thu 12/12/2024

Features & Interviews

First Person: singer-songwriter Sam Amidon on working in Dingle with Teaċ Daṁsa on 'Nobodaddy'

Sam Amidon

Walking in the morning from my Airbnb along the road in West Kerry, a seven-minute walk with ocean on one side and farmland on the other, down to the Teaċ Daṁsa workshop space. I would bring all possible clothes for the short walk because the weather could go through all possible phases in those seven minutes.

First Person: Alec Frank-Gemmill on reasons for another recording of the Mozart horn concertos

Alec Frank-Gemmill

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...

Irène Duval

"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...

Documentary highlights from the 2024 London Film...

Saskia Baron

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...

Bob Riley

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...

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First Person: Lindsey Ferrentino on the play that has led Adrien Brody to the London stage

Lindsey Ferrentino

The American dramatist on bringing 'The Fear of 13', and its Oscar-winning lead, to the Donmar

First Person: Tim Etchells on 40 years of making a noise with Forced Entertainment

Tim Etchells

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

Robert Hollingworth

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

Tim Cumming

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

David Nice

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

Elizabeth Atherton

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'

Hugh Barnes

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

Tim Cumming

Night after night: Sony's latest gargantuan release from the vaults

First Person: Alexandra Dariescu on highlighting women at the Leeds International Piano Competition

Alexandra Dariescu

A distinguished pianist fights for more balanced international programming

theartsdesk in Switzerland: Lucerne and Gstaad offer curious audiences fresh perspectives on much-loved works

Gavin Dixon

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

Mark Kidel

A music venue that prizes intimacy

theartsdesk Q&A: Nina Ananiashvili, founder of the State Ballet of Georgia

Ismene Brown

Bolshoi superstar who made her name in London returns with a new generation

The Micro Golden Age of Mid Eighties Fantasy Films

Justine Elias

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

Boyd Tonkin

North Yorkshire's summer celebration blooms, and grows

Bill Viola (1951-2024) - a personal tribute

Mark Kidel

Video art and the transcendent

First Person: trans opera singer Lucia Lucas on Tippett’s 'New Year' and her life in music

Lucia Lucas

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

Katharina Kastening

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

David Nice

Al fresco talk around 'Concert Theatre DSCH', playing at the Southbank Centre

First Person: The Henschel Quartet at 30

The Henschel Quartet

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

Kris Nelson

LIFT2024 promises a characteristically broad and bracing array of global performance

Remembering conductor Andrew Davis (1944-2024)

Theartsdesk

Fellow conductors, singers, instrumentalists and administrators recall a true Mensch

Extract: Pariah Genius by Iain Sinclair

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

Colin Alexander And Héloïse Werner

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

Joseph Middleton

Arts Council funding restored after the blow of 2023, new paths are being forged

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