Cambridge
Guy Johnston on his 1714 Tecchler cello - 'every day I start again and explore the possibilities within'Saturday, 07 October 2017
This adventure began in 2014 when my cello turned 300 years old. As birthdays go, it was a big one, so for me it felt important to do something special to celebrate. Why not imagine a journey back to Rome where it was made?The role of the cello has... Read more... |
Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains, V&A review – from innocence to experience and beyondWednesday, 10 May 2017
The title of this exhibition is typical of Pink Floyd’s mordant view of the world, not to mention their sepulchral sense of humour. Needless to say, the band that took stage and studio perfectionism to unprecedented lengths have pushed the boat out... Read more... |
Madonnas and Miracles: The Holy Home in Renaissance Italy, Fitzwilliam Museum, CambridgeTuesday, 14 March 2017
A lovely, scholarly and gently revelatory exhibition, Madonnas and Miracles explores a neglected area of the perennially popular and much-studied Italian Renaissance – the place of piety in the Renaissance home. We are used to admiring the great... Read more... |
Grantchester, Christmas Special, ITVSunday, 25 December 2016
Cambridge 1954, and Christmas was coming, which meant carol singing, mince pies and an unnecessarily conceptual nativity play. But murder was also on the menu, and once again handsome, jazz-loving vicar Sidney Chambers (James Norton) was about to... Read more... |
Generation Painting 1955-65, Heong Gallery, CambridgeTuesday, 09 February 2016
The individual colleges of the University of Cambridge can call, when needed, on an astonishing international network of alumni for expert advice, consultation and financial support. Such is the backing for an exquisite new public gallery on the... Read more... |
Hannigan, Britten Sinfonia, WRCH CambridgeMonday, 04 May 2015
“Songs of Vienna” by the Britten Sinfonia turned out to be a concert of chamber works, with never more than six performers on the stage at any time. It was built around two appearances by the Canadian soprano Barbara Hannigan, who ... Read more... |
MacMillan's St Luke Passion, King's College ChapelSaturday, 04 April 2015
The St Luke Passion I heard last night was my second sung Passion of the day. The first was in a parish church as a central part of the liturgy of the day on Good Friday: nothing too fancy, as befits an amateur choir, the words of St John as set by... Read more... |
Romeo and Juliet, Moscow City Ballet, Cambridge Corn ExchangeMonday, 05 January 2015
The question with Moscow City Ballet is: should I judge them on what they are, or on what they claim to be? The touring company, a self-supporting private enterprise, takes productions of classic ballets (The Nutcracker, Swan Lake et al) round... Read more... |
Garbarek, Hilliard Ensemble, King's College Chapel CambridgeSunday, 07 December 2014
This was “Officium – the final concert.” The Hilliard Ensemble took their decision around three years ago to disband as a group, and – for three of them – to retire, rather than to re-launch with a new generation of voices. They are now on the road... Read more... |
Quartermaine's Terms, Wyndham's TheatreWednesday, 30 January 2013
A wise man once said of Simon Gray's plays - and he wrote a lot of them - that they often have a lot of talk and very little action. And so it is with his 1981 tragi-comedy, set in the staff room of a language school for foreign students in... Read more... |
Wonderland: Young, Bright and on the Right, BBC TwoFriday, 10 August 2012
In the debating chambers and committee rooms of the Conservative Associations of Oxford and Cambridge lurk the Children of Cameron. The current cabinet is to a large extent an Oxbridge Old Boys club and succeeding generations are already being... Read more... |
Vermeer's Women: Secrets and Silence, Fitzwilliam Museum, CambridgeTuesday, 25 October 2011
The home, and women’s place within it, gained considerable importance for artists of the Dutch Golden Age. Artists such as Johannes Vermeer, Pieter de Hooch, Nicholaes Maes and Gerrit Dou are among those who placed women at the centre of the well-... Read more... |
