Arts
The Menuhin test
‘The truth is,’ says Gordon Back, lowering his voice, ‘that if the violin finalists from the BBC Young Musician of…
German giants
It’s German Season in London, and revealingly the best of three new shows is the one dealing with the most…
Senses working overtime
In 1914 Fernand Léger gave a lecture about modern art. By then recognised as a leading Cubist artist, he had…
Dream team
If ever an opera was weighed down by its creators’ joint ambition, it is Die Frau ohne Schatten. Richard Strauss…
The third way
It all started in 1971, when a group of physically and artistically talented youngsters decided to create a dance company…
Male order
Here’s a great idea for a play. Turn the polygamy principle upside-down and you get a female egoist presiding over…
Height but no depth
A Long Way Down is about four would-be suicides who meet for the first time on the top of a…
Brothers under the skin
One of the stranger things about Eton is its near-total lack of class snobbery. Yes, all right, you still get…
The lives of others
It’s such a simple idea. Take a tape recorder. Hang around at the entrance to a railway station or in…
Lost in translation
At the Venice Biennale last year, Jeremy Deller presented English Magic in the British Pavilion. It was an aggressive look…
Lost in translation
At the Venice Biennale last year, Jeremy Deller presented English Magic in the British Pavilion. It was an aggressive look…
Lost in translation
At the Venice Biennale last year, Jeremy Deller presented English Magic in the British Pavilion. It was an aggressive look…
The third way
It all started in 1971, when a group of physically and artistically talented youngsters decided to create a dance company…
The Menuhin test
‘The truth is,’ says Gordon Back, lowering his voice, ‘that if the violin finalists from the BBC Young Musician of…
The Menuhin test
‘The truth is,’ says Gordon Back, lowering his voice, ‘that if the violin finalists from the BBC Young Musician of…
Lords of the dance
Giannandrea Poesio meets Ivan Vasiliev and Roberto Bolle, ballet’s demigods
House rules
Every year, tens of thousands of visitors flock to the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut, in order to see…
Moral vacuum
Opera’s grim fascination with ‘fallen women’ — as Welsh National Opera has called its latest mini-season — lies largely in…
Going nowhere
OK, Need for Speed, if we must, and we must because I sat through it (running time: 130 minutes) and…
Top of the form
When I visited the Richard Deacon exhibition at Tate Millbank, there were quite a lot of single men of a…
Diligent drudgery
What’s the quickest way to create a hit musical? Base it on a bestselling book. The writers of The A-Z…
Channel hopping
So BBC3 will be online-only from next autumn. If the Beeb had presented this news as the channel being the…
Landscapes of sound
When the BBC proposed to do away with 6 Music a few years ago, the media-savvy fans of the station…
Occupational hazards
Roberto Rossellini shot his neorealist landmark Rome, Open City while the war still raged and rubble littered the freshly liberated…
Occupational hazards
Roberto Rossellini shot his neorealist landmark Rome, Open City while the war still raged and rubble littered the freshly liberated…
