Arts
Conductor Antony Walker
He was the most successful and influential composer of the classical period; Josef Haydn (1732-1809) wrote 108 symphonies, 68 string…
These foolish things
No reliable statistics exist — it’s not the sort of thing you can audit — but England is surely the…
The lost world
Every now and then, with great infrequency (alas), a film comes along that is like no other and completely knocks…
Let’s talk about sex
At one time, Damien Hirst was fond of remarking that art should deal with the Gauguin questions. Namely, ‘Where do…
Doing bird
A decade ago, the French pianist and poly-math Pierre-Laurent Aimard announced that he was ‘very bored to live in a…
Doing bird
A decade ago, the French pianist and poly-math Pierre-Laurent Aimard announced that he was ‘very bored to live in a…
Profit and loss
Bertolt Brecht took The Threepenny Opera from an 18th-century script by John Gay and relocated it to Victorian London. This…
Profit and loss
Bertolt Brecht took The Threepenny Opera from an 18th-century script by John Gay and relocated it to Victorian London. This…
No laughing matter
Rossini is the meat-and-two-inappropriately-shaped-veg of summer opera; he’s the wag in the novelty bow tie, the two satyrs shagging enthusiastically…
No laughing matter
Rossini is the meat-and-two-inappropriately-shaped-veg of summer opera; he’s the wag in the novelty bow tie, the two satyrs shagging enthusiastically…
Polluted by podcasts
Just to prove my esteemed colleague wrong I’ve been out there in podcast space looking for a wireless moment that…
Polluted by podcasts
Just to prove my esteemed colleague wrong I’ve been out there in podcast space looking for a wireless moment that…
Arrested development
Sometimes I wonder whether, of all the literary genres, graphic novels aren’t the most stupidly overrated. I can say this…
Spellbound
A blushing James Woodall is riveted by Isabelle Huppert’s performance in Phaedra(s)
What lies beneath
It was not so unusual for someone to turn into a god in Egypt. It happened to the Emperor Hadrian’s…
Punchlines and punches
Regular filmgoers must be losing count of the Rabelaisian revelries they’ve been invited to of late. You may recognise the…
The supremes
When I interviewed Richard Farnes in Leeds six years ago about Opera North’s project of performing the complete Ring, he…
Wish upon a star
Out come the stars in Kenneth Branagh’s Romeo and Juliet. He musters a well-drilled, celebrity-ridden crew but they can’t quite…
War on want
Radiohead have been at the top of the musical tree for so long now that it’s easy to forget what…
Emotional intelligence
The difference between a poor ballet of the book (see the Royal Ballet’s Frankenstein) and a good one — indeed…
Sound and fury
There are few jobs more dishonest than being a radio critic in Britain. I know this because it was how…
Impure thoughts
Spoiler alerts aren’t normally required for reviews of Shakespeare — but perhaps I’d better issue one before saying that in…
Barry Humphries
A failed political experiment that began nearly 100 years ago, the Weimar Republic (1918-1933), still holds considerable fascination for many…
Spellbound
Isabelle Huppert does nothing by halves. And she doesn’t, I think, care greatly for journalists. She expects them to ask…
Punchlines and punches
Regular filmgoers must be losing count of the Rabelaisian revelries they’ve been invited to of late. You may recognise the…
