Bernstein sometimes seems too good for the theatre. As for his earlier Candide, this barely staged concert version removed all greasepaint from the equation and remained something special... more
If politics is about the art of saying as little as possible, or indeed nothing, then you might think Nick Clegg needs to take a refresher course... more
You can never be too sure but presumably Kate Moss was aware it was No Smoking Day when she lit up on the catwalk earlier this week. If so, she was emulating Jonathan Guinness, now Lord Moyne, the arch libertarian who smokes only once a year - on National No Smoking day. It is a commendable stance against the forces of political correctness. ... more
First he founded Fathers4Justice, now Matt O'Connor is back in the headlines for his Gaga breast milk ice cream. Liz Hoggard meets a master of controversy... more
It was a great British win, to the slight disappointment of some of our film critics who secretly carried the flame for The Social Network or True Grit. The former was cool, forward-looking, American. The latter was cool, mythological, American. Whereas the King's Speech was royal history, embarrassing, British... more
As London’s biggest contemporary art fair opens its doors, Alastair McKay asks conceptual artist Michael Elmgreen to help him make sense of the mountain of work on show and select his highlights... more
The devil, as ever, is in the detail. And the devil, I am coming to believe, was born between 1946 and 1964, fully returns the Rolling Stones' sympathy and probably owns a second home in Provence. For the devil is a baby boomer... more
"Look," the novelist standing next to the buffet said, pointing down the room at the new winner of the 2008 Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. "He's on his third helping." He sniggered. "That's poets for you."... more
Is nothing sacred? Children's novelist Jacqueline Wilson had her latest bestseller My Sister Jodie removed from Asda shelves after a complaint about the use of the word "twat" in the text... more
ENO's shiny new staging of Candide, Bernstein's 1956 operetta, has transformed this musical version of Voltaire's novella into a satire about post-war America.... more
An institution on Fleet Street, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese neatly encapsulates the last few hundred years of London history in a single lunchtime.... more
When artists began to paint butchers and bakers as well as aristocrats and great thinkers, they were at the heart of a social revolution, as a new Royal Academy exhibition reveals.... more
Kate Moss has decreed that pubs beat parties, clubs or bars. Luckily, London has a fantastic array of watering holes. Here we select the best places to huddle this Christmas.... 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
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