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theartsdesk.com - a daily serving of incisive, well-informed arts coverage. Enjoy criticism at its best.
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★★★★ L'AMOUR DES TROIS ORANGES @rncmlive.bsky.social Manchester - Playing from strength in a game where the Royal Northern has all the cards, in a wacky and glorious romp, says @robertbealemcr.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/opera/lamour...
December 8, 2025 at 8:06 PM
★★★★ L'AMOUR DES TROIS ORANGES @rncmlive.bsky.social Manchester - Playing from strength in a game where the Royal Northern has all the cards, in a wacky and glorious romp, says @robertbealemcr.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/opera/lamour...
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★★★★★ Irresistible invitation to a very Mackem CHRISTMAS from #TheFutureheads - Strange for something so individual to sound so familiar - but they've done it, says @joemuggs.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/ir...
December 8, 2025 at 7:23 PM
★★★★★ Irresistible invitation to a very Mackem CHRISTMAS from #TheFutureheads - Strange for something so individual to sound so familiar - but they've done it, says @joemuggs.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/ir...
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★★★★★ Inward struggle meets global strife in music of the troubled soul: Tamestit, LSO, Pappano, Barbican reviewed by @boydtonkin.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...
Tamestit, LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - war and peace
It seldom happens that you long to hear choral music not in a modern auditorium but some chilly, echoing cavern of a great Victorian town hall. But that thought did arise as a full-strength London Sym...
www.theartsdesk.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:14 PM
★★★★★ Inward struggle meets global strife in music of the troubled soul: Tamestit, LSO, Pappano, Barbican reviewed by @boydtonkin.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...
Reposted by theartsdesk.com
★★★★★ The reporter who revealed to America its dirtiest secrets: Seymour Hersh, the man who has dominated investigative journalism for 60 years talks to a documentary team about his career in Cover-Up, Helen Hawkins reviews www.theartsdesk.com/film/cover-r...
Cover-Up review - rewarding study of the reporter who revealed to America its dirtiest secrets
Fierce, unpredictable, complex, cussed, commie. Seymour Hersh would probably admit to all those descriptions of him except the last. Now at last the man who has dominated investigative journalism for ...
www.theartsdesk.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:11 PM
★★★★★ The reporter who revealed to America its dirtiest secrets: Seymour Hersh, the man who has dominated investigative journalism for 60 years talks to a documentary team about his career in Cover-Up, Helen Hawkins reviews www.theartsdesk.com/film/cover-r...
Reposted by theartsdesk.com
★★★★ Send lawyers, guns and money: Jeremy Renner keeps chaos at bay in Taylor Sheridan's traumatic crime drama writes Adam Sweeting on Mayor of Kingstown, Paramount+ www.theartsdesk.com/tv/mayor-kin...
Mayor of Kingstown, Paramount+ review - send lawyers, guns and money
Among the many versions of America on parade in the ever-expanding universe of Taylor Sheridan, the one portrayed in Mayor of Kingstown is surely the bleakest. As AI helpfully informs us: “The show of...
www.theartsdesk.com
December 8, 2025 at 9:00 AM
★★★★ Send lawyers, guns and money: Jeremy Renner keeps chaos at bay in Taylor Sheridan's traumatic crime drama writes Adam Sweeting on Mayor of Kingstown, Paramount+ www.theartsdesk.com/tv/mayor-kin...
Reposted by theartsdesk.com
★★★★★ Revenge is bleak: Jafar Panahi's devastating farce 'It Was Just an Accident' lays bare Iran's collective PTSD writes @grahamfuller.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/film/it-was-...
It Was Just an Accident review - revenge is bleak
Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident is a shattering absurdist anti-caper – a kind of minimalist take on It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World inspired by Iran’s ongoing tragedy.
www.theartsdesk.com
December 8, 2025 at 8:58 AM
★★★★★ Revenge is bleak: Jafar Panahi's devastating farce 'It Was Just an Accident' lays bare Iran's collective PTSD writes @grahamfuller.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/film/it-was-...
