features & interviews
Justine Elias. |
The first word of The Iliad is “war”; the first word of The Odyssey is “man”. After that, the twists and turns of Homer’s epic poems veer in wildly different directions. It’s fitting, then, that cinematic adaptations are multi-faceted, too.
Peter Culshaw |
The Fez Festival of World Sacred Music has been peerless over the years in presenting world/global music acts in one magical place. Only WOMAD is a serious rival as a long-established global music fest.
Saskia Baron
A recent OFCOM study found that over 90% of young people tune into video-sharing platform and streamers and only spend a quarter of their viewing…
Helen Charlston
“I’m a German Romantic at heart – there’s no better music.” I found myself saying this recently after performing Robert Schumann’s song cycle…
Tim Cumming
“Guys, don’t grow old gracefully… it wouldn’t suit you,” The Who’s Pete Townshend told the Rolling Stones at their induction to the Rock n Roll Hall…
Help secure the future of arts journalism
In this era of algorithmic recommendation, opaquely sponsored content and AI slop, theartsdesk’s mission to preserve real journalistic and critical values has never been more important.
If you like what you see here, please join us in this mission.
Subscribing to the site will help us in our coming redesign and expansion.
If you do this before the 31st August this will be at our guaranteed founder’s rate:
your subs will never increase again.
Subscribe now for £5 per month.
or yearly for just £40.
Or if you simply want to support us with a one-off donation, you can do so here.
caspar.gomez
With no Glastonbury Festival 2026, our intrepid reporter offers us mementos and tall tales
Cathi Unsworth
As her collection of music by goth divas appears, the writer reveals the appeal of the dark side
Jonathan Bank
A onetime Abbey Theatre reject is reintroduced at London's Jermyn Street Theatre
Veronica Simpson
An inventive and uplifting programme of sculpture, live music, dance and spoken word
Bedouine
On her new album, the musician follows her Armenian heritage to its roots
Mark Kidel
To mark the centenary of a jazz great, we explore a soundtrack that eclipsed the film
Rachel Halliburton
Her large sculpted butterflies act both as an inspiration and a warning
Claire Booth
A very individual singer joins Ensemble 360 for eight days of superb programming
Sarah Ruhl
Ruhl's Off Broadway play 'Stage Kiss' is coming to the Hampstead Theatre
Flora Wilson Brown
'The Waves' reaches the shore once again, this time at Jermyn Street Theatre
Benjamin Baker
At the World's Edge festival travels from mountains to metropolis
Guido Martin-Brandis
Workshops ahead of a new production of 'Imeneo' help bring young people to opera
Matt Wolf
'One Battle After Another' is the big winner over 'Sinners' amid a leaden Oscars that mixed impassioned politics with too much painful filler
Bill Rosenfield
Early Coward play 'The Rat Trap' gets kickstarted afresh at the Park Theatre
Katie Bray
'How do you take your Weill? Sarcastic, sultry, or with a sardonic smile?'
Kerem Hasan
English National Opera's production of a 21st century milestone has been a tough journey
David Nice
Specialists in French romantic music unveil a treasure trove both live and on disc
Oliver Pashley
Compositions by members of this unusual quartet feature for the first time
Clara Marshall Cawley
Five days of free events with all sorts of audiences around Manchester starts tomorrow
James Saynor
The star was more admired within the screen trade than by the critics
ALA.NI
She usually sings about affairs of the heart - 'TIEF' is different, explains the star
Rachel Halliburton
Music Director Julián Vat and pianist Matias Feigin compare notes on Piazzolla
latest in today
Sibelius: Symphonies 1-7 Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/Jukka-Pekka Saraste (Ondine)Violin Concerto, Lemminkäinen Suite Ava Bahari (…
What an extraordinary band are The Punch Brothers, a bunch of conspicuously talented musicians whose six albums never fail to delight and…
The man who made Interstellar, Tenet and Oppenheimer can hardly be accused of not thinking big. Now, with The Odyssey, he’s thinking epic.…
Buxton’s summer jamboree for opera lovers this year offers a brace of baroque works, written 90 years apart, with the character of…
Dismemberment is a key motif in the writer-director Simon Stone’s The Oresteia. It reflects the treatment of two of the piece’s several…
Ana Mendieta’s work gives me the creeps. This is a deeply unfashionable view, so much so that I may well be cancelled for it. Mendieta is…
There’s a long and rich tradition of scabrous indie rock lyricism from Yorkshire. Sheffield’s Jarvis Cocker and Alex Turner tend to get the…
The first word of The Iliad is “war”; the first word of The Odyssey is “man”. After that, the twists and turns of Homer’s epic poems veer…
In a similar vein to 2024’s Mercury-nominated album Silence is Loud, Nia Archives' latest offering is an appealing blend of jungle and pop…
It is never a great sign when a local authority is forced to comment on a music festival. The opening night of the In The Park series of…