by Rick Jones | Oct 26, 2021 | Awards, Books, Dance, Drama, Film, Music, Uncategorized, Visual Arts
At the National Liberal Club last week, the Critics’ Circle presented the opera singer Dame Janet Baker with the Rosebowl Award for “Distinguished Service to Art”. The vote for this most endearing of prime donne had been cast in 2019 but certain world... 
by Rick Jones | Jul 21, 2021 | Awards, Books, Dance, Drama, Film, Music, Visual Arts
On Wednesday 14 July 2021, towards the end of the morning, the Critics’ Circle helped to get the wheels of live social intercourse moving again when fifty members arrived for luncheon at the National Liberal Club. The guest of honour was novelist and playwright... 
by Rick Jones | May 15, 2021 | Awards, Books, Dance, Drama, Film, Music, Uncategorized, Visual Arts
Every year since 1988, the Critics’ Circle has voted for a single leading artist to receive an engraved crystal Rosebowl in recognition of their distinguished contribution to the arts. The first recipient was Sir Peter Hall, Director of the National Theatre and... 
by Rick Jones | Nov 26, 2020 | Music
For more than a hundred years, pianists have been doing battle in the seaside town of Hastings on the south coast of England. Originally, the competition featured local players in the context of a general music festival but eventually the keyboard section became... 
by Rick Jones | Apr 9, 2019 | Music, Uncategorized
The dark, dank streets and tenements of London’s notorious borough of Whitechapel in 1888 are powerfully captured by English National Opera’s production of Jack the Ripper. Composer Iain Bell has created a rich and sumptuous score with a Romantic flavour in the... 