The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Sebastian, Four Mothers, Restless, and The Most Precious of Cargoes
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Best of 2023: Contemporary classical music
BEN LUNN singles out the remarkable swansong of Kaija Saariaho, and James Weeks’ monumental feat of social organisation
Lunn
JOHN GREEN explores the argument that psychiatry needs to move away from the idea of just seeing and treating the individual
SYLVIA HIKINS applauds a polemic against “cleanfluencers” and considers radical alternatives to current inequalities of housework
RUTH AYLETT admires the blunt honesty with which a woman’s experience is recorded, but detects the unexamined privilege that underlies it
IAN SINCLAIR draws attention to the powerful role that literature plays in foreseeing the way humanity will deal with climate crisis
High quality pulp, rollicking online murders, Abnorman Britain, and high skates drama: reviews of The Get Off, Everyone In The Group Chat Dies, Pagans and First To Fall
DENNIS BROE notes what happens to content when the streaming giants incorporate AI and deregulation into their economic models
2023 has been quite a manic year for the arts, especially in Britain — though, like all years, there are the good, the bad and the curious moments of light and clarity which do make life truly interesting.
Personally, it has been a busy year on numerous fronts — which despite working in music has meant my ability to listen to and see performances has ironically been lessened, a truly strange quality of the profession.
That being said, there are a handful of things I want to share and reflect on.
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The centenary of his birth is a chance to assess the remarkable combination of Marxism, activism and modernism in the works of Luigi Nono
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