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Giustino, Linbury Theatre review - a stylish account of a slight opera

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theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 16h

'Much more fun than a Classical biopera might sound' ★★★★ GIUSTINO #LinburyTheatre @royaloperahouse.bsky.social - Gods, mortals and monsters do battle in #Handel's charming drama - @alexandracoghlan.bsky.social enjoys a stylish account of a slight opera theartsdesk.com/opera/giusti...

It’s a good year to be Handel-lover. No sooner have summer runs of Rodelinda (Garsington) and Saul (Glyndebourne) finished than we’re into autumn and Opera North’s Susanna, Giustino at the Royal Opera...

R:Evolution, English National Ballet, Sadler's Wells review - a vibrant survey of ballet in four acts

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theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 1d

★★★★ R:EVOLUTON #EnglishNationalBallet @sadlerswells.bsky.social - #ENB set the bar high with this mixed bill, but they meet its challenges thrillingly - Jenny Gilbert relishes a vibrant survey of ballet in four acts theartsdesk.com/dance/revolu...

As the new season opens, confidence is high at ENB, just as it should be given the roaring success of recent programmes featuring the latest work of iconoclast William Forsythe. His classical steps se...

Trio da Kali, Milton Court review - Mali masters make the ancient new

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theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 1d

'This was magic beyond belief, beyond words' ★★★★★ TRIO DA KALI #MiltonCourt @barbicancentre.bsky.social - With #Mali masters making the ancient new, three master musicians from Bamako in transcendent mood, says Mark Kidel theartsdesk.com/new-music/tr...

Trio da Kali are griots, and their traditional role in West Africa is to connect: to evoke the glories of the past and to bring communities together through mediation and spiritual admonition. Their r...

A House of Dynamite review - the final countdown

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theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 1d

'Bigelow is a consummate action director, and loves the hardware and martial professionalism' ★★★★ A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE - #KathrynBigelow's cautionary tale sets the nuclear clock ticking again - review by Nick Hasted theartsdesk.com/film/house-d...

Armageddon is here again, as Kathryn Bigelow’s first film in eight years examines the minutes before a nuclear missile hits Chicago from multiple perspectives, finding no hope anywhere.

theartsdesk Q&A: Idris Elba on playing a US President faced with a missile crisis in 'A House of Dynamite'

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theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 1d

Q&A: #IdrisElba on playing a US President faced with a missile crisis in A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE - The star talks about Presidential decision-making when millions of lives are imperilled, interview with Pamela Jahn @netflix.com theartsdesk.com/film/thearts...

Idris Elba has only just appeared as the British Prime Minister in the action comedy Heads of State (2025) – now he's portraying the American President in Kathryn Bigelow's tense political thriller A ...

Echo Vocal Ensemble, Latto, Union Chapel review - eclectic choral programme garlanded with dance

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theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 1d

★★★★ #EchoVocalEnsemble #SarahLatto @unionchapeluk.bsky.social - An eclectic choral programme garlanded with dance, with beautiful singing at the heart of an imaginative and stylistically varied concert - review @bernardhughes.bsky.social theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...

Echo Vocal Ensemble have their genesis in Genesis. Sarah Latto’s group were initially formed by a cohort of the Genesis Sixteen young artists’ programme – and she has turned them into one of the most ...

Hollie Cook's 'Shy Girl' isn't heavyweight but has a summery reggae lilt

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theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 1d

#HollieCook SHY GIRL - Tropical-tinted downtempo pop that's likeable if uneventful - it isn't heavyweight, but it has a summery reggae lilt, says Thomas H Green theartsdesk.com/new-music/ho...

Hollie Cook was in the final line-up of post-punk groundbreakers The Slits. When singer Ari Up died in 2010 and the group ended, there was a flurry of interest in Cook for a while. She supported The S...

R:Evolution, English National Ballet, Sadler's Wells review - a vibrant survey of ballet in four acts

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theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 1d

★★★★ R:EVOLUTON #EnglishNationalBallet @sadlerswells.bsky.social - #ENB set the bar high with this mixed bill, but they meet its challenges thrillingly - Jenny Gilbert relishes a vibrant survey of ballet in four acts theartsdesk.com/dance/revolu...

