thu 03/04/2025

stephen walsh

Bio
Stephen is a former Observer music critic and a regular contributor to The Times, Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, Independent and the BBC. He is the author of a major biography of Stravinsky and other books on Stravinsky, Bartók and Schumann. He holds a chair in music at Cardiff University.

Articles By Stephen Walsh

Uproar, Rafferty, Royal Welsh College, Cardiff review - colourful new inventions inspired by Ligeti

Read more...

The Marriage of Figaro, Welsh National Opera review - no concessions and no holds barred

Read more...

Il trittico, Welsh National Opera review - welcome back (but not a good sign)

Read more...

Rigoletto, Welsh National Opera review - back to what they do best

Read more...

Il Trittico, Welsh National Opera review - another triumph for a hard-pressed company

Read more...

The Merry Widow, Glyndebourne review - fun and frolics in the Embassy

Read more...

Così fan tutte, Welsh National Opera review - relevance reduced to irrelevance

Read more...

Uproar, Rafferty, Royal Welsh College, Cardiff review - a rare spring in the new music step

Read more...

BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Martin, Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff review - a host of horns in the wild woods

Read more...

La Traviata, Welsh National Opera review - memorable revival, unforgettable lead

Read more...

Ainadamar, Welsh National Opera review - hits hard without breaking ground

Read more...

The Pilgrim's Progress, Three Choirs Festival review - revelatory performance by young musicians

Read more...

theartsdesk at The Three Choirs Festival - Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Hammond

Read more...

The Bartered Bride, Garsington Opera review - brilliant revival of a comedy of cruelty

Read more...

Candide, Welsh National Opera review - vaut le voyage, just for the visual side

Read more...

L'elisir d'amore, Longborough Festival review - agreeable nonsense in a semi-modern English village

Read more...

Pages

latest in today

Help to give theartsdesk a future!

It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.

It followed some...

The Importance of Being Oscar, Jermyn Street Theatre review...

It’s a greater accolade than a Nobel Prize for Literature – one’s very own adjective. There’s a select few: Shakespearean;...

Album: Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs - Death Hilarious

Pigsx7 have hardly got a reputation for penning tender and soulful ballads, but Death Hilarious is a particularly aggressive and...

Stiletto, Charing Cross Theatre review - new musical excess

That friend you have who hates musicals – probably male, probably straight, probably not seen one since The Sound of...

Misericordia review - mushroom-gathering and murder in rural...

“Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.” The Aesop-ian maxim roughly applies to Jérémie Pastor (Félix Kysyl) in Alain Guiraudie's...

Owen Wingrave, RNCM, Manchester review - battle of a pacifis...

It’s quite ironic that the Royal Northern College of Music should have invited, as director of this,...

Apex Predator, Hampstead Theatre review - poor writing turns...

Motherhood is a high stress job. Ask any woman and they will tell you the same: sleepless nights, feeding problems and worry. Lots of worry. Lots...

Album: Elton John and Brandi Carlile - Who Believes in Angel...

Spring may have sprung, but there’s little in life to truly raise the sprits, so this week’s release of Who Believes in Angels? ...

Balanchine: Three Signature Works, Royal Ballet review - exu...

Is the Royal Ballet a “Balanchine company”? The question was posed at a recent Insight evening to Patricia Neary, the tireless dancer...

theartsdesk Q&A: filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer on his apo...

Joshua Oppenheimer made his name directing two disturbing documentaries, The Act of Killing (2012) and The Look of Silence (2014...