Features & Interviews
First Person: Alec Frank-Gemmill on reasons for another recording of the Mozart horn concertos
Wednesday, 13 November 2024
One former teacher of mine said of their recording of the Mozart horn concertos “I’m not really sure why I bothered”. Said recording is excellent, so they were probably just being excessively modest. Nevertheless, every new version of these pieces does beg the question, why do we need another one?
'His ideal worlds embraced me with their light and love': violinist Irène Duval on the music of Fauré
Saturday, 02 November 2024
"I always enjoy seeing sunlight play on the rocks, the water, the trees and plains. What variety of effects, what brilliance and what softness... I wish my music could show as much diversity." Gabriel Fauré, who wrote those words and is indisputably one of the greatest of French composers, died 100 years ago, on 4 November 1924. His avowed aim was to elevate his listeners “as far as possible above what is.”
Documentary highlights from the 2024 London Film...
Saturday, 26 October 2024
One of the many pleasures of the London Film Festival is the chance to see high-quality documentaries on the big screen. If lucky, these films might...
First Person: Bob Riley on Manchester Camerata...
Thursday, 24 October 2024
In May, it was announced that Greater Manchester was to become the UK’s first Centre of Excellence for Music and Dementia, hosted by Manchester...
First Person: Lindsey Ferrentino on the play that...
Friday, 11 October 2024
I turn 36 this year, while living in London and rehearsing my new play The Fear of 13 at the Donmar Warehouse. The cast places a cake on my desk,...
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First Person: Tim Etchells on 40 years of making a noise with Forced Entertainment
The experimental theatre company marks four decades with its new production 'Signal to Noise' |
First Person: conductor Robert Hollingworth on a four-choir rarity by Benevoli
I Fagiolini join with two other choirs for a spectacular in St Martin-in-the-Fields |
10 Questions for Black String’s Youn Jeong Heo
K-Music special: The founder of Korea’s finest quartet discusses their intense and otherworldly music |
theartsdesk in Bradford - Leeds International Piano Competition 2024 finalists shine in St George's Hall
A clear winner, but all pianists worked superbly with a great conductor and orchestra |
First Person: soprano Elizabeth Atherton on the decimation of the classical music sector in Wales
Singer who began her career on contract with Welsh National Opera clarifies savage cuts by Welsh and English Arts Councils |
The law's sick voyeurism - director Cédric Kahn on 'The Goldman Case'
Kahn's drama about the 1976 trial of Pierre Goldman mirrors conflicts in modern France |
Here comes the flood: Bob Dylan's 1974 Live Recordings
Night after night: Sony's latest gargantuan release from the vaults |
First Person: Alexandra Dariescu on highlighting women at the Leeds International Piano Competition
A distinguished pianist fights for more balanced international programming |
theartsdesk in Switzerland: Lucerne and Gstaad offer curious audiences fresh perspectives on much-loved works
Two summer festivals find ever new ways to make each concert a memorable event |
theartsdesk at Jaminaround 2024 - preview of the unique Dorset venue's second edition
A music venue that prizes intimacy |
theartsdesk Q&A: Nina Ananiashvili, founder of the State Ballet of Georgia
Bolshoi superstar who made her name in London returns with a new generation |
The Micro Golden Age of Mid Eighties Fantasy Films
They don't make 'em like 'The NeverEnding Story', 'Labyrinth', and 'Legend' anymore |
theartsdesk at the Ryedale Festival: dances, and songs, to the music of time
North Yorkshire's summer celebration blooms, and grows |
Bill Viola (1951-2024) - a personal tribute
Video art and the transcendent |
First Person: trans opera singer Lucia Lucas on Tippett’s 'New Year' and her life in music
The baritone’s success with Birmingham Opera Company has led to further reflections |
First Person: Katharina Kastening on directing slimline Bizet in a year rich in 'Carmen' productions
Peter Brook's 'La Tragédie de Carmen' further reimagined at Buxton |
theartsdesk Q&A: violinist and music director Pekka Kuusisto on staged Shostakovich, Sibelius, sound architecture and folk fiddling
Al fresco talk around 'Concert Theatre DSCH', playing at the Southbank Centre |
First Person: The Henschel Quartet at 30
On places, people, and playing Freda Swain's 'Norfolk' Quartet at the Aldeburgh Festival |
First Person: LIFT artistic director Kris Nelson on delivering the best of international theatre to the nation's capital
LIFT2024 promises a characteristically broad and bracing array of global performance |
Remembering conductor Andrew Davis (1944-2024)
Fellow conductors, singers, instrumentalists and administrators recall a true Mensch |
Extract: Pariah Genius by Iain Sinclair
A form-defying writer explores the troubled mindscape of a Soho photographer |
First Persons: composers Colin Alexander and Héloïse Werner on fantasy in guided improvisation
On five new works allowing an element of freedom in the performance |
First Person: Leeds Lieder Festival director and pianist Joseph Middleton on a beloved organisation back from the brink
Arts Council funding restored after the blow of 2023, new paths are being forged |
First Person: actor Paul Jesson on survival, strength, and the healing potential of art
Olivier Award-winner explains how Richard Nelson came to write a solo play for him |
The future of Arts Journalism
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Wicked review - overly busy if beautifully sung cliffhanger
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