New director says Colosseum to stage concerts and performances

Rome’s Colosseum is illuminated during the Way of the Cross on Good Friday, 2018 (CNS/Paul Haring) The man who has taken charge of Rome’s top tourist attraction wants to set the record straight: The Colosseum won’t be hosting any electronic dance...

Early Music Now Opens Season with Cabaret Baroque

Early Music Now has a knack for scouting ensembles with diverse instrumentation. In their season opener concert at St. Paul’s, they welcomed Cabaret Baroque, a trio of recorder, lute, and harpsichord. While one might look at that and think “Well,...

How Ai Weiwei gave a classic Italian opera a political twist

Early on in the new documentary Ai Weiwei’s Turandot, the artist introduces himself to the gathered cast at the Rome Opera House. He explains why he, a visual artist, decided to take on directing a classic Italian opera—Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot,...

David Harbour 'spotted with Lily Allen's daughters' as he brushes off break-up album to take on stepdad duties after she questioned whether he would remain in their life

Lily Allen's two children were spotted out with her ex-husband David Harbour over the weekend at Universal Epic Universe after she released an album about their split, other theme park-goers have claimed. The Stranger Things actor, 50, was said to...

Lily Allen and David Harbour selling $8 million NYC townhouse amid album revelations

Lily Allen and David Harbour are selling their NYC townhome Singer Lily Allen and actor David Harbour are selling their stunning $8 million New York City townhouse amid their divorce and album bombshells. The Smile singer and Stranger Things star...

Review: Concert Spirituel

And what an intriguing title! Fortunately, Luca J. Imperiale, founder and director of the CCO, arrived on the podium to explain how his programme was deliberately designed to showcase the format of the first public concert series in existence....

Disney star Dove Cameron hides her massive diamond ring following secret engagement to Måneskin rocker Damiano David

Dove Cameron made every effort to cover up her diamond engagement ring after her boyfriend and Måneskin frontman Damiano David proposed. The 29-year-old Disney actress and 26-year-old musician - who performed shirtless in Sydney and Melbourne last...

Elgin Symphony Orchestra presents Mozart and Mendelssohn with hornist Greg Flint Nov. 8 & 9

The Elgin Symphony Orchestra continues its 76th Season Classics Series with a program of elegance, joy, and lyrical beauty on Saturday, Nov. 8, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 9, at 2:30 p.m. at The Hemmens Cultural Center. Led by ESO Music Director...

Italy’s Jews Are in Danger

In 2021, my husband, son, and I left the chaos of Los Angeles for the peaceful hills of Tuscany. Settling in Florence with our eight-year-old son felt like a dream. But that dream began to unravel on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched its attack...

100 days to go: Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics enters final preparation stage

Twelve "digital torchbearers" pose with Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games mascots Tina and Milo, along with newly unveiled podiums during a ceremony marking 100 days to the opening of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at...

Beloved Houston Italian restaurant will close after 27 years in Montrose

Dallas-based Omni Hotels is ringing in the holidays with an over-the-top cocktail experience that will debut at 27 hotels across the U.S., including seven in Texas and one in Houston. The holiday initiative is an expansion of their successful...

Adrian Thrills reviews Brandi Carlile's new album and says even without Elton, she's on a roll

BRANDI CARLILE: Returning To Myself (EMI) Verdict: Elton’s protégée takes flight Rating: The Midas touch of Elton John worked wonders for Brandi Carlile back in April. A highly respected singer-songwriter in her American homeland, she was largely...

This century’s Great Composers

This article is taken from the November 2025 issue of The Critic. To get the full magazine why not subscribe? Get five issues for just £25. Sometime in the 1870s, music learned that its evolution had not been organic. Rather than rising in small...

Spike Lee Set for Torino Film Festival Award Ahead of ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ Italian Premiere

Spike Lee will be honored with a lifetime achievement award at the Torino Film Festival in Turin, where the Oscar-winning director will launch his Akira Kurosawa-inspired kidnapping drama “Highest 2 Lowest” in Italy. Lee’s latest film — a...

Concerts at the Colosseum? New director shares plans for more events

The man who just took charge of Rome’s top tourist attraction wants to set the record straight: the Colosseum won’t be hosting any electronic dance music parties on his watch. Simone Quilici, director of the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum,...

Research: Smart TVs now nearly 40% of TV viewing in Italy

Smart TVs are becoming increasingly popular in Italy, with over 22 million now in homes, making up over 50 per cent of all TV sets. This shift is changing how people watch TV, with nearly 40 per cent of viewing now happening on connected TVs,...

Concert series brings the laughter to Hazleton

By Joseph Rosato The Greater Hazleton Concert Series brought an abundance of laughter to those in attendance at its latest live performance concert. Showing a proclivity for variety the Concert Series presented, Steve Solomon’s “My Mother’s...

Alice Spawls: On Nicholas Lanier

Frieze Masters​ , the more subdued sister of the contemporary art fair, is a reliably rewarding outing for fans of medieval manuscripts, Renaissance armour, Bronze Age spearheads and ancient Egyptian cat statuettes. One expects to see marble busts...

Lily Allen and David Harbour 'put their New York townhouse on sale for $8m' two days after her album outing his sordid extra-marital sex life was released

Lily Allen and her ex-husband David Harbour have reportedly put their New York townhouse on the market for an eye-watering $8 million, after the singer laid bare the actor's infidelity in her blistering new album. The singer has caused a huge stir...

Norwegian ensemble to bring European Renaissance music to popular Costa del Sol venue

Monday, 27 October 2025, 11:16 Share The Arianna Ensemble from Norway will be performing at the Museo de Nerja (Nerja museum) on the eastern Costa del Sol on Thursday 30 October. Specialising in Renaissance folk music, the quartet will offer a...