The Critics

Musical Lessons

Could the jazz-hands pizzaz of musical theatre be just what opera needs?

Mystery of the missing bronze

A new excavation to find the third Riace statue is planned

Grim up north

Two new Nordic dramas reveal a darker side to Scandi paradise

Grope springs eternal

Rupert Goold’s Spring Awakening was too woke to be stirring

Unfinished? Don’t start!

A new project to restore Beethoven’s incomplete symphony borders on pathological necromancy

True diversity

Acting ability should matter more than “lived experience”

Strange brew

The joy of letting unexpected, accidental music in

Double trouble in chaotic Comedy

Great times to be had in Canterbury despite occasionally clunky comedy and some scandalously overpriced wine

Awful states

Two political thrillers reveal the intimate cruelties of life under dictatorship

I’m a Classic FM convert

Ignore the snobs, trip the light (music) fantastic and bask in the shameless joy of Classic FM