Features & Interviews
theartsdesk at Musikfest Berlin - orchestral and choral rainbows around the clock
Saturday, 24 September 2022
In its three weeks of world-class events, Muskfest Berlin has managed to be all things to all people – like a mini-Proms distilling the aspects of top international visitors alongside home-grown excellence, and of a focus on at least one relatively unfamiliar 20th century/contemporary work per concert.
First Person: violinist and music director Bjarte Eike on bringing the Playhouse to his 'Alehouse Sessions'
Thursday, 22 September 2022
History first. The 17th century London of Oliver Cromwell and its puritanical quest to curb all creativity – banning music, closing down theatres, restricting alcohol and all the rest – provided an incredible backdrop for Barokksolistene’s project The Alehouse Sessions. How music survived with its tunes and tales, in song and dance, has for me been a true revelation.
Jean-Luc Godard (1930-2022)
Thursday, 15 September 2022
Paris, 16 March 1960 – and cinema ruptured. The first public screening of the 29-year-old Jean-Luc Godard’s debut feature, A Bout de Souffle,...
BBC Proms 2022 - silence after Mass
Monday, 12 September 2022
So John Eliot Gardiner’s fire- and-air way with Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis turned out to be the last night of the Proms. Just as I was about to cycle...
First Person: Geoffrey Paterson on conducting the...
Friday, 02 September 2022
By my count, tomorrow’s Proms première of Marius Neset’s jazz epic Geyser will be my 51st performance conducting the London Sinfonietta. It’s a tally...
First Persons: Glyndebourne's sustainability advisers Sara and Jeremy Eppel on creating eco-friendly opera
This season's production of 'The Wreckers' leads the way towards net zero |
First Person: Michael Volpe on the utopian thinking behind his new If Opera company
Bold aims for country-house opera with a difference |
First Person: tenor Cyrille Dubois on recording all Fauré's songs
Chapter and verse on a fascinating project, already much acclaimed here |
First Person: Mark Bromley of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain celebrates a milestone in its history
This splendid institution's CEO explains its egalitarian role in the musical ecosystem |
theartsdesk at the Pärnu Music Festival 2022 - conductors from 15 to 85, and the greatest players
The biggest and best musical family in the world gathers again by the shores of the Baltic |
Bob Rafelson (1933-2022): New Hollywood's raging bull
A bruising encounter with the late director on inventing Jack Nicholson, and terminal films |
First Person: Angela Slater on reaping the rewards of the LPO's Young Composers programme
Working with the best musicians towards one of a number of premieres on Thursday |
2022 Parliamentary Jazz Awards: baubles, bromides and birthdays
A welcome return to in-person for this 18th edition of the awards |
theartsdesk in Zurich - forging a brilliant new Ring
Gianandrea Noseda, Andreas Homoki and top cast dazzle in an unforgettable 'Rheingold' |
First person: Ukrainian violinist Valeriy Sokolov on performing while his homeland is destroyed
His home city of Kharkiv in ruins, a great musician plays on |
First Person: director Richard Wilson on a musical midsummer night film premiere
Mendelssohn around London with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields |
The superstar, the Svengali and a rising young talent
What can singer-songwriter Tom Webber learn from the Costello legacy? |
First Person: composer Gavin Higgins on his new cantata 'The Faerie Bride'
Aldeburgh premiere tonight for setting of Welsh tale about acceptance of the other |
10 Questions for art historian and fiction writer Chloë Ashby
On sights, acts of seeing and book 'Wet paint', inspired by Manet’s 'A Bar at the Folies-Bergère' |
Venice Biennale 2022 review - The Milk of Dreams Part 1: The Giardini
The biggest and most challenging exhibition you’ll be seeing in some time |
First Person: folk violinist István 'Szalonna' Pál on true Magyar style
Lynchpin of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble on their visit to London |
First Person: Christina McMaster - seeking musical cures for modern malaise
Lying down and listening; a pianist and healer contemplates her work |
theartsdesk at the Dresden Music Festival - orchestral abundance in a spectacular setting
The Saxon city’s world-famous orchestras front and centre in a full programme of events |
'How that music was created remains to me a complete mystery': John Tomlinson on fellow Lancastrian Harrison Birtwistle
The great bass remembers the composer who wrote two roles with his voice in mind |
Clubbing with the Stones: Live at El Mocambo
Prior to their European tour, one of the band's finest ever gigs sees the light of day |
'An invitation to stillness and reflection': saxophonist and composer Christian Forshaw on collaborating with top choir Tenebrae
On the vocal quality of his chosen instrument and an invitation to stillness |
First Person: playwright Naomi Wallace on finally hearing her work performed in English
Set in America, 'The Breach' was first seen in Paris, as its author explains |
First Person: composer Michael Price on responding to Bach's Second Brandenburg Concerto
'The Malling Diamond' is one of six commissions for an ambitious Music@Malling project |
Extract: Catching Fire by Daniel Hahn
Laying bare the translator's quandaries, including the problem of gendered language |
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