Arts
Balkans ballyhoo
A masterpiece at the National. A masterpiece of persuasion and bewitchment. Croatian word-athlete Tena Stivicic has miraculously convinced director Howard…
Delusions of grandeur
Any adequate performance of Tristan und Isolde, and the first night of the Royal Opera’s production was at least that,…
High and mighty
One of the most complete bars to the authentic performance of both baroque opera and some renaissance polyphony is the…
S’wonderful
A new year must start with hope and resolution, and if you’re very rich, with influence in the highest places,…
Tale of the expected
As a New Year’s Day treat for all the family, Esio Trot (BBC1) seemed to be taking no chances. It…
Serial killer
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…
Bruegel’s Bethlehem
The world depicted by the Flemish master is not so different from our own, says Martin Gayford
Dirty dancing
Vienna’s New Year’s Day concert is still tarnished by its Nazi origins, says Norman Lebrecht
Snow men
In owning a flock of artificial sheep, Joseph Farquharson must have been unusual among Highland lairds a century ago. His…
Le French bashing
The popular sport has spread to France. Are things really that bad, wonders Jonathan Meades
North star
Fortune tellers, pound shops and Orville: it’s easy to take the piss out of Blackpool, but William Cook loves it
A star is born
The Royal Academy of Music’s end-of-term opera can always be looked forward to because it never disappoints: the repertoire is…
Just for laughs
‘What is a panto?’ I asked my companion at the Hackney Empire’s Saturday matinee. ‘It’s basically a really bad play,’…
Norwegian wood
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…
The power of hate
It’s all gone now, of course. Not just the magazines themselves, but the legendary bile of old-school rock criticism
No brainer
One feels the pang of impending failure whenever the Royal Ballet ventures like a deluded Don Quixote into a periodic…
Winning ways
If ever my near-neighbour William Sitwell is killed in a bizarre shooting accident and I end up taking his place…
All together now
It was a bit of a surprise to hear Jarvis Cocker, the embodiment of cool and former frontman of Pulp,…
Culture buff
The arts are alive and well heading into 2015
No brainer
One feels the pang of impending failure whenever the Royal Ballet ventures like a deluded Don Quixote into a periodic…
The power of hate
With seconds to spare, I think I have chanced upon my music book of the year. Such choices are always…
