Debbie Gilpin
Latest Articles
Review: BBC PROMS: SWEDISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA - BEETHOVEN AND BAROQUE, Royal Albert Hall
“Do you believe in a life after birth?” Sunday morning was no ordinary Prom, as Martin Fröst and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra delved into the idea of exploring the DNA of Beethoven via new interpretations of works by the likes of Handel and Rambeau, as well as the world première BBC co-commis
Review: BBC PROMS: PAPPANO CONDUCTS BERLIOZ’S ‘REQUIEM’, Royal Albert Hall
First performed at Les Invalides in Paris in 1837, Hector Berlioz’s Requiem (“Grande messe des morts”) is music and spectacle on a grand scale.
Review: BBC PROMS: MARVIN GAYE - PRINCE OF SOUL, Royal Albert Hall
At 7pm on Friday, wildfire alerts pinged on phones across the UK - but for those of us in the Royal Albert Hall it served as an early warning system for the heat that would be generated by the BBC Proms tribute to Marvin Gaye.
Review: BBC PROMS: RACHMANINOV’S ‘PAGANINI’ VARIATIONS, Royal Albert Hall
It was a night of cinematic imagery all round, from the colourful splashes of Oliver Knussen’s “Flourish with Fireworks” and Sergey Rachmaninov’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini”, to Dmitry Shostakovich’s “Symphony No.
Review: LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST, Shakespeare’s Globe
The flimsy theme holding together this year’s summer season at Shakespeare’s Globe is ‘1599 or 1939’, which has allowed them to stage a work by Brecht as well as several Shakespeare plays which are frequent flyers at this theatre complex.
Review: BBC PROMS: HORRIBLE SCIENCE - THE BIG BANG PROM, Royal Albert Hall
There really is a Prom for everyone.
Review: BBC PROMS: AFTERLIFE: VISIONS OF THE BEYOND, Royal Albert Hall
Amongst other things, art exists to try and explain the profound, channelling the artist’s thoughts and feelings into paintings, literature or, in this case, music.
Review: BBC PROMS: LATE NIGHT BAROQUE, Royal Albert Hall
With artificial intelligence doing its best to inveigle its way into the arts, there’s no better antidote than a late night Prom showcasing some of the best loved songs from the late Renaissance and Baroque eras.
Review: 1536, The Ambassadors Theatre
On 13 May 1536, Anne Boleyn’s household is broken up ahead of her going on trial for treason.
Review: SPLENDOUR & DEVOTION, LONDON HANDEL FESTIVAL, St George’s Hanover Square
The 2026 edition of the London Handel Festival, which kicked off last week, is running under the theme of From Heavenly Harmony.
Review: GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU?, Royal Court Theatre
What would you do if the results of your 20-week pregnancy scan were not what you were expecting? Would you continue with the pregnancy and adapt to the serious additional needs your baby is likely to have, or could you take the decision to have a termination? That is the choice facing Rosie Sheehy
Review: TWELFTH NIGHT, Barbican Theatre
“And thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges.
Review: TROILUS AND CRESSIDA, Shakespeare's Globe
One of the least performed plays in Shakespeare’s canon, and also one of the most aptly labelled as a ‘problem play’; Troilus and Cressida is ostensibly about the romance between these two Trojans, but in reality much of the play focuses on the backdrop to their love - the ongoing siege of Tro
Review: HAMLET, National Theatre
“Suit the action to the word, the word to the action.
Review: CLARKSTON, starring Joe Locke, Trafalgar Theatre
First performed at Dallas Theater Center in 2015, Samuel D.
Review: THE LAND OF THE LIVING, starring Juliet Stevenson
'Was what I did 'wrong'?' In 1945 Germany, Ruth is part of a UN relief programme which is seeking to reunite displaced people with their families - she’s passionate about the work, and is certain that what she’s doing is for the best.
Review: BBC PROMS: JOHN WILSON CONDUCTS BERNSTEIN AND RAVEL, Royal Albert Hall
“All you need is love”, said The Beatles - a mantra that John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London seemed to take when putting together the programme for the penultimate Prom of 2025.
Review: BBC PROMS: CHINEKE! PLAYS SHOSTAKOVICH AT THE PROMS, Royal Albert Hall
The commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Dmitry Shostakovich’s death continues at this year’s Proms, as Chineke! took on his epic Symphony No.
Review: BBC PROMS: SHOSTAKOVICH’S ‘LADY MACBETH’, Royal Albert Hall
Written between 1930 and 1932, The Lady Macbeth of the Mtensk District was first performed in 1934 - and received a scathing write-up in the Pravda newspaper in 1936, due to its graphic sexual violence and murderous female lead.
Review: BBC PROMS: MÄKELÄ CONDUCTS MAHLER’S FIFTH, Royal Albert Hall
The natural big events of every Proms season are the First and Last Nights - but when a superstar conductor in the making is booked for two appearances, these concerts also become moments to which audiences will gravitate.
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