British music halls

There are currently five main theatres in the centre of Birmingham but, in the past, there were many more. Most of those were lost as cinema, radio and television took hold, as audiences, especially f

The smell of the greasepaint, the roar of the crowd, the flare of the floodlights – what enchantments they conjure! If you’d visited a regional playhouse over two centuries ago, though, a very differe

Joseph Haydn looked every bit the European celebrity on the night of 4 May 1795. Newly opened in 1791 after a fire, the King’s Theatre glowed in the brilliant flicker of candle chandeliers. At the fro

Jacob Collier is on stage with the Britten Sinfonia, in a packed-out concert hall. We’ve already been treated to a freewheeling, virtuosic and wildly joyful programme, ranging from Bob Dylan to scat-s

Dame Joan Sutherland managed things to her customary perfection: a gala goodbye before an adoring Covent Garden audience on New Year’s Eve 1990, 35 years ago. Pavarotti and Marilyn Horne joined in the

A once-neglected patch of land in Duddingston, Edinburgh has been transformed into a welcoming green space by volunteers. Jock Tamson’s Gairden – named in honour of Duddingston’s Rev John Thomson, ins