Journalist, photographer and social commentator.
PROM 31, 11 August, London, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Daniel Barenboim, West-Eastern Divan Orchestra The West-Eastern Divan orchestra was formed a quarter of century ago, when a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was still on the cards. The friendship between the […]
BBC PROM 27, Friday 9 August, 2024 BBC Symphony Orchestra, conductor: Sakari Oramo Kaija Saariaho’s composition Mirage takes its inspiration from the life of Maria Sabina, a shaman and visionary of the Mazatec people in Mexico. She used chants and […]
Seen: June 27 June, Bratislava , Slovak National Theatre Is opera an outdated genre? I urge you to see the Slovak National Theatre’s new production of Madama Butterfly and then argue that old operas have only limited relevance. The plot […]
Prom 14, July 2024 will be recorded in the annals as the Yunchan Lim Prom. With the Royal Albert Hall packed to the acoustic mushroom rafters, the noise welcoming the South Korean pianist sensation was nothing short of tumultuous. In […]
Production seen June 23rd 2023 at The Grange, Northington, Hampshire From afar The Grange at Northington in Hampshire resembles a Grecian temple. But the gently rolling lawns, farmed fields, peaceful lake and trees that surround the impressive neoclassical building couldn’t […]
BBC Proms Saturday 14 August 2021 S.Prokofiev Symphony no.1, J.S.Bach Keyboard Concerto in F minor, BWV 1056, W.A. Mozart Piano concerto no.24, D. Shostakovich Symphony no.9
BBC Proms 5 August Ruth Gipps Symphony No.2 in B major, Thomas Adès’ The Exterminating Angel Symphony, Johannes Brahms Symphony No.3 in F major I have been sitting it out for nine months, waiting for proper concerts with a live […]
Artemisia, National Gallery in London 3 October 2020 – 24 January 2021 Don’t try this at home. Just try to imagine what it would be like to slice somebody’s head off with a sword. First of all,you have to make […]
Gauguin and the Impressionists, seen at the Royal Academy of Arts, London (until 18 October 2020) Pictures from the Danish ‘Golden Age’ of art (first half of the 19th century) and Vilhelm Hammershøi’s understated, almost stark interiors have this century […]
London’s National Gallery and The Hague’s Mauritshuis museum have put together the first exhibition in the UK devoted to Nicolaes Maes, a Dutch Golden Age painter who deserves to be more well-known. Even in the Netherlands Nicolaes Maes (1634–1693) is […]
Do you think you know London’s National Gallery? Think again. The museum has reopened, now that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic is deemed to have passed. But all visitors are still expected to wear a face mask. You will […]
This is my second report from TEFAF Maastricht, the world’s foremost art fair for antiques and design. In my previous blog I mentioned a number of blockbusters, both quality- and price-wise. In this article I am concentrating on some personal […]