Arts
Easy listening
There were two new albums I wanted for Christmas — the Bryan Ferry and the Pink Floyd — and to…
Easy listening
There were two new albums I wanted for Christmas — the Bryan Ferry and the Pink Floyd — and to…
2015 in exhibitions - painting still rules
The art on show over the coming year demonstrates that we still live in an age of mighty painters, says Martin Gayford
Birdman: plenty to see, little to feel
Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman, which stars Michael Keaton as a one-time superhero movie star (just like Keaton himself), is audacious…
National Theatre’s 3 Winters: a hideous Balkans ballyhoo
A masterpiece at the National. A masterpiece of persuasion and bewitchment. Croatian word-athlete Tena Stivicic has miraculously convinced director Howard…
Royal Opera’s Tristan und Isolde: an absurd production - but still a magnificent night
Any adequate performance of Tristan und Isolde, and the first night of the Royal Opera’s production was at least that,…
Does anyone have the balls to bring back castrati?
One of the most complete bars to the authentic performance of both baroque opera and some renaissance polyphony is the…
An American in Paris: a zingy new Wheeldon dance-musical that you won’t want to miss
A new year must start with hope and resolution, and if you’re very rich, with influence in the highest places,…
BBC1’s Esio Trot: like Fawlty Towers played at quarter speed
As a New Year’s Day treat for all the family, Esio Trot (BBC1) seemed to be taking no chances. It…
Why Serial is the future of radio
The fuss may now be over, the last episode of Serial revealed. But if the global success of WBEZ Chicago’s…
Culture buff
I’m a bit perplexed about a current Christmas (perhaps I should say Xmas) craze. This is not a moan from…
S’wonderful
A new year must start with hope and resolution, and if you’re very rich, with influence in the highest places,…
High and mighty
One of the most complete bars to the authentic performance of both baroque opera and some renaissance polyphony is the…
High and mighty
One of the most complete bars to the authentic performance of both baroque opera and some renaissance polyphony is the…
Climate change, Bruegel-style
The world depicted by the Flemish master is not so different from our own, says Martin Gayford
The Nazi origins of the Vienna Phil’s New Year’s Day concert
Vienna’s New Year’s Day concert is still tarnished by its Nazi origins, says Norman Lebrecht
Snow - art’s biggest challenge
In owning a flock of artificial sheep, Joseph Farquharson must have been unusual among Highland lairds a century ago. His…
Le French bashing has spread to France. Are things really that bad?
The popular sport has spread to France. Are things really that bad, wonders Jonathan Meades
Fortune tellers, pound shops and Orville: why I love Blackpool
Fortune tellers, pound shops and Orville: it’s easy to take the piss out of Blackpool, but William Cook loves it
Agents will be queuing up to sign this 26-year-old baritone from Sichuan
The Royal Academy of Music’s end-of-term opera can always be looked forward to because it never disappoints: the repertoire is…
Panto season has arrived - and even the kids are turning their nose up at it
‘What is a panto?’ I asked my companion at the Hackney Empire’s Saturday matinee. ‘It’s basically a really bad play,’…
If you like bland films full of blondes, you’ll love Kon-Tiki
Kon-Tiki is a dramatisation of Thor Heyerdahl’s 4,300-mile, 101-day journey across the Pacific by balsa-wood raft, which took place in…
Why we love hating the music we hate as much as we love loving the music we love
It’s all gone now, of course. Not just the magazines themselves, but the legendary bile of old-school rock criticism
Royal Ballet’s Don Quixote: Carlos Acosta is too brainy with this no-brain ballet
One feels the pang of impending failure whenever the Royal Ballet ventures like a deluded Don Quixote into a periodic…
How to win MasterChef - and why salmon is the fish of the devil
If ever my near-neighbour William Sitwell is killed in a bizarre shooting accident and I end up taking his place…
