The Critics

Rats desert a thriving ship

The space for criticism to exist grows smaller and the archways that sustained its presence crumble away, laments Sarah Ditum

Women directors screened out

Christopher Silvester on Mark Cousins’s latest documentary

A grim chorus of philistines

Rishi’s £1.57 Billion handout to the arts sector is the last good news it’ll ever hear, says Robert Thicknesse

A worthy heiress to Princess Ida

Where has originality and character gone in the art of Violin playing?

Romeo’s 2020 Lockdown Awards

How have the great and the good delivered in recent months?

The sadder side of summer

Tragedy struck Gustav Mahler, the archetypal summer composer, in 1907

To the streets, via the Crush Bar

Robert Thicknesse on Opera

A little bit of curve

In praise of pop smut

Mystery of the tainted cache

The Gurlitt affair looked as if it might be unpicked but it has proved intractable

A long-term bet we must take

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the show will go on again; it always does