2020

Brighteners for ‘Blue Monday’: a dozen sources of pleasure

Posted on January 16, 2021 by Geoff Andrew

Last week a friend alerted me to the imminence of ‘Blue Monday’ – the third Monday of January, believed by some to be the most depressing day of the year. With the current state of uncertainty, that’s an even more dubious superstition than it has been in the past, but since I fully accept that … Continue reading Brighteners for ‘Blue Monday’: a dozen sources of pleasure

Posted in 2020, BluRay & DVD, books, CDs, classical music, film, Jazz, literatureTagged BIS, Blue Monday, Buster Keaton, César Franck, Charles Portis, Clara Schumann, Dolemite Is My Name, Eddie Murphy, Eureka, Fanny Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn, George Enescu, Gringolts Quartet, Hyperion, Jonathan Coe, Martha Argerich, Maxim Rysanov, Meta4, Mike Westbrook, Nash Ensemble, Netflix, Peteris Vasks, PG Wodehouse, Renaud Capuçon, Sam Wasson, Sinfonietta Riga, Stella Street, YouTubeLeave a comment

Best of a bad year: movies, music and other highlights of 2020

Posted on December 31, 2020January 1, 2021 by Geoff Andrew

In the few years I’ve been posting best-of blogs in the face of worsening political circumstances, I’ve often expressed a rather forlorn hope that things might improve the following year. Well, it turns out, obviously, that the hope I expressed last year could not have been more forlorn. How terrible 2020 has been… not only … Continue reading Best of a bad year: movies, music and other highlights of 2020

Posted in 2020, art, Best concerts, Best films, Best music, BluRay & DVD, books, CDs, classical music, contemporary music, exhibition, film, Jazz, literature, live music, music, opera, top filmsTagged Alina Ibragimova, Allan Clayton, András Schiff, Andy Sheppard, Anna Tilbrook, Bent Sørensen, Brahms, Buster Keaton, Carla Bley, Charlie Haden, Clara Schumann, Craig Taborn, Eric Rohmer, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Fanny Mendelssohn, Frode Haltli, Garth Knox, Heath Quartet, Huw Watkins, Igor Levit, Isabelle Faust, James Gilchrist, James MacMillan, Jörg Widmann, Jean-Luc Godard, Jessica Hausner, Jonathan Coe, Judith Weir, La Maison des bois, Laura Cumming, Lawrence Power, Maria Schneider, Mike Westbrook, Nash Ensemble, Nicolas Hodges, Oded Tzur, Paul Lewis, Quay Brothers, Rachel Podger, Rebecca Saunders, Schubert, Shostakovich, Simon Callow, Small Axe, Stephen Hough, Stephen Isserlis, Steve Swallow, Steven Osborne, Takeshi Kitano, The Disciple, Thomas Adès, Thomas Larcher, Tigran MansurianLeave a comment

Thoughts and ideas on a variety of subjects and experiences by Geoff Andrew, film critic, programmer and lecturer with an interest in other art forms - and life...