Arts
Where the wild things are
‘What is man, that thou art mindful of him?’ asks the Psalmist. It’s a good question. God Himself doesn’t give…
Stuck on stucco
Whenever the words ‘stucco house’ appear in the newspapers, you can be certain the occupiers have been up to no…
Where the wild things are
‘What is man, that thou art mindful of him?’ asks the Psalmist. It’s a good question. God Himself doesn’t give…
About a boy
Indignation is an adaptation of Philip Roth’s 2008 novel and amazingly, for an adaptation of a Philip Roth novel —…
Serious concerns
It’s funny, isn’t it, how a dust jacket on a book can draw you to it from the other end…
Space oddity
One of David Bowie’s last works, Lazarus, is a musical based on Walter Tevis’s novel The Man Who Fell to…
Space oddity
One of David Bowie’s last works, Lazarus, is a musical based on Walter Tevis’s novel The Man Who Fell to…
Another fine mess
I wonder why ENO has invested in a new production of Berg’s Lulu, when the previous one, which we first…
Another fine mess
I wonder why ENO has invested in a new production of Berg’s Lulu, when the previous one, which we first…
Whodunnit
Barbed wire, concrete, razor blades, passports, Bakelite and the sewage system are all crucial to the way we live now…
Whodunnit
Barbed wire, concrete, razor blades, passports, Bakelite and the sewage system are all crucial to the way we live now…
Old stamping ground
If I tell you that on Monday there was an hour-long documentary about the history of stamp-collecting, then you probably…
Brief encounters
When Mozart was commissioned to write an opera for the coronation of Emperor Leopold II, he produced La clemenza di…
Country music
There was something unexpectedly moving about hearing not just one but several renditions of the somewhat naive and rose-tinted but…
Crown jewels
Nairobi. February 1952. Laughing children brandishing sticks are driving an indignant bustle of ostriches up a rudimentary 1950s-Africa semi-bush runway…
Angry bird
Dynastic affairs and international relations were once a seamless continuum. Royal weddings accompanied peace treaties. An heirless realm was vulnerable…
Sebastian Smee
His schooling was at St Peter’s College, Adelaide followed by the University of Sydney where he graduated with honours in…
Death by television
Forty years ago this month a film appeared, so prescient I wonder if its author, Paddy Chayefsky, saw the 2016…
Tongue twister
Arrival is a big budget sci-fi film with a smaller, more pensive, cleverer film trying to get out, which has…
Order, order
The catalogue to Pallant House Gallery’s latest exhibition features a favourite anecdote. It is 1924 and a competition is being…
Magnetic north
Years ago, when I met a famous concert pianist, I was surprised when he greeted me in a northern accent.…
Death by television
Forty years ago this month a film appeared, so prescient I wonder if its author, Paddy Chayefsky, saw the 2016…
Tongue twister
Arrival is a big budget sci-fi film with a smaller, more pensive, cleverer film trying to get out, which has…
Order, order
The catalogue to Pallant House Gallery’s latest exhibition features a favourite anecdote. It is 1924 and a competition is being…
Magnetic north
Years ago, when I met a famous concert pianist, I was surprised when he greeted me in a northern accent.…
