift’s Netflix special would actually appear. Last year it seemed that the…

Ill-disciplined and self-indulgent: The Guilty Feminist podcast reviewed

4 April 2020 9:00 am

With theatres shut, radio must lighten the darkness. The Guilty Feminist is a wildly popular podcast performed by Deborah Frances-White…

A Formula 1 doc for people who hate Formula 1

4 April 2020 9:00 am

Some years ago I was invited to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone courtesy of a watch manufacturer. As freebies…

Perfectly serviceable – at points even charming: Four Kids and It reviewed

4 April 2020 9:00 am

This film contains flying children, time travel and a sand monster that lives under a beach — yet the most…

Are there ways in which virtual exhibitions are better than real ones?

4 April 2020 9:00 am

Six months ago I published a book about travelling to look at works of art. One such journey involved a…