We can still rely on the Lib-Dem conference for a sudden boost of loopy argument. The equalities minister Lynne Featherstone has just claimed that men make "terrible decisions" when they are left in charge and are thus to blame for the "mess the world is in"... more
Unless the major institutions learn the lessons of smaller companies and get closer to their audiences they run the risk of reducing opera to a museum piece, director John Fulljames tells Nick Kimberley... more
Monday night and I am in tour guide mode, marching my friend from the former East Germany through the streets of Hoxton and Clerkenwell to show off the trendier haunts of the capital... more
Gully Wells knows that as she promotes her memoir,
her romance with a certain novelist will always crop up. But for Katie Law her own story was just as intriguing... more
Charles Saatchi's latest survey of contemporary art reveals sculpture in bad shape, all blobby bodies and random assemblies - monumentally meaningless... more
Hugh Grant made a heartfelt and philosophical defence of super-injunctions on Newsnight. He said it was in men's natures to be "naughty" and thus they required a greater veil over their private lives... more
Given their reputation for wild orgies, stiletto assassinations and poisonings, there's a certain cinematic extravagance about the activities of the House of Borgia... more
The brilliant soprano Angela Gheorghiu and her dashing tenor Roberto Alagna are the stars of the most tempestuous and public break-up in opera history. Lydia Slater talks to Draculette about divorce, dictators and drama queens... more
Don Giovanni is a bold choice for a director making his operatic debut. The risk is that hard-won insights turn out to be yesterday’s received opinions... more
Not sold on arias? Neither was Rufus Norris — which made him an ideal choice to direct the tale of the sex addict Don Giovanni at the Coliseum, he tells Nick Curtis
... more
Abbas Kiarostami’s enigmatic romance confirms he is one of cinema’s greats — but it’s the performance from Binoche that gives Certified Copy real heart... more
Vladimir Jurowski screws the tension tightly but allows for moments of calm melancholy, as in the mandolin-accompanied serenade of Don Giovanni.... more
A big man with a huge voice, Bryn Terfel represented value for money, according to Nick Kimberly, even with tickets to last night's benefit show costing £250 apiece. ... more
The Royal Opera House's free, open-air screenings of ballet and opera have become essential events. This summer there are a trio of classics to choose from.... more
Our critics introduce the names to watch out for over the next 12 months - the ones you won’t have heard of before, the ones that you’ll suddenly see everywhere – and the one the critics will love best in 2007.... more
Sound check: German industrial metal band Rammstein literally play with fire in their live performances - and now they are about to unleash their singeing spectacle on London. Watch out for your eyebrows
Morning:
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