Reviews
Two Billion Beats, Orange Tree Theatre review - lively, but overly idealistic
Wednesday, 01 February 2023
Do the right thing! But doing the right thing isn’t easy – especially if you are a teen. And a female teen who is being pressurised by your mother and your school teacher. It takes courage to make the best decisions, it’s scary and it’s hard.
January review - the end is nigh in vampirised Bulgaria
Wednesday, 01 February 2023
At their best, horror movies reflect destabilisation caused by cracks in the social fabric. The crack indicated in the documentarist Andrey Paounov’s fiction debut January is the widening abyss that, one character fears, will swallow Bulgaria village by village, town by town; the entire world, he says, will eventually succumb to this state of waking death. Maybe it already has?
Leonskaja, Staatskapelle Streichquartett, Wigmore...
Tuesday, 31 January 2023
It’s dangerous to claim a sense of absolute rightness about a musical performance; that could mean no more than responding to an interpretation which...
Othello, Lyric Hammersmith review - Frantic...
Tuesday, 31 January 2023
Frantic Assembly’s Othello, originally co-developed with the Lyric in 2008, is back in its third iteration, and it’s still not exactly the play you...
Ólafsson, LPO, Gardner, RFH review - spirit of...
Monday, 30 January 2023
This concert was advertised as the completion of an Elgar symphony cycle, though in the absence of the reconstructed Third, that meant the second of...
Sound of the Underground, Royal Court review - loud and triumphantly proud
New play about the queer club scene is a fabulous extravaganza |
Gerhardt, BBC Philharmonic, Gernon, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - calm and clear conducting
Maybe not perfect, but when things worked, they worked beautifully |
Album: Robert Forster - The Candle and the Flame
At an uncertain time, the former Go-Between takes stock |
Music Reissues Weekly: Padang Moonrise - The Birth of the Modern Indonesian Recording Industry
Eye-opening compilation where knowing the context is essential |
The Fabelmans review - Spielberg remembers with wit and wonder
The director's early life examined with understated, almost unconscious need |
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed review - superb documentary about a campaigning artist
Nan Goldin's fight against the makers of Oxycontin is as gutsy as her work |
Jansen, LSO, Noseda, Barbican review - hearts of darkness
Pain offset by sheer beauty in communicative Beethoven, Sibelius and Prokofiev |
Noises Off, Phoenix Theatre review - much revived classic farce gains in poignancy
Sure it's overly familiar, but, 40 years on, the laughs keep coming |
The Last Stage review - a former prisoner returns to the death camp
The first feature film to be made in Auschwitz-Birkenau gets restored and re-released |
Charlie & Stan, Wilton’s Music Hall, review - a beguiling fantasy about two silent comedy greats
Told by an Idiot return with a celebration of silent-movie antics and daft gags |
Castalian String Quartet, Wigmore Hall review - genius in works and performance
Colossal finales by Beethoven and Britten don’t seem to tire these amazing string players |
Women at War, Netflix review - contrasting stories entwine during the chaos of World War One
Passion, intrigue and heartbreak behind the front lines |
Spain and the Hispanic World, Royal Academy review - a monumental survey
The refurbishment of New York's Hispanic Society provides a unique opportunity to see its treasures |
Celtic Connections: Juliette Lemoine, Orchestral Qawwali Project review - fusion of myriad musical traditions
Scotland's premier folk festival is back with a bang |
Julie Cunningham & Co, Sadler's Wells review - a fine piece of work, with added spice
The other Cunningham stakes out their territory in contemporary dance, and the non-binary debate |
'Time Out of Mind' Revisited - a deep focus take on classic Dylan
The latest in Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series captures the creation of one of his most powerful albums |
Callum Au and Claire Martin, Cadogan Hall review - 'Songs and Stories' live at last
From delicious reboots of Porter and Mitchell to newly composed Homeric delights |
DVD: Oscar Peterson - Black + White
Barry Avrich’s documentary celebrates the music and career of the great jazz pianist |
Belcea Quartet, Wigmore Hall review - a riveting new string quartet
This Guillaume Connesson UK premiere is a fine companion to Schubert and Beethoven |
Lucy Porter, Cambridge Junction review - making light of a midlife crisis
Witty take on life's woes |
Music Reissues Weekly: Bob Stanley / Pete Wiggs Present Winter of Discontent
Saint Etienne-compiled series of do-it-yourself aural postcards from post-punk’s liminal zones |
Babylon review - sound and fury in silent Hollywood
Damien Chazelle's pounding tribute to Twenties cinema is a finally faltering blast |
Sound Unwrapped Launch, Kings Place review - ravishing combination of ancient and modern
Moonscapes, drums and viola da gamba in a dizzying opening mini-festival |
Alex Edelman, Menier Chocolate Factory review - London run for unmissable off-Broadway hit
How a Jewish standup found the funny side of a roomful of white nationalists |
latest in today
Two Billion Beats, Orange Tree Theatre review - lively, but...
Do the right thing! But doing the right thing isn’t easy – especially if you are a teen. And a female teen who is being pressurised by your mother...
January review - the end is nigh in vampirised Bulgaria
At their best, horror movies reflect destabilisation caused by cracks in the social fabric. The crack indicated in the documentarist Andrey...
Album: Lisa O'Neill - All of This Is Chance
Lisa O’Neill is a part of the new wave of Irish contemporary folk artists, one that encompasses the likes of Lankum, Ye Vagabonds...
Leonskaja, Staatskapelle Streichquartett, Wigmore Hall / Sec...
It’s dangerous to claim a sense of absolute rightness about a musical performance; that could mean no more than responding to an interpretation...
Othello, Lyric Hammersmith review - Frantic Assembly's...
Frantic Assembly’s Othello, originally co-developed with the Lyric in 2008, is back in its third iteration, and it’s still not...
Blu-ray: The War Trilogy - Three Films by Andrzej Wajda
Watching these harrowing films in rapid succession allows us to watch a great...
Ólafsson, LPO, Gardner, RFH review - spirit of delight
This concert was advertised as the completion of an Elgar symphony cycle, though in the absence of the reconstructed Third, that meant the second...
Sound of the Underground, Royal Court review - loud and triu...
Ever been to a queer club? You know, drag cabaret night at Madame Jojo’s, or the Black Cap or Her Upstairs. No? Well, not to worry – the...
Gerhardt, BBC Philharmonic, Gernon, Bridgewater Hall, Manche...
Ben Gernon’s calm and clear way of conducting an orchestra (something he once told me he’d observed in the work of his mentor, Colin Davis) is...
Album: Robert Forster - The Candle and the Flame
Reflections on how the past relates to now suffuse The Candle and the Flame. The album’s closing track is “When I Was a Young Man.” When...