• BACH TO THE FUTURE

    In the great muddy field of British summer festivals, the Manchester International Festival stands out like a dry tent. The reason is simple: every event is an event, presenting either new work or bold new pairings. For his second biennial line-up, the director, Alex Poots, has got Zaha Hadid designing a typically voluptuous “chamber-music hall” (pictured) for pieces by Bach, the camp crooner Rufus Wainwright writing his first opera, Kraftwerk playing the Velodrome in tandem with Steve Reich, the audacious documentarist Adam Curtis making immersive theatre with Punchdrunk and Damon Albarn, and the rock band of the moment, Elbow, playing with the Hallé Orchestra—“the original Manchester band”, as Guy Garvey calls them. All this and Carlos Acosta too.

    Manchester International Festival, July 2nd-19th 

    ~ TIM DE LISLE


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  • Adam LeBor's letter from Edinburgh (I)

    Our friend and colleague Adam LeBor sends us a first letter from the Edinburgh book festival:

    FOR a writer at a literary festival there is only one thing more terrifying than an empty room: a full one. The rows of intelligent, expectant faces trigger a frisson of fear and joy. Fear, because what if we make a fool of ourselves? And joy, because somebody loves us enough to come and listen.  read more »


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