Adrian Ainsworth
@adrianspecs.bsky.social
Mostly music, art, film & photography. Likes writing about all of these: formerly on the ‘Specs’ blog, now part of the ArtMuseLondon team.
Pinned
Oxford Circus: ‘John Le Carré: Tradecraft’, Weston Library, Oxford
John Le Carré insisted that he was a writer first, and sometime spy second – and this excellent exhibition drawn from the author’s archive honours that self-image. It’s easy to emerge from th…
artmuselondon.com
🖼️🤔👓 Navigate a world of secrets and lies, as John Le Carré’s archive goes on display, & this fascinating exhibition nudges the man out of the shadows. More enthusiasm in my write-up of ‘Tradecraft’ (Weston Library, Oxford) for ArtMuseLondon here.
@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
artmuselondon.com/2025/10/18/o...
@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
artmuselondon.com/2025/10/18/o...
Enjoyed ‘The Makropulos Case’ at Royal Ballet & Opera - absolutely ‘A Katie Mitchell Production’ with letterbox vision, slo-mo & radical reinventions - it managed to both demand focus from its audience & feel like a thrill-ride at the same time. Brilliant ensemble & orchestra on 🔥🔥.
November 10, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Enjoyed ‘The Makropulos Case’ at Royal Ballet & Opera - absolutely ‘A Katie Mitchell Production’ with letterbox vision, slo-mo & radical reinventions - it managed to both demand focus from its audience & feel like a thrill-ride at the same time. Brilliant ensemble & orchestra on 🔥🔥.
Brilliant programme of sea songs this lunchtime @wigmore-hall.org.uk from @jamesnewby.bsky.social & @josephmiddleton.bsky.social - hopefully this might be a future album (🤞) but for now take a listen on BBC Sounds: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
November 10, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Brilliant programme of sea songs this lunchtime @wigmore-hall.org.uk from @jamesnewby.bsky.social & @josephmiddleton.bsky.social - hopefully this might be a future album (🤞) but for now take a listen on BBC Sounds: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Beautiful recital last night from @carolynsampson.bsky.social @josephmiddleton.bsky.social (& choir) to celebrate 20 years of Concerts at St Andrews, Bedford. (1/2)
November 9, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Beautiful recital last night from @carolynsampson.bsky.social @josephmiddleton.bsky.social (& choir) to celebrate 20 years of Concerts at St Andrews, Bedford. (1/2)
Pair of Specs, Bedford-bound to hear @carolynsampson.bsky.social - with trusty piano man @josephmiddleton.bsky.social - play a hometown gig. Looking forward!
November 8, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Pair of Specs, Bedford-bound to hear @carolynsampson.bsky.social - with trusty piano man @josephmiddleton.bsky.social - play a hometown gig. Looking forward!
Pair of Specs, National Portrait Gallery.
November 7, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Pair of Specs, National Portrait Gallery.
#ENODeadManWalking: shatteringly effective storytelling, committed & complex performances by a remarkable ensemble, & a score of vast atmospheric scope. A genuinely unforgettable - and satisfyingly uncompromising - evening.
November 4, 2025 at 11:18 PM
#ENODeadManWalking: shatteringly effective storytelling, committed & complex performances by a remarkable ensemble, & a score of vast atmospheric scope. A genuinely unforgettable - and satisfyingly uncompromising - evening.
Collected a lovely new venue last night, @sohotheatre.bsky.social Walthamstow, to hear Penguin Cafe perform a magnificent set of PCO ‘originals’. Beautiful.
November 2, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Collected a lovely new venue last night, @sohotheatre.bsky.social Walthamstow, to hear Penguin Cafe perform a magnificent set of PCO ‘originals’. Beautiful.
On the left: street food. 😋 On the right: street defibrillator. 😳 Bon appétit!
November 1, 2025 at 12:37 PM
On the left: street food. 😋 On the right: street defibrillator. 😳 Bon appétit!