As the new season opens, confidence is high at ENB, just as it should be given the roaring success of recent programmes featuring the latest work of iconoclast William Forsythe. His classical steps se...

Trio da Kali, Milton Court review - Mali masters make the ancient new

theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 1d

'This was magic beyond belief, beyond words' ★★★★★ TRIO DA KALI #MiltonCourt @barbicancentre.bsky.social - With #Mali masters making the ancient new, three master musicians from Bamako in transcendent mood, says Mark Kidel theartsdesk.com/new-music/tr...

Trio da Kali are griots, and their traditional role in West Africa is to connect: to evoke the glories of the past and to bring communities together through mediation and spiritual admonition. Their r...

A House of Dynamite review - the final countdown

theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 1d

'Bigelow is a consummate action director, and loves the hardware and martial professionalism' ★★★★ A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE - #KathrynBigelow's cautionary tale sets the nuclear clock ticking again - review by Nick Hasted theartsdesk.com/film/house-d...

Armageddon is here again, as Kathryn Bigelow’s first film in eight years examines the minutes before a nuclear missile hits Chicago from multiple perspectives, finding no hope anywhere.

theartsdesk Q&A: Idris Elba on playing a US President faced with a missile crisis in 'A House of Dynamite'

theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 1d

Q&A: #IdrisElba on playing a US President faced with a missile crisis in A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE - The star talks about Presidential decision-making when millions of lives are imperilled, interview with Pamela Jahn @netflix.com theartsdesk.com/film/thearts...

Idris Elba has only just appeared as the British Prime Minister in the action comedy Heads of State (2025) – now he's portraying the American President in Kathryn Bigelow's tense political thriller A ...

Echo Vocal Ensemble, Latto, Union Chapel review - eclectic choral programme garlanded with dance

theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 1d

★★★★ #EchoVocalEnsemble #SarahLatto @unionchapeluk.bsky.social - An eclectic choral programme garlanded with dance, with beautiful singing at the heart of an imaginative and stylistically varied concert - review @bernardhughes.bsky.social theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...

Echo Vocal Ensemble have their genesis in Genesis. Sarah Latto’s group were initially formed by a cohort of the Genesis Sixteen young artists’ programme – and she has turned them into one of the most ...

Susanna, Opera North review - hybrid staging of a Handel oratorio

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Reposted by theartsdesk.com

theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 2d

★★★★ SUSANNA @operanorth.bsky.social - Dance and signing complement outstanding singing in a story of virtue rewarded, in a hybrid staging of a #Handel oratorio - review @robertbealemcr.bsky.social theartsdesk.com/opera/susann...

Turning Handel oratorio into opera can be a rewarding enterprise. Charles Edwards’ presentation of Joshua, over 15 years ago, for instance, was very effective for Opera North in using projection as we...

Pop Will Eat Itself's 'Delete Everything' is noisy but patchy

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theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 3d

Despite unlovely production, the Eighties/Nineties unit retain rowdy ebullience - POP WILL EAT ITSELF @popwilleatitself.co.uk DELETE EVERYTHING is noisy but patchy, says Thomas H Green theartsdesk.com/new-music/po...

Pop Will Eat Itself deserve to be more celebrated. The Stourbridge outfit were one of the first 1980s bands to realise the potential of smashing punky indie-rockin’ into hip hop and electronic dance.

Scott, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Whelan, RIAM, Dublin review - towards a Mozart masterpiece

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theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 3d

★★★★ @annekescott.bsky.social #IrishBaroqueOrchestra #PeterWhelan #RoyalIrishAcademyofMusic Dublin - Towards a #Mozart masterpiece, with characteristic joy and enlightenment from this team, but a valveless horn brings problems - review @davidnice.bsky.social theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...

One miracle of musical performance is that a work you’ve loved for years can be revealed as never before in an outstanding interpretation. That happened to me last week at the New Ross Piano Festival ...

France, LPO, Gardner, RFH review - the sound of other worlds

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theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 4d

★★★★ #JenniferFrance @londonphil.bsky.social #EdwardGardner @southbankcentre.bsky.social - The sound of other worlds, from snowbound contemporary classic to #Mahler's folk-tale heaven - @boydtonkin.bsky.social enthralled by #HansAbrahamsen's icily beautiful song-cycle theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...

