Swan Lake, a ballet by Tchaikovsky, directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne at Sadler's Wells Theatre, London  

A magnificent production of the famous ballet, brought imaginatively into the 21st century.  This third adaptation of the plot by Bourne has the Prince infatuated with the vicious menacing Swan (danced astonishingly and outragously by Max Westwell) in both his avian and human form. In the latter, the Prince is unable to resist the Swan's overt brutal sexuality, much to the shock and disapproval of the Royal court.  Tchaikovsky's own situation is never far from the plot.  Needless to say, it  does not end well.  Wonderful stage sets, dancing and playing  throughout.  We were sat next to the Swan's Mum, who provided some interesting inside information. 5*

Requiem, a song recital by Ian Bostridge (tenor) and Antonio Pappano (piano) at The Barbican, London  

The theme of this wonderful recital was War, and the Pity of War — one of the many current tributes to those whose lives were lost in the tragedy of the First World War. The texts and songs were not all by the traditional war poets, but included relevant songs by Mahler from Des Knaben Wunderhorn and by Kurt Weill on texts by Walt Whitman, all written earlier. From a selection of more directly “War Poets” work, there was an interesting and moving set of songs by a German composer Rudi Stephan, who was killed in the War, along with the well known setting of songs from A Shropshire Lad by English war victim George Butterworth. Bostridge’s interpretation of these songs was one of the musical highlights of the year. The recital ended splendidly with four songs on the theme of war by Benjamin Britten, from the set “Who are these children?”. Superb. 5*

Moonlight and Night School: two short plays by Harold Pinter at the Harold Pinter Theatre, London  

Two different plays, each showing typical Pinteresque balance between dark humour and profound commentary on human nature. Night School is the more effective play but some overacting to produce comic effect was unnecessary: the dialogue is already full of subtle humour. The productions clearly proved that Pinter deserves to be re-aired at regular intervals. 4*

The Wild Duck, a play by Henrik Ibsen at the Almeida Theatre, London   This adaptation by Robert Icke of the 1884 play brings the setting up to date and adds some modern theatre techniques (e.g. a character letting the audience into a secret unknown to the rest of the cast) but otherwise interferes little with the important and original theme, viz. is truth always better than a lie? This was a controversial issue in Ibsen’s time and is still relevant, except perhaps that today the boundaries between truth and lies are increasingly less well defined. Some superb acting, particularly from the 13-year old girl Grace Doherty, who played the critical and demanding role of Hedvig, the ultimate victim of adults’ games of deception. 4*

Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello) and Isata Kanneh-Mason (piano), a recital at the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool   The original venue of the Music Room (150 seats) had to be changed to the Philharmonic Hall when a further 1000 people tried to book seats. Fine playing from the young award-winning duo, with an interesting programme of sonatas by Debussy, Poulenc and Brahms, but the acoustics of the hall did not do justice to the subtlety of the cello playing, particularly against the restlessness of the audience, some of whom were inevitably attracted by the celebrity of the performers rather than the music. 3*

Wildlife, a film by Paul Dano at Picturehouse at FACT  

A convincing portrait of small-town America in the 60s, where a family fails to conform with the idealised American dream of the time.  The breadwinner has never earned enough for the family to move out of rented accommodation and, when he loses his job, the stay-at-home wife (cleverly played by Carey Mulligan) is obliged to go out to work.  In despair of this criticism of his manhood, the husband deserts the family family on a temporary basis to take up the (manly) job of firefighter, but this leaves his wife to have an affair with an older man she meets at work.  The interest in the film is the way that these events are seen through the eyes of the 14-year old son who reacts stoically but manages to convey the fact that he is entirely ill-equipped emotionally at that age to deal with this traumatic assault on his life  4*

Peterloo, a film by Mike Leigh at Picturehouse at FACT   Mike Leigh's factual historical films -- Mr Turner, Topsy-Turvy and now Peterloo -- offer a very much more traditional take on events than his dramas, with (presumably) more scripted dialogue and emphasis on historical accuracy of costumes and settings.  Peterloo contains all these elements, with a more big-budget look (Amazon funding?) than previously.  The film is long at 2h 45 min and relies a lot on dialogue to explain the historical background to the 1819 massacre by the army of Manchester mill workers as they protested peacefully against poverty wages.  The weaknesses of the film are those of all such attempts to recreate history in a dramatised form: how to reproduce authentic accents and speech from the time; how to create crowd scenes; how to represent working class people as principal characters when in reality they were of no more importance in the plot than any of the other thousand extras.  But the exposition of the history was interesting, and the portrayal of the totally unjustified massacre of innocent people was appropriately shocking.  4*