Slightly unusual for me - ballet in the Linbury - but fascinated by the music, which includes South African composers (Makeba, Shepherd) alongside Shostakovich, Reich, Richter among others. Looking forward!
October 31, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Slightly unusual for me - ballet in the Linbury - but fascinated by the music, which includes South African composers (Makeba, Shepherd) alongside Shostakovich, Reich, Richter among others. Looking forward!
The brilliant @barbjungr.bsky.social has a new single out: the gorgeous ‘Last Orders Mersey Square’. It dates back to when Barb made the ‘Stockport to Memphis’ album: my intro to her music. I’ve been hooked ever since.
So it’s special. Stream, view & download here:
slinky.to/LastOrdersMe...
So it’s special. Stream, view & download here:
slinky.to/LastOrdersMe...
October 30, 2025 at 9:12 PM
The brilliant @barbjungr.bsky.social has a new single out: the gorgeous ‘Last Orders Mersey Square’. It dates back to when Barb made the ‘Stockport to Memphis’ album: my intro to her music. I’ve been hooked ever since.
So it’s special. Stream, view & download here:
slinky.to/LastOrdersMe...
So it’s special. Stream, view & download here:
slinky.to/LastOrdersMe...
Curtain call for a suitably hot-blooded #ENOCarmen this evening! But the closing two-hander is every bit as chilling as I remember.
October 29, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Curtain call for a suitably hot-blooded #ENOCarmen this evening! But the closing two-hander is every bit as chilling as I remember.
An ace lunchtime recital today @wigmore-hall.org.uk of @errollynwallen.bsky.social’s songs - alongside Britten & Ives - performed beautifully by Ruby Hughes with the composer herself at the piano. Soulful, inspiring.
October 27, 2025 at 3:38 PM
An ace lunchtime recital today @wigmore-hall.org.uk of @errollynwallen.bsky.social’s songs - alongside Britten & Ives - performed beautifully by Ruby Hughes with the composer herself at the piano. Soulful, inspiring.
Another astonishing gig from The Necks tonight at the Jazz Cafe, Camden. Twice, a monumental composition seems to pulse through them like waves of energy - then gone forever. Stunning.
October 27, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Another astonishing gig from The Necks tonight at the Jazz Cafe, Camden. Twice, a monumental composition seems to pulse through them like waves of energy - then gone forever. Stunning.
Collecting a new venue - 1st ever visit to Camden’s Jazz Cafe - to hear one of my favourite bands, The Necks. Selfie-taker less purple in real life.
October 26, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Collecting a new venue - 1st ever visit to Camden’s Jazz Cafe - to hear one of my favourite bands, The Necks. Selfie-taker less purple in real life.
My fleeting moment of post-haircut tidiness. On seeing this selfie just now, a friend exclaimed “It’s Serious Adrian!” & this is with a coffee halfway up my nose, so am now a bit concerned at what my non-serious pics look like. 😉
October 25, 2025 at 10:32 AM
My fleeting moment of post-haircut tidiness. On seeing this selfie just now, a friend exclaimed “It’s Serious Adrian!” & this is with a coffee halfway up my nose, so am now a bit concerned at what my non-serious pics look like. 😉
🖼️🤔👓 Navigate a world of secrets and lies, as John Le Carré’s archive goes on display, & this fascinating exhibition nudges the man out of the shadows. More enthusiasm in my write-up of ‘Tradecraft’ (Weston Library, Oxford) for ArtMuseLondon here.
@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
artmuselondon.com/2025/10/18/o...
@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
artmuselondon.com/2025/10/18/o...
