Arts
How The Spectator discovered Helen Mirren
From Enoch Powell to Danny La Rue: Hilary Spurling looks back on her time in charge of the arts and books pages in the 1960s
Classic tangled thriller: Sky's Gangs of London reviewed
There were plenty of TV shows around this week designed to cheer us up. Sky Atlantic’s Gangs of London, however,…
Geoffrey Blainey
He coined the phrase ‘tyranny of distance’ which not only entered the language but encapsulated the view that many Australians…
The musical benefits of not playing live
Many performers hated playing live. But freed from the stage they often made their best and wildest work, argues Graeme Thomson
Reflections on isolation: the first lockdown dramas reviewed
High Tide got there first. The East Anglian theatre company has produced a series of lockdown mini-dramas, Love in the…
The Amazon Prime doc that will convert anyone to cricket
Imagine rooting for the Australian cricket team. If you’re Scottish, Welsh or Irish — or Australian obviously — it might…
The bleak brilliance of Hud
Hud is a film that has haunted me for decades. I was never sure why. It seemed to be something…
The genius of Joe Rogan
Last month, just before coronavirus conquered the airwaves entirely, millions of Americans gave up two hours to hear a professor…
The marvel of Mozart’s letters
It’s 1771, you’re in Milan, and your 14-year-old genius son has just premièred his new opera. How do you reward…
How to succeed in sculpture (without being a man)
Whee-ooh-whee ya-ya-yang skrittle-skrittle skreeeek… Is it a space pod bearing aliens from Mars? No, it’s a podcast featuring aliens from…
Anne Glenconner
It is said that Shakespeare wrote King Lear in quarantine from the plague. Some have been suggesting that this year’s…
Absorbing and meticulously researched play about Partition: Drawing the Line reviewed
Theatres have taken to the internet like never before. Recorded performances are being made available over the web, many for…
Haunting and beautiful: Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus’s Songs of Yearning reviewed
Grade: A It has taken 33 years — during which time this decidedly strange Liverpool collective have put out only…
The best recordings of my favourite Passion
In the autumn of 1632, a man called Kaspar Schisler returned home to the small Bavarian town of Oberammergau. He…
The perfect film for family viewing: Belleville Rendez-Vous revisited
The selection of a film for family viewing is a precise and delicate art, particularly with us all now confined…
Why do Radio 3 presenters adopt the tone stupid adults use when addressing children?
Anyone who has listened regularly to Radio 3 over the decades — not to mention the Third Programme, which Radio…
An extraordinary tale: BBC2’s The Countess and the Russian Billionaire reviewed
There can’t be many programmes that bring to mind quotations from both Henry Kissinger and Boney M., but BBC2’s The…
Watching dance online is an advantage, not a concession: BalletBoyz – Deluxe reviewed
Another day in isolation, another bid to find joy in my lone state-sanctioned walk. (Pro tip: stay out longer than…
The life of Artemisia Gentileschi is made for Netflix, but it’s the art that really excites
The life of Artemisia Gentileschi is made for Netflix, says Laura Freeman, but it’s her art that really excites
Welder, banjo player, comedian, actor, and now artist – Billy Connolly interviewed
William Cook talks to Billy Connolly – welder, banjo player, comedian, actor, and now artist – about growing up in Glasgow, ditching the mike stand and living with Parkinson’s
Lloyd Rees Solitude 1978
‘How much of our village do we burn to contain this?’. That was the chilling headline of an article in…
The joy of Haydn's string quartets – here are the best recordings
As Joseph Haydn was getting out of bed on the morning of 10 May 1809, a cannonball landed in his…
Taylor Swift is fascinating – but you really wouldn't want to be her
There had been some question about whether Taylor Swift’s Netflix special would actually appear. Last year it seemed that the…
Ill-disciplined and self-indulgent: The Guilty Feminist podcast reviewed
With theatres shut, radio must lighten the darkness. The Guilty Feminist is a wildly popular podcast performed by Deborah Frances-White…
A Formula 1 doc for people who hate Formula 1
Some years ago I was invited to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone courtesy of a watch manufacturer. As freebies…
