People call me The Laughing Cavalier, and I am the international man of mystery at the Wallace Collection in London. No one knows precisely who I am, and whilst people refer to me as laughing, I am, in fact smiling under those magnificent whiskers of mine. I like to think of myself as the Mona…
Culture Vulture
London Arts and Culture Blog: If culture vulturing is your thing, this is where you'll want to be. Grab a hot seat for the best art and exhibition, opera and classical music, dance and theatre in London. I sometimes head out of of the capital for out-of-town events.
NW Live at the Bloomsbury Festival 2020
With further restrictions looming in the London air like a thick Dickensian fog, I spent last week dashing around town trying to tick as many cultural boxes as possible. On Friday, I managed to catch up with some music – and not just any ordinary music. This was the Music & Renewal concert, the third…
Oxford Lieder 2020 Review: Song in the Age of Corona
Covid-19 and its pesky restrictions threw a spanner in the Oxford Lieder Festival 2020 works this year, but it didn’t dampen the spirits or the music. The UK’s biggest song festival went online instead, streaming over 40 magnificent recital concerts and events, most of them live and all set in historical surroundings across the city….
Watts Gallery and Artists’ Village Highlights
If ever there was an excuse to visit the village of Compton in Surrey, the Watts Gallery is it. Located near Guildford, the Watts Village is dedicated to the works of the Victorian painter and sculptor, George Frederic Watts, and it’s one of the few galleries in the UK devoted to a single artist. And…
Vache Baroque Festival: Dido and Aeneas review
What a cracking start to the shiny new Vache Baroque Festival which kicked off with an enchanting production of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. And a double dose of September showers did nothing to dampen the audience’s spirits. We were more than delighted to tuck into the one-hour Baroque fancy in the grounds of this…
Waterperry Opera Festival 2020 – Review: Così fan tutte and Ariel
This week was one of firsts: I was introduced to the delightful Waterperry Opera Festival; picnicked in a socially-distanced lawn pod listening to Mozart’s Così fan tutte; sampled some of British composer Jonathan Dove’s genius amongst the butterflies and the bumblebees; and got lost in Waterperry Gardens, the festival’s enchanting backdrop. It felt like a…
A day out at Royal Museums Greenwich (with social distancing measures)
Hurrah! Royal Museums Greenwich is now ready to welcome everyone back with open arms. The fab four, which includes Cutty Sark, the Royal Observatory, the Queen’s House and the National Maritime Museum, offer the perfect post-lockdown family day out. You’ll get some of the best views in London, plenty of fresh air, a healthy dose…
Technicolour Dickens at the Charles Dickens Museum
Think you know your Dickens? He’s poised, sombre, a mass of Victorian beard and he looks a little worn out, right? But you’ll be thinking your Dickens again after touring Technicolour Dickens, a new exhibition at the Charles Dickens Museum which brings him full throttle into the glossy age of technology. The celebrated author also…
How to entertain yourself at home during self-isolation
Are you stuck between four walls and wondering how to entertain yourself at home during Coronavirus self-isolation? Beat the social distancing blues with cinema streaming, some classic laugh out loud books, and keep company with websites and podcasts which will add colour to your world. Listen to some soothing classical music (with plenty of free…
A Tour of Handel’s London – Visit 16 Handel Locations
George Frideric Handel was born in Germany, but he spent a whopping 47 years in London, arriving here when he was just 26. He went on to write some of the world’s most famous operas and oratorios in the capital and became the toast of London town. His patrons included a queen, two Georgian kings…