Allelujah, a play by Alan Bennett transmitted live from the National Theatre to Picturehouse at FACT, Liverpool  

Multiply starred press reviews for Alan Bennett's long-awaited new play, but I was disappointed.  The plot concerns a geriatric hospital ward in the current NHS where patients are long overdue their discharge date but have nowhere to go as long-stay residential care facilities have closed and home care is no longer being provided.  Their situation conflicts with targets set by the NHS for a rapid throughput of patients.  The ward sister is a perfectionist and meets her target, but only by ensuring that patients vacate their beds as a result of their demise.  The play is full of Bennett's usual dark Northern humour and at times matches the quality of his best work, e.g. Talking Heads or the History Boys, but some of the humour is forced and corny and some of the actors are obliged to play caricatures rather than real people.  Probably the best point in the play is when the geriatric patients, all in some way physically or mentally infirm, reveal that, inside themselves, they often feel no older than the 18-year old ward orderly and demonstrate this on stage by a superbly choreographed jive session.  But this dancing was unfortunately repeated too often and so lost its impact and the complex political points being made  -- NHS underfunding, privatisation, immigration status of doctors, detachment of managers from the clinical realities -- were laboured and unsubtle. 2* 

The Burying Party a film by Richard Weston at Birkenhead Central Library  

The hour-long film by Wirral-born director Richard Weston has won multiple awards, including in New York and Los Angeles.  Expertly acted and produced, it tells the story of the relationships between poets Wilfred Owens, Sigried Sassoon and Robert Graves and how they were affected by the tragedy that was the First World War. It deserves to be widely shown. It does, however, require a venue where the sound system allows clear distinction between the background music and accompanying poetry, which Birkenhead Library does not quite manage. 4*

A Dream of Wilfred Owen at Williamson Art Gallery and Museum  

David Charters and Ieuan Cilgwri imaginatively dramatise a dream in which Wilfred Owen's life and the meaning of his poetry are revealed.  The dialogue is accompanied by appropriate music from Orange Zebra and Jenny Airey.  4*

An Evening with the War Poets' Violins at St. Saviour's Church, Oxton  

Three violins carved from a branch of a Sycamore tree from Craiglockhart military hospital, Edinburgh, are played by Steve Burnett (the violin maker) and musicians Thoren Ferguson and Lewis Kelly in a programme of poetry and violin trio.  Wilfred Owen's time at the hospital, where he met Sigrid Sassoon and Robert Graves are brought to life by historian Neil McLennan and curator Catherine Walker.  Thoren Ferguson's new composition Armistice is on the programme prior to its recorded simultaneous performance throughout the world on Armistice Day. #iplay4peace 4*

They Shall Not Grow Old: a film by Peter Jackson at Picturehouse at FACT, Liverpool  

This much-celebrated documentary about the the First World War uses traditional techniques -- archive film overlaid with commentary from survivors -- to present a start-to-finish vision of the war as observed by the young men who fought and, in many cases, died.  What is unique, apart from some film not previously shown, is the computerised transformation of a large part of the black and white footage to colour and the addition of synchronised sound effects.  Suddenly the experience of being in the tranches becomes real in a way that no dramatised version can ever reproduce.      

None of the horrors is spared, because that's what is was like. The effect is traumatic and upsetting, particularly for those who, like myself have close relatives who died in this way and could conceivably be among the men being filmed.  Most poignant was the description and the associated footage of the day when the soldiers were informed that the war had ended and we see British and German young men sitting in the sun together, both too exhausted and disillusioned to even consider the idea of celebrating. The film ends with the return of the soldiers to a country that, through negligence, ignorance or guilt, fails to recognise their sacrifice and condemns them to poverty and unemployment. 5*

Samson & Delilah by Camille Saint-Saens, on film direct from Metropolitan Opera, New York at Picturehouse at FACT, Liverpool

I wasn't sure about this opera, on account of its length and the fact that only one aria is well-known, but it is brilliant and, of course, the NY Met production pulls out all the stops: the superb acting and singing of the chorus, whether as put-upon Israelites or as decadent Philistines, with their accompanying naked dancers. And the soloists -- Roberto Alagna as Samson and Alina Galanca as Delilah -- are at the very top of their profession. It is so good that we can see work of this quality at our local cinema. 5*

