Reviews
Pimpinone, Royal Opera in the Linbury Theatre review - farce with a sting in its tail
Saturday, 03 May 2025
Full marks to the Royal Opera for good planning: one first night knocking us all sideways with the darkest German operatic tragedy followed by another letting us off the hook with a short comedy by Wagner’s compatriot Telemann. The premiere of Pimpinone predates that of Die Walküre by nearly a century and a half and we mark its 300th anniversary this year. But is it too slight for resurrection?
Krapp's Last Tape, Barbican review - playing with the lighter side of Beckett's gloom
Saturday, 03 May 2025
In the Stygian darkness of a bare room, a table on a low platform with a light hanging overhead starts to emerge. Then a door briefly opens at the back of the space and the figure that has entered and sat down at the table also begins to emerge. When the stage lighting goes on, this tableau out of a Bacon painting sharpens and we can properly scrutinise the man.
Formula E: Driver, Prime Video review - inside...
Saturday, 03 May 2025
The success of Netflix’s Drive to Survive not only provoked a viewer-stampede towards the world’s most expensive sport, but also triggered a chain...
Do Ho Suh: Walk the House, Tate Modern review -...
Friday, 02 May 2025
A traditional Korean house has appeared at Tate Modern. And with its neat brickwork, beautifully carved roof beams and lattice work screens, this...
Die Walküre, Royal Opera review - total music...
Friday, 02 May 2025
Wagner’s universe, in the second of his Ring operas which brings semi-humans on board to challenge the gods, matches exaltation and misery, terror...
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The Extraordinary Miss Flower review - odd mashup of music, dance, film and spoken word
A cache of love letters inspires samey songs and not enough wonder |
My Master Builder, Wyndham's Theatre review - Ewan McGregor headlines stillborn Ibsen riff
Starry new writing premiere struggles to connect |
Adrian Utley / Eddie Henderson Project, Ronnie Scott's review - beyond fusion
Six musicians in search of common ground |
Dealer's Choice, Donmar Warehouse review - fresh take on a classic about male self-destruction
An ideal revisiting of Patrick Marber's play about risking all to move ahead |
La Serenissima, Wigmore Hall review - a convivial guide to 18th century Bologna
This showcase for baroque trumpets was riveting throughout |
Much Ado About Nothing, RSC, Stratford - Messina FC scores on the bardic football field
Garish and gossipy, this new production packs a punch between the laughs |
Zsuzsanna Gahse: Mountainish review - seeking refuge
Notes on danger and dialogue in the shadow of the Swiss Alps |
Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Isata Kanneh-Mason, Wigmore Hall review - family fun, fire and finesse
Intimacy and empathy in a varied mixture from the star siblings |
Simon Boccanegra, Opera North review - ‘dramatic staging’ proves its worth
Verdi’s political tragedy - and plea for peace - has impact in a grand Yorkshire setting |
Mahler 8, LPO, Gardner, RFH review - lights on high
Perfect pacing allows climaxes to make their mark - and the visuals aren’t bad, either |
Music Reissues Weekly: The Hamburg Repertoire
Perplexing compendium of songs The Beatles covered while playing the German port city |
Philharmonia, Alsop, RFH / Levit, Abramović, QEH review - misalliance and magical marathon
Kentridge’s film for Shostakovich 10 goes its own way, but a master compels in his 13th hour of Satie |
Ben and Imo, Orange Tree Theatre review - vibrant, strongly acted fiction about Britten and Imogen Holst
Let’s make a coronation opera, with bags of dramatic licence |
The Accountant 2 review - belated return of Ben Affleck's lethal bean-counter
Horror, humour and mind games combine in Gavin O'Connor's sequel |
The Inseparables, Finborough Theatre review - uneven portrait of a close female friendship
De Beauvoir's novel gets an often charming but undemanding staging |
The Ugly Stepsister review - gleeful Grimm revamp
A cutting Norwegian take on Cinderella and her adversaries |
Flintoff, Disney+ review - tumultuous life and times of the great all-rounder
John Dower's documentary is gritty, gruelling and uplifting |
Personal Values, Hampstead Theatre review - deep grief that's too brief
New play about two sisters, death and hoarding is well written, but feels incomplete |
Album: Jenny Hval - Iris Silver Mist
A challenging yet rewarding experimental album |
April review - powerfully acted portrait of a conflicted doctor in eastern Georgia
Dea Kukumbegashvili's second film is stylistically striking and emotionally raw |
Greg Davies, Brighton Dome review - chocolate bars and errant bumholes
Taskmaster's first tour in seven years is a joy |
Bach St John Passion, Academy of Ancient Music, Cummings, Barbican review - conscience against conformism
In an age of hate-fuelled pile-ons, Bach's gospel tragedy strikes even deeper |
Music Reissues Weekly: 1001 Est Crémazie
Privately pressed Canadian jazz album resurfaces for its 50th anniversary |
MacMillan St John Passion, Boylan, National Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Hill, NCH Dublin review - flares around a fine Christ
Young Irish baritone pulls focus in blazing performance of a 21st century classic |
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It followed some...
Pimpinone, Royal Opera in the Linbury Theatre review - farce...
Full marks to the Royal Opera for good planning: one first night knocking us all sideways with the darkest German operatic tragedy followed by...
Krapp's Last Tape, Barbican review - playing with the l...
In the Stygian darkness of a bare room, a table on a low platform with a light hanging overhead starts to emerge. Then a door briefly...
Formula E: Driver, Prime Video review - inside the world...
The success of Netflix’s Drive to Survive not only provoked a viewer-stampede towards the world’s most expensive sport, but also...
Do Ho Suh: Walk the House, Tate Modern review - memories are...
A traditional Korean house has appeared at Tate Modern....
Die Walküre, Royal Opera review - total music drama
Wagner’s universe, in the second of his Ring operas which brings semi-humans on board to challenge the gods, matches exaltation and misery, terror...
Georgia Mancio, Alan Broadbent, Pizza Express Dean Street re...
Does it spark joy? Yes, definitely...and maybe we music critics should ask the Marie Kondo question more often. London-based vocalist/lyricist...
The Extraordinary Miss Flower review - odd mashup of music,...
The makers of The Extraordinary Miss Flower are billing it as a “performance film”, a subspecies of the concert-movie...
Borrowed Time: Lennon's Last Decade review - how the gr...
Purporting to be a documentary about John Lennon in the 1970s, Borrowed Time is no such thing....