Looking forward to hearing this slab of French baroque goodness. Roy’s Soups! I love this repertoire…#baroque #lalande #herveniquet

Hunt for the Wilderpeople, in a 10th anniversary reissue. Lovely, funny film with a melancholy edge. Plus two charismatic dog actors. Read more: www.theartsdesk.com/film/blu-ray... #huntforthewilderpeople #samneill #newzealand

A simple search for a stopping mute on eBay throws up some alarming things. If you're flogging a horn, why not check to see if what you're selling is set up correctly? These two listings are the stuff of nightmares.... #frenchhorn #valveslides #brassinstrument

I used to think that John Schlesinger's 'Billy Liar' was a comedy, but his adaptation of Keith Waterhouse's novel gets darker and sadder each time I see it. A brilliant film: www.theartsdesk.com/film/blu-ray... @studiocanal.com #billyliar #tomcourtenay #juliechristie #leonardrossiter

'It’s a film about a bloke cheating on girlfriends' - or is it? ★★★★★ BILLY LIAR - #JohnSchlesinger's vibrant tragicomedy, despite its melancholy edge, remains one of the funniest and most quotable of British films, says @grahamrickson.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/film/blu-ray... now on Blu-ray

Here's my research for the main item in this week's column. "On Broadway" belonged to my grandad, who used to read a story from it every day. www.theartsdesk.com/classical-mu... @bernardhughes.bsky.social @seb-scotney.bsky.social #guysanddolls #johnwilson #mahler #brahms @jkaconductor.bsky.social

I've been contributing to @theartsdesk.bsky.social since it began in 2009. All the arts coverage you'll ever need, on a single nifty website. Have a look at the site, and if you subscribe by midnight you'll pay just £40 per year FOR EVER!

Shout out to "Deskers" past and present - on here, @hannahhg.bsky.social / @bernardhughes.bsky.social / @garynaylor85.bsky.social / @grahamrickson.bsky.social / @sierz.bsky.social / @davidnice.bsky.social and hopefully others! Again: tomorow is last day to get a ridiculously cheap £40 FOR EVER.

UK Prime Minister, Some Say Sinister@joemuggs.bsky.social · 3w ago

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I am proud to have written for @theartsdesk.bsky.social for the last 13 years - it's a brilliant site full of great writing about culture. Tomorrow is our 17th birthday, and your last chance to sign up to the frankly ridiculous subscriber offer of £40 a year FOREVER. Please share!

This Saturday's typically eclectic selection, expertly curated. www.theartsdesk.com/classical-mu... @bernardhughes.bsky.social @seb-scotney.bsky.social #cpebach #poulenc #schubert #juliuseastman @stevereich.bsky.social #pigeons

New bike shed, installed (not by me) on time and on budget. Who says big infrastructure projects don't succeed in the UK? #shed #dog #backyard #timclad

Newcastle - surely the UK's most photogenic city centre? Pics taken last week on 400ASA film with a Pen EE3. @ilfordphoto.com @halfframephotoday.bsky.social #halfframe @filmphotography.bsky.social

Overstuffed and a tad overlong, but brilliant in places, an uncredited Len Deighton providing the screenplay. Read more: www.theartsdesk.com/film/blu-ray... #oh!whatalovelywa

Butcher's shop in the centre of sunny Gateshead. #gateshead #getcarter #michaelcaine

Spotted this plaque on the Newcastle quayside this afternoon and now need to find out which other local celebs are commemorated in similar fashion. #thelikelylads #newcastle

HUGE Classical CD column this week. Early music, bassoons, Disney hits. All here: www.theartsdesk.com/classical-mu... @seb-scotney.bsky.social @bernardhughes.bsky.social #davidmunrow #tyxart #TālivaldisĶeniņš #stravinsky #stephenhough #hyperion #vivaldi #bassoon

As a classical CD reviewer I’m in my comfort zone when listening to late romantic and 20th century orchestral music. But this box set amazed me - 21 discs of medieval and renaissance music, superbly performed. It’s wonderful. #davidmunrow #earlymusic #boxedset #medieval #recorder

We watched the eclipse in suburban north Leeds. A memorable shared experience, surrounded by other groups and families. The dog was underwhelmed by it all, sadly. #eclipse #leeds #moorallerton #bordercollie

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Two films by Czech animator Jiří Trnka. They're sensational. Read more: www.theartsdesk.com/film/blu-ray... @secondrun.bsky.social #jiritrnka #animation #stopmotion #czechia #karelzeman #thehand

Library funding is tied to usage.

Wonderful piece on the widespread failure to teach the British enough about Empire by a proper specialist in the subject, the great Alan Lester @aljhlester. Full of interesting background about Gove and his extremist paymaster, Paul Marshall that I didn't know alanlester.co.uk/blog/teachin...

Teaching the British Empire: Experts Versus The Spectator

Alan Lester The Spectator’s owner Paul Marshall and its editor Michael Gove are afraid of William Dalrymple. His sequence of books on colonial India that have sold millions, his Empire podcast with…

alanlester.co.uk

As children, my generation had to deal with some pretty traumatic stuff ‘Learning to Sew’ Artist: Eric Winter, 1972

My copy of this has just arrived, an enjoyable compilation of vintage motorway-themed library music, with Leeds's 'Motorway City' logo on the cover. @leedscivictrust.bsky.social @silverdraws.bsky.social #leeds #M1 @rockingbob.bsky.social

Bumper edition this week, with EIGHT albums carefully dissected. Read on: www.theartsdesk.com/classical-mu... @bernardhughes.bsky.social @seb-scotney.bsky.social #sinfoniaoflondon #johnwilson #chandosrecords #finzi #reicha #mahler #paavojarvi @jamesweeks.bsky.social @firsthandrecords.bsky.social

Have just played Waddingtons’ Formula One, a 1960s board game which my brother and I would play obsessively. It’s more complicated than I remember. I drove like an idiot and suffered a fatal brake outage in the final sprint to the finish. #boardgames #waddingtons #formulaone

More Clerkenwell photos, taken last week with an Agfa Optima Sensor 335. The colours! It's as if I'm in the London of my 1970s childhood. #clerkenwell #agfaoptimasensor #analoguephotography #filmisbest

It's too much. It's Toomorrow. Aliens, Wagner, Swinging London, hip lingo - all this and more in: www.theartsdesk.com/film/blu-ray... #bfi #olivianewtonjohn

'The best-looking group that ever existed' ★★★★ TOOMORROW - Daft but hugely endearing cult film, the first 'space musical' - it flopped in 1970, and star #OliviaNewtonJohn was not a fan, but for @grahamrickson.bsky.social this new #BFI Blu-ray release is a winner www.theartsdesk.com/film/blu-ray...