Even in the 21st century, it may not take that long for an outlandish literary experiment to jump genres and become an established musical classic. In 2008, I enthusiastically reviewed a strange, poet...

Mr Blake at Your Service review - John Malkovich in unlikely role as an English butler

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theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 5d

★★★ John Malkovich makes an unlikely English butler in Mr Blake at Your Service: Markie Robson-Scott reviews this
weird comedy directed by novelist Gilles Legardinier theartsdesk.com/film/mr-blak...

This genial oddity – its pithier French title is Complètement Cramé, meaning something along the lines of completely burnt out – stars John Malkovich and Fanny Ardant and is directed by best-selling a...

Waylon Jenning’s 'Songbird' raises this country great from the grave

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theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 6d

★★★★ Waylon Jenning’s 'Songbird' raises this country great from the grave writes @timcumming.bsky.social theartsdesk.com/new-music/wa...

This is quite a tale: Shooter, son of Waylon Jennings, discovers a tranche of his father’s personal multitrack tapes from the analogue years, dating between 1973 – when he wrestled artistic control fr...

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight review - vivid adaptation of a memoir about a Rhodesian childhood

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theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 6d

★★★★ Embeth Davidtz delivers an impressive directing debut and an exceptional child star in Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight a vivid adaptation of a memoir about a Rhodesian childhood, writes Helen Hawkins theartsdesk.com/film/dont-le...

Fans of Alexandra Fuller’s fine memoir of her childhood in Africa may be wary of this film adaptation by the actress Embeth Davidtz, her directing debut. But they should not be. This is an equally fin...

Justin Lewis: Into the Groove review - fun and fact-filled trip through Eighties pop

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theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 6d

★★★★ A fun and fact-filled trip through Eighties pop: Justin Lewis: Into the Groove is a welcome follow up to 2023’s Don’t Stop the Music writes @bernardhughes.bsky.social theartsdesk.com/books/justin...

Into the Groove is Justin Lewis’s follow-up to 2023’s Don’t Stop the Music, in which he traced 40 years of pop history by offering bite-sized facts for every day from January 1st to December 31st, jum...

The Importance of Being Earnest, Noël Coward Theatre review - dazzling and delightful queer fest

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theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 6d

★★★★ Dazzling and delightful queer fest: West End transfer of National Theatre hit The Importance of Being Earnest stars Stephen Fry and Olly Alexander at Noël Coward Theatre @sierz.bsky.social reviews theartsdesk.com/theatre/impo...

Star casting has, since the pandemic, done much to restore the fortunes of commercial theatre. And, when they can pull off a similar deal, the same applies to subsidised venues. If the downside is tha...

theartsdesk Q&A: musician Warren Ellis recalls how jungle horror and healing broke him open

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theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 6d

theartsdesk Q&A: musician Warren Ellis recalls how jungle horror and healing broke him open. Interview by Nick Hasted theartsdesk.com/film-new-mus...

Warren Ellis is Nick Cave’s wild-maned Bad Seeds right-hand man and The Dirty Three’s frenzied violinist. Justin Kurzel’s Australian film subjects meanwhile exist on the malign edge, from Snowtown’s s...

Murder Before Evensong, Acorn TV review - death comes to the picturesque village of Champton

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theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 5d

★★★ Death comes to the picturesque village of Champton: Murder Before Evensong is rich in echoes of classic British crime-and-detection stories from way back when writes Adam Sweeting, as the Rev Richard Coles's sleuthing cleric hits the screen on Acorn TV theartsdesk.com/tv/murder-ev...

Rockin’ vicar the Rev Richard Coles is not only a C of E priest and former member of Bronski Beat and The Communards, but also a purveyor of crime fiction in the shape of his Canon Clement mysteries. ...

Kanneh-Mason, Britten Sinfonia, Shave, Milton Court - a grin and a big beaming smile

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theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 5d

★★★★ A grin and a big beaming smile: Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, Britten Sinfonia, Jacqueline Shave at Milton Court @bernardhughes.bsky.social enjoys Schubert, Mozart and two contemporary pieces theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...

Schubert’s Fifth Symphony is one of those pieces whose existence in the modern world hangs on the most tenuous of threads. After its posthumous premiere the score was lost for half a century before a ...