13 h. ago Hallé/Shields: John Adams festival review – dynamism that could generate electricity

Bridgewater Hall/RNCM Hall, ManchesterAdams himself praised the orchestra for giving ‘one of the best performances I’ve ever heard’ of his Chamber Symphony, part of a four-concert feast of his luminous timbral combinations and expansive orchestral beautyWhen called back on stage at the Bridgewater Hall for the fourth or fifth time, the US composer John Adams walked only as far as the back of the first violins, raised his hands in thanks and gestured, smiling, that it was bedtime. At 78, Adams is younger than the first wave of American minimalists (Philip Glass, Steve Reich and co), who are now around 90. But the orchestral scores for which he is celebrated – alongside his nine operas – are intricate and polychrome, more maximalist than minimalist: music with so much dynamism it could generate mains electricity.Following a three-day festival dedicated to Steve Reich earlier this year, the Hallé’s latest composer focus brought Adams himself to Manchester for four concerts, including t...

Politics

13 h. ago Hallé/Shields/Adams: John Adams festival review – dynamism that could generate electricity

Bridgewater Hall/RNCM Hall, ManchesterAdams himself praised the orchestra for giving ‘one of the best performances I’ve ever heard’ of his Chamber Symphony, part of a four-concert feast of his luminous timbral combinations and expansive orchestral beautyWhen called back on stage at the Bridgewater Hall for the fourth or fifth time, the US composer John Adams walked only as far as the back of the first violins, raised his hands in thanks and gestured, smiling, that it was bedtime. At 78, Adams is younger than the first wave of American minimalists (Philip Glass, Steve Reich and co), who are now around 90. But the orchestral scores for which he is celebrated – alongside his nine operas – are intricate and polychrome, more maximalist than minimalist: music with so much dynamism it could generate mains electricity.Following a three-day festival dedicated to Steve Reich earlier this year, the Hallé’s latest composer focus brought Adams himself to Manchester for four concerts, including t...

Politics

9 d. ago Bugonia movie review: worst contact (London Film Festival 2025)

Bugonia movie review: worst contact (London Film Festival 2025)  Flick Filosopher

Culture

9 d. ago Abandoned 18th century Scottish mansion and former asylum captured in creepy photos

The remarkable mansion was built in the 1720s by architect William Adam for Sir John Clerk of Penicuik.

Culture

1 week ago Dekmantel Festival 2025 review: still showing others how it's done

11 years in, this legendary music festival in Amsterdam continues to draw in a heady mix of rising talent and big hitters

Culture

1 week ago 100 Nights of Hero review – Emma Corrin leads starry cast in a queer fable with a serious streak

London film festival: Gender, sexuality, status and power are all in flux in Julia Jackman’s playful medieval fairytale, adapted from Isabel Greenberg’s graphic novel, also starring Maika Monroe and Charli xcxJulia Jackman has followed Bonus Track with this queer fantasy-fable that has a streak of earnestness to go with the romantasy energy and gorgeous costumes from designer Susie Coulthard. It’s adapted by Jackman from Isabel Greenberg’s 2016 graphic novel of the same title, and inspired generally by Scheherazade and the One Thousand and One Nights – and also I think by Julie Dash, Peter Greenaway and maybe the theatricality of Agnès Varda’s One Hundred and One Nights. Emma Corrin and Maika Monroe star, with Nicholas Galitzine and Amir El-Masry in support; Charli xcx makes an appearance, and there’s also a tiny intriguing cameo for critic Sophie Monks Kaufman. It adds up to a likable movie, a little fey but unexpectedly subtle – although the meta-level of storytelling sometimes ha...

Politics

2 w. ago Die My Love LFF review: Jennifer Lawrence goes bonkers brilliant in Lynne Ramsay’s wild return

Opposite husband Robert Pattinson, Lawrence is superb (and, yes, fun) as a new mother in mental meltdown

Events

2 w. ago The Voice of Hind Rajab LFF review: an utterly devastating human story from Gaza’s front line

The tragedy of five-year-old Hind Rajab is retold in one of this year’s only truly essential pieces of film-making

Politics

2 w. ago Gramophone Classical Music Awards honour Simon Rattle for a second time; Raphaël Pichon’s Bach takes top prize

The awards also included a lifetime achievement honour for Sir Thomas Allen and two gongs for Spanish violinist María DueñasThe Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2025 were announced last night at a ceremony in central London in which Sir Simon Rattle made history as the first musician ever to win Artist of the Year for a second time, having first been awarded the title in 1993.The award recognises Rattle’s recent work with the London Symphony Orchestra (where he is Conductor Emeritus), the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Czech Philharmonic and a string of acclaimed recordings spanning the baroque to contemporary repertoire. In a video acceptance speech, the conductor said: “I was 10 years old when I started spending my pocket money on Gramophone magazine this is an extraordinary honour.” Video tributes to Rattle from fellow musicians included Barbara Hannigan, Peter Hoare, Thomas Quasthoff and composer John Adams, who said: “How c...

Events

2 w. ago H is for Hawk review – Claire Foy is tremendously authentic in eccentric grief drama

London film festival: Foy convinces as a grieving academic who trains a goshawk in this film based on Helen Macdonald’s bestselling nature memoirCan training a goshawk cure grief? Or treat it, in some way? Will keeping it indoors – hooded so that it remains calm – and then taking it out hunting allow you to reconnect radically with nature in a way that prissy townies will never understand? Or is this just a domesticated festival of cruelty to both bird and prey and a symptom of serious depression? Philippa Lowthorpe’s intriguing, likably performed if slightly precious film – based on Helen Macdonald’s bestselling nature memoir from 2014 – addresses these questions, but can’t quite deliver the Hollywood redemption narrative that it appears to offer: the story of a woman in the depths of melancholy who is helped through the darkness and, we have to assume, out the other side, by her goshawk, whimsically named Mabel. (Macdonald used she/her pronouns at the time of publication and came ...

Events

3 w. ago The Testament of Ann Lee LFF review: Amanda Seyfried sizzles as the evangelical heroine

The Brutalist co-writer Mona Fastvold directs a wild song-and-dance tribute to the founder of the Shaker movement

Politics

3 w. ago It Was Just an Accident LFF review: this comic Iranian revenge thriller is devastatingly superb

Director Jafar Panahi won the big prize at Cannes and no wonder. This will surely be 2025’s best film

Politics