Oxford Circus: ‘John Le Carré: Tradecraft’, Weston Library, Oxford
John Le Carré insisted that he was a writer first, and sometime spy second – and this excellent exhibition drawn from the author’s archive honours that self-image. It’s easy to emerge from th…
artmuselondon.com
October 18, 2025 at 3:10 PM
🖼️🤔👓 Navigate a world of secrets and lies, as John Le Carré’s archive goes on display, & this fascinating exhibition nudges the man out of the shadows. More enthusiasm in my write-up of ‘Tradecraft’ (Weston Library, Oxford) for ArtMuseLondon here.
@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
artmuselondon.com/2025/10/18/o...
@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
artmuselondon.com/2025/10/18/o...
Terrific gig from Level 42 at Fairfield Halls tonight: the entire ‘World Machine’ album, plus hits galore. Bliss.
October 18, 2025 at 3:16 AM
Terrific gig from Level 42 at Fairfield Halls tonight: the entire ‘World Machine’ album, plus hits galore. Bliss.
Pairs of Specs, at my dad’s birthday lunch. Many happy returns, sir! 🫡
October 17, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Pairs of Specs, at my dad’s birthday lunch. Many happy returns, sir! 🫡
A confection of delights: #ENOHerring (another ‘semi-staged’ ENO production that takes full advantage of understated, effective visual cues) brought out the wit in both score & libretto. A happy, laughing audience. The ace ensemble cast ensure poignancy seasons the humour.
October 14, 2025 at 8:52 AM
A confection of delights: #ENOHerring (another ‘semi-staged’ ENO production that takes full advantage of understated, effective visual cues) brought out the wit in both score & libretto. A happy, laughing audience. The ace ensemble cast ensure poignancy seasons the humour.
Early into town to hear Mishka Rushdie Momen perform her ace ‘Reformation’ programme @kingsplacelondon.bsky.social. Looking forward!
October 12, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Early into town to hear Mishka Rushdie Momen perform her ace ‘Reformation’ programme @kingsplacelondon.bsky.social. Looking forward!
😔 Diane Keaton.
📷: Ruven Afanador
📷: Ruven Afanador
October 11, 2025 at 8:57 PM
😔 Diane Keaton.
📷: Ruven Afanador
📷: Ruven Afanador
Collecting a new venue tonight - the Dutch Centre - for ‘The Black Mozart and other Forgotten Composers’, with speaker Orville Breeveld giving us an insight into the lives of these lost artists, & @rebecaomordia.bsky.social bringing their works back to us.
October 9, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Collecting a new venue tonight - the Dutch Centre - for ‘The Black Mozart and other Forgotten Composers’, with speaker Orville Breeveld giving us an insight into the lives of these lost artists, & @rebecaomordia.bsky.social bringing their works back to us.
‘Tradecraft’ is a new @bodleian.ox.ac.uk exhibition bringing John Le Carré’s archives to light. Full of photos, ephemera & - best of all - his typescripts covered in his own notes. Unmissable. Make a secret pilgrimage without delay.
October 4, 2025 at 6:27 PM
‘Tradecraft’ is a new @bodleian.ox.ac.uk exhibition bringing John Le Carré’s archives to light. Full of photos, ephemera & - best of all - his typescripts covered in his own notes. Unmissable. Make a secret pilgrimage without delay.
Thoroughly enjoyed ‘This is What You Get’ @ashmoleanmuseum.bsky.social. Enough to make a Radiohead fan* (*me) giddy with happiness - & that’s quite a concept in itself - just a great thing to see artwork for albums you love, massive, up on a wall.
October 4, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Thoroughly enjoyed ‘This is What You Get’ @ashmoleanmuseum.bsky.social. Enough to make a Radiohead fan* (*me) giddy with happiness - & that’s quite a concept in itself - just a great thing to see artwork for albums you love, massive, up on a wall.
I always feel strange when I go back to Oxford. I can’t explain it properly except that the place still feels much like it always did but I barely recognise the person I was back then.
October 4, 2025 at 11:54 AM
I always feel strange when I go back to Oxford. I can’t explain it properly except that the place still feels much like it always did but I barely recognise the person I was back then.