Liza Ferschtman (violin) and Martin Roscoe (piano) at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester

Expert playing with some favourites and some discoveries. First exposure, as I recall, to Benjamin Britten's Suite for violin and piano -- more interesting than its early opus number would suggest.  Also unfamiliar with Ysaye's solo violin sonata (Op. 27 no. 2), virtuosic, of course, but interesting. Then both the well-known Elgar and Cesar Franck sonatas were splendidly played. Always a conflict between the high quality of the RNCM recital series and the dreary late-night train journey or drive home from Manchester in the winter dark, but thanks to Mark and Ros for allowing us to use their subscription tickets. 4*

A conversation between Sebastian Barry and Roy Foster at Liverpool Literary Festival

Entertaining 90 minutes in which Sebastian Barry explains some of profound thinking underlying his books and plays, with emphasis (fortunately, because those are the ones I have read/seen) on Days Without End, A Long Long Way and the Steward of Christendom. His research into the subject matter of his novels is impressive : more than 100 books read on the American Civil War for Days Without End. Also and entertaining 90 minutes as he reads extracts from his novels and play in what he sees as the voices of the characters, perfectly illustrating the environments he has created. Roy Foster, Irish historian. was the perfect interviewer.  4*

The Wife, a film by Bjorn Runge  

Mildly implausible tale about a mature US author Joe Castleman who is awarded the Nobel prize for literature in 1992. We observe him and his wife Joan as they hear the news of the award and travel to Stockholm to receive it.  Despite a superficially sound relationship, there is clearly some unspoken tension between the pair that relates to the award of the prize.  The background to this gradually becomes clear in flashbacks to the 1960s when they were young graduates and as a result of the intrusion of a sleazy would-be biographer Nathaniel Bone, played superbly by Christian Slater. The explanation of the conflict is hinted at but only fully emerges, shockingly, at the end of the film.  But, rather than the storyline, it's the finely observed details of their experience in Stockholm and, most importantly, the exceptional acting from Jonathan Pryce as Castleman and, particularly, Glenn Close as Joan, that give the film its quality. 4*

Ulysse: a short film by director Agnes Varda at FACT

One of a number of the new-wave French film director's films being shown at FACT during the Biennial. An interesting exploration of a period in the director's work in which her life was influenced in a number of ways by a simple image of a man, child and dead animal on a beach. 3*

Untitled: a film by Matthias Poledna at The Oratory, Liverpool.

This very short film (a long walk up to the Oratory if only to see it, but the inside of the Oratory is at least itself interesting) further advances the artist's "exploration of modernity's visual imagery". It appears to be set in early 20th Austria and follows a military officer as he walks on the cobbled streets and ultimately collapses. 1*

Cold War: a film by Pawel Pawlikowski at Liverpool FACT  

A sense of deja vu -- back to our arthouse cinema in Bristol in the 1970s, when the Cold War was still a reality.  The film is set in the 1940s, in a Poland recovering from the Second World War, where a musician sets up a dance school to promote Polish nationalist culture, in a form of (unsuccessful) defiance against the imminent hardline control of the country by the Soviet Union.  But it is the background for a 10-year love story between the musician and the young singer from the troupe: a relationship that survives their travels through a bleak post-war Europe and their less than happy experiences.   

Beautifully shot in monochrome, the film creates exactly the right atmosphere  for this ultimately sad story with its very enigmatic ending.   4*

The Children Act.  A film by Richard Eyre  

Based on the novel of the same name by Ian McEwan, whose novels do seem to very readily adaptable to the cinema screen (but then he did write the screenplay for this one himself). This has had very mixed reviews in the press, the main criticism being that the storyline is implausible. This of course is the fault of the book rather than the film and I thought that, if anything, the film made the plot more believable. Besides, I recollect when I first got hold of the book being critical at the time that McEwan had simply picked up the plot from a real case that had been in the media.    

I dare say the portrayal of the judicial procedures was flawed, but Emma Thompson's acting -- she was up front for the entire film -- carried the plot. It was a moving portrayal of the conflicts between private and public life and the inevitable influence they have on relationships. 5*

Jonathan Aasgaard: solo cello recital at the Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead   

Interesting programme of Britten 1st Cello Suite and Weinberg 1st Cello Sonata, both beautifully played by this superb cellist, principal cello at Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.  Looking forward to more Weinberg, which Jonathan will be championing next season in the composer's centenary year. 5* 

Vanessa: opera by Samuel