Barbican

‘We need joy … and an audience’: The return of Simon Rattle and the LSO

Sir Simon and London Symphony Orchestra players tell a rehearsal audience of one what this week’s first live concert in a year means to them

Ed Vulliamy

16, May, 2021 @6:00 AM

Crude, obscene and extraordinary: Jean Dubuffet’s war against good taste

He was the inventor of ‘art brut’ who rebelled against his parents, his teachers and then art itself. Yet the impact of his wild provocative paintings, often culled from graffiti, can still be seen today

Jonathan Jones

03, May, 2021 @5:00 AM

Jean Dubuffet: impish master of perpetual reinvention

Made with anything to hand – rubble, asphalt, butterfly wings – Dubuffet’s art revels in perpetual reinvention

Laura Cumming

02, May, 2021 @12:00 PM

BBCSO/Chauhan review – mercurial and devil-may-care visions of Scotland

Alpesh Chauhan balanced energy with elegance in Mendelssohn’s ‘Scottish’ Symphony and found exuberance and emotion in works by Maxwell Davies and Beamish

Tim Ashley

26, Apr, 2021 @1:23 PM

Moses Boyd: Live from the Barbican review – master of the universe

The producer-drummer leads from the back in a virtuosic set that draws on last year’s cross-pollinating Dark Matter

Kitty Empire

24, Apr, 2021 @1:00 PM

'The Yanomami could disappear' – photographer Claudia Andujar on a people under threat in Brazil

Andujar lived with the tribe and fights for them. A timely show of her images comes to London soon

Jo Griffin

25, Mar, 2021 @8:15 AM

London venue plans ignored rest of UK | Letter

Letter: The axing of a concert hall project in the capital is no great loss, there are world-class facilities in other parts of the country, writes Julie Berrow

Letters

22, Feb, 2021 @5:30 PM

No Simon Rattle, and no new concert hall for London ... but we will survive

Grandiose plans for the Centre of Music in London have been scrapped, and musical leaders such as Simon Rattle are moving on. But there is much to look forward to

Fiona Maddocks

20, Feb, 2021 @10:00 PM

Wonder breaks the silence: pop, rock and classical music for 2021

Cardi B pushes into Beyoncé’s turf and Sleaford Mods tot up the cost of Covid, while UK orchestras head back to the concert hall – our critics look ahead to big music moments

Alexis Petridis and Andrew Clements

28, Dec, 2020 @6:00 AM

The best photography and architecture of 2020: high camp to Dungeness

Masculinity was under the microscope, queer lives recorded and Derek Jarman’s garden recreated in London

Sean O’Hagan and Oliver Wainwright

26, Dec, 2020 @9:00 AM

The Kanneh-Mason Family review – varied programme gives each sibling a chance to shine

Seven musical marvels delivered a warm informal show, attended both in person and virtually, in which cellist Sheku and pianist Isata provided particular highlights

Erica Jeal

23, Oct, 2020 @12:06 PM