Buzz
Who is Eduardo de Filippo?Wednesday, 03 August 2011
The phenomenal Eduardo de Filippo has no parallel in British theatre. Cross Olivier with Ayckbourn and you get a national institution who acted in and directed his own plays in his own theatre. Born in 1900, it seems odd that he had to wait until... Read more... |
Three anniversaries, three portrait exhibitionsMonday, 01 August 2011
Anniversaries at the National Portrait Gallery are handy hooks for small specialist displays, and a trio has just opened.Herbert Morrison (1888-1965) is billed as the Cockney Socialist, and shown in scores of photographs, caricatures and cartoons to... Read more... |
BBC Proms Gallery: Horrible HistoriesSaturday, 30 July 2011
After two Proms devoted to Doctor Who, this year's children's Prom ceded the floor today to the hugely popular CBBC television series Horrible Histories. The series is based, in case you don't know your Horrible Histories history, on the books... Read more... |
Art for the Nation: Sir Charles Eastlake, National GalleryThursday, 28 July 2011
We are still acknowledging our 21st-century debts to the energy, curiosity, determination and passion for discovery of a host of Victorian polymaths, and here is another. Sir Charles Eastlake (1793-1865) was a painter, scholar, author, collector and... Read more... |
Iran’s pre-1979 pop music begins to reach the outside worldWednesday, 27 July 2011
Pop music was virtually eradicated from Iran in 1979 after the deposition of the Shah and arrival of Ayatollah Khomeini in power. Before then, the thriving scene supported many stars that drew on both local traditions and Kurdish music. Googoosh was... Read more... |
Amy Winehouse, 1983-2011Saturday, 23 July 2011
Amy Winehouse, who was found dead at her London home this afternoon, was the greatest female pop singer of her time, in the way that Billie Holiday was of hers, says Peter Culshaw, the first of theartsdesk's writers who tell below what she signified... Read more... |
Lucian Freud, 1922-2011Friday, 22 July 2011
Lucian Freud, who died aged 88 at his west London home on Wednesday, was often described as Britain's greatest living artist. In the six decades he was active, figurative painting went in and out of fashion - though mostly it was out - but... Read more... |
Belarus Free Theatre: no gags on artThursday, 21 July 2011
Whatever the quality of the material with which they're grappling, there are two undeniable truths about the Belarusian actors who've put their already curtailed freedom on the line by coming to the Almeida Festival this week: they're skilled... Read more... |
2011 Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize nominations announcedTuesday, 19 July 2011
The nominations for the 2011 Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize were announced earlier today. Beyond PJ Harvey and Elbow having won before, nothing wildly surprising cropped up.Here they are: Adele: 21Anna Calvi: Anna CalviJames Blake: James BlakeElbow... Read more... |
BBC Proms 2011: theartsdesk recommends...Friday, 15 July 2011
Tonight the doors open for the biggest classical music festival in the world, the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. To help you plan your summer visits and listening, theartsdesk's critics gently steer you with their own preferences from the 90... Read more... |
50 years since Nureyev defected and Kirov Ballet debuted in LondonFriday, 15 July 2011
It's 50 years since the mighty Kirov Ballet made their debut London tour - reeling from Nureyev's defection days before at the Paris airport. The tour was promoted by the unique impresarios of Soviet culture, Victor and Lilian Hochhauser. Half a... Read more... |
Cinderella goes to the squareThursday, 14 July 2011
Sweetheart American mezzo Joyce DiDonato stayed firmly behind the proscenium arch for yesterday evening's Royal Opera performance of Massenet's Cendrillon - reviewed by theartsdesk on its opening night - but another Covent Garden regular, former... Read more... |