Reposted by theartsdesk.com
Soup, monkeys and McDonalds wrappers: @grahamrickson.bsky.social enjoys pianistic journeys to Java and the solar system, plus an impressive debut disc and contemporary song in his latest classical CD round up with @bernardhughes.bsky.social and Sebastian Scotney www.theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...
Classical CDs: Soup, monkeys and McDonalds wrappers
Image Leopold Godowsky: Java Suite
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December 6, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Soup, monkeys and McDonalds wrappers: @grahamrickson.bsky.social enjoys pianistic journeys to Java and the solar system, plus an impressive debut disc and contemporary song in his latest classical CD round up with @bernardhughes.bsky.social and Sebastian Scotney www.theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...
Reposted by theartsdesk.com
★★★★ Fallen Angels, Menier Chocolate Factory - sparkling wit and a trio of prime comic performances finds Helen Hawkins www.theartsdesk.com/theatre/fall...
Fallen Angels, Menier Chocolate Factory review - sparkling wit and a trio of prime comic performances
As reports come in of theatre audiences behaving badly, slumped drunkenly in the aisles, gorging on noisy food and wrestling with their latest smartphones, it’s refreshing to see that kind of behaviou...
www.theartsdesk.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:23 PM
★★★★ Fallen Angels, Menier Chocolate Factory - sparkling wit and a trio of prime comic performances finds Helen Hawkins www.theartsdesk.com/theatre/fall...
★★★★ FOLKTALES - Call of the wild: inspiring documentary follows lucky teens at a Norwegian folk school - review by Justine Elias www.theartsdesk.com/film/folktal...
December 9, 2025 at 9:43 AM
★★★★ FOLKTALES - Call of the wild: inspiring documentary follows lucky teens at a Norwegian folk school - review by Justine Elias www.theartsdesk.com/film/folktal...
★★★★ L'AMOUR DES TROIS ORANGES @rncmlive.bsky.social Manchester - Playing from strength in a game where the Royal Northern has all the cards, in a wacky and glorious romp, says @robertbealemcr.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/opera/lamour...
December 8, 2025 at 8:06 PM
★★★★ L'AMOUR DES TROIS ORANGES @rncmlive.bsky.social Manchester - Playing from strength in a game where the Royal Northern has all the cards, in a wacky and glorious romp, says @robertbealemcr.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/opera/lamour...
★★★★★ Irresistible invitation to a very Mackem CHRISTMAS from #TheFutureheads - Strange for something so individual to sound so familiar - but they've done it, says @joemuggs.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/ir...
December 8, 2025 at 7:23 PM
★★★★★ Irresistible invitation to a very Mackem CHRISTMAS from #TheFutureheads - Strange for something so individual to sound so familiar - but they've done it, says @joemuggs.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/ir...
Reposted by theartsdesk.com
An absolute gem, a valuable addition to British jazz maverick Michael Garrick’s catalogue. Late Autumn Sunshine collects 2 previously unissued BBC sessions (Nov 1973 & Dec 1978). Out on My Only Desire Records. I’ve looked at it today for @theartsdesk.bsky.social: www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/mu...
December 7, 2025 at 7:35 AM
An absolute gem, a valuable addition to British jazz maverick Michael Garrick’s catalogue. Late Autumn Sunshine collects 2 previously unissued BBC sessions (Nov 1973 & Dec 1978). Out on My Only Desire Records. I’ve looked at it today for @theartsdesk.bsky.social: www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/mu...
Reposted by theartsdesk.com
A Christmassy day, writing my annual round-up of seasonal albums for @theartsdesk.bsky.social. Seven CDs listened to and written about, starting at 8.30 this morning. Nearly Christmassed out - just working through the last Rutter now. Read all about them next Saturday morning
December 7, 2025 at 5:44 PM
A Christmassy day, writing my annual round-up of seasonal albums for @theartsdesk.bsky.social. Seven CDs listened to and written about, starting at 8.30 this morning. Nearly Christmassed out - just working through the last Rutter now. Read all about them next Saturday morning
★★★★★ Inward struggle meets global strife in music of the troubled soul: Tamestit, LSO, Pappano, Barbican reviewed by @boydtonkin.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...
Tamestit, LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - war and peace
It seldom happens that you long to hear choral music not in a modern auditorium but some chilly, echoing cavern of a great Victorian town hall. But that thought did arise as a full-strength London Sym...
www.theartsdesk.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:14 PM
★★★★★ Inward struggle meets global strife in music of the troubled soul: Tamestit, LSO, Pappano, Barbican reviewed by @boydtonkin.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...
★★★★★ The reporter who revealed to America its dirtiest secrets: Seymour Hersh, the man who has dominated investigative journalism for 60 years talks to a documentary team about his career in Cover-Up, Helen Hawkins reviews www.theartsdesk.com/film/cover-r...
Cover-Up review - rewarding study of the reporter who revealed to America its dirtiest secrets
Fierce, unpredictable, complex, cussed, commie. Seymour Hersh would probably admit to all those descriptions of him except the last. Now at last the man who has dominated investigative journalism for ...
www.theartsdesk.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:11 PM
★★★★★ The reporter who revealed to America its dirtiest secrets: Seymour Hersh, the man who has dominated investigative journalism for 60 years talks to a documentary team about his career in Cover-Up, Helen Hawkins reviews www.theartsdesk.com/film/cover-r...
★★★★ Streamlined and power-driven: drama and vocal strength combine with a touch of operatic style in Hallé Messiah, conducted by Jeanette Sorrell at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester writes @robertbealemcr.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...
Messiah, Hallé, Sorrell, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - streamlined and power-driven
There are enough historical reasons for differing approaches to Handel’s Messiah to allow every conductor to produce, effectively, their own edition.
www.theartsdesk.com
December 8, 2025 at 9:10 AM
★★★★ Streamlined and power-driven: drama and vocal strength combine with a touch of operatic style in Hallé Messiah, conducted by Jeanette Sorrell at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester writes @robertbealemcr.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...
Music Reissues Weekly: Michael Garrick - Late Autumn Sunshine - Album of previously unissued BBC recordings is a valuable addition to the British jazz maverick’s catalogue writes @kierontyler.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/mu...
Music Reissues Weekly: Michael Garrick - Late Autumn Sunshine
The opening track initially seems straightforward. To begin “Sons of Art,” Michael Garrick runs up and down his piano keyboard. Norma Winstone adds wordless vocals which weave in and out of his sparkl...
www.theartsdesk.com
December 8, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Music Reissues Weekly: Michael Garrick - Late Autumn Sunshine - Album of previously unissued BBC recordings is a valuable addition to the British jazz maverick’s catalogue writes @kierontyler.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/mu...
★★★★ Send lawyers, guns and money: Jeremy Renner keeps chaos at bay in Taylor Sheridan's traumatic crime drama writes Adam Sweeting on Mayor of Kingstown, Paramount+ www.theartsdesk.com/tv/mayor-kin...
Mayor of Kingstown, Paramount+ review - send lawyers, guns and money
Among the many versions of America on parade in the ever-expanding universe of Taylor Sheridan, the one portrayed in Mayor of Kingstown is surely the bleakest. As AI helpfully informs us: “The show of...
www.theartsdesk.com
December 8, 2025 at 9:00 AM
★★★★ Send lawyers, guns and money: Jeremy Renner keeps chaos at bay in Taylor Sheridan's traumatic crime drama writes Adam Sweeting on Mayor of Kingstown, Paramount+ www.theartsdesk.com/tv/mayor-kin...
★★★★★ Revenge is bleak: Jafar Panahi's devastating farce 'It Was Just an Accident' lays bare Iran's collective PTSD writes @grahamfuller.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/film/it-was-...
It Was Just an Accident review - revenge is bleak
Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident is a shattering absurdist anti-caper – a kind of minimalist take on It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World inspired by Iran’s ongoing tragedy.
www.theartsdesk.com
December 8, 2025 at 8:58 AM
★★★★★ Revenge is bleak: Jafar Panahi's devastating farce 'It Was Just an Accident' lays bare Iran's collective PTSD writes @grahamfuller.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/film/it-was-...
★★★★ From sunlit uplands to gates of hell: Giltburg, NSOI, Bihlmaier, National Concert Hall, Dublin @davidnice.bsky.social enjoys clear-sighted Bruckner, transcendant Mozart and Schumann www.theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...
Giltburg, NSOI, Bihlmaier, National Concert Hall, Dublin review - from sunlit uplands to gates of hell
Would it be possible to get to the end of the year without hearing a single Bruckner symphony live? I’d reckoned without the presence in Dublin of fabulous conductor Anja Bihlmaier, whose 2022 concert...
www.theartsdesk.com
December 6, 2025 at 12:48 PM
★★★★ From sunlit uplands to gates of hell: Giltburg, NSOI, Bihlmaier, National Concert Hall, Dublin @davidnice.bsky.social enjoys clear-sighted Bruckner, transcendant Mozart and Schumann www.theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...
★★★ Not so much gilding the lily as dragging the lily through a cowpat: Zum Roten Igel's reworked Schubert fails to convince a sceptical @bernardhughes.bsky.social at Purcell Room @southbankcentre.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...
Zum Roten Igel, Purcell Room review - Schubert and santour in uneasy meeting
Zum Roten Igel – the “Red Hedgehog Tavern” – was a concert venue with pub attached in 19th century Vienna, frequented by the like of Schubert and Brahms.
www.theartsdesk.com
December 6, 2025 at 11:41 AM
★★★ Not so much gilding the lily as dragging the lily through a cowpat: Zum Roten Igel's reworked Schubert fails to convince a sceptical @bernardhughes.bsky.social at Purcell Room @southbankcentre.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...
Soup, monkeys and McDonalds wrappers: @grahamrickson.bsky.social enjoys pianistic journeys to Java and the solar system, plus an impressive debut disc and contemporary song in his latest classical CD round up with @bernardhughes.bsky.social and Sebastian Scotney www.theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...
Classical CDs: Soup, monkeys and McDonalds wrappers
Image Leopold Godowsky: Java Suite
www.theartsdesk.com
December 6, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Soup, monkeys and McDonalds wrappers: @grahamrickson.bsky.social enjoys pianistic journeys to Java and the solar system, plus an impressive debut disc and contemporary song in his latest classical CD round up with @bernardhughes.bsky.social and Sebastian Scotney www.theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...
★★★★ A queer romance in the British immigration gulag: Dreamers is a timely tale of love locked up writes James Saynor www.theartsdesk.com/dreamers-rev...
Dreamers review - love locked up
Given that the British Red Cross has slammed Britain’s little archipelago of lock-ups for immigrants, and given that the government seems to have upped its xenophobia of late, this fictional look insi...
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December 5, 2025 at 8:57 AM
★★★★ A queer romance in the British immigration gulag: Dreamers is a timely tale of love locked up writes James Saynor www.theartsdesk.com/dreamers-rev...
★★★★ 'A perfect selection for sound system veterans, and newcomers too': Nightmares On Wax takes a bold journey with ‘Echo45 Sound System’ writes Ibi Keita www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/ni...
Nightmares On Wax takes a bold journey with ‘Echo45 Sound System’
Nightmares On Wax’s new album Echo45 Sound System feels like the soundtrack to a twilight walk through memory and possibility. At its core is a deep reverence for sound system culture. The album title...
www.theartsdesk.com
December 5, 2025 at 8:53 AM
★★★★ 'A perfect selection for sound system veterans, and newcomers too': Nightmares On Wax takes a bold journey with ‘Echo45 Sound System’ writes Ibi Keita www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/ni...
★★★★ Fallen Angels, Menier Chocolate Factory - sparkling wit and a trio of prime comic performances finds Helen Hawkins www.theartsdesk.com/theatre/fall...
Fallen Angels, Menier Chocolate Factory review - sparkling wit and a trio of prime comic performances
As reports come in of theatre audiences behaving badly, slumped drunkenly in the aisles, gorging on noisy food and wrestling with their latest smartphones, it’s refreshing to see that kind of behaviou...
www.theartsdesk.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:23 PM
★★★★ Fallen Angels, Menier Chocolate Factory - sparkling wit and a trio of prime comic performances finds Helen Hawkins www.theartsdesk.com/theatre/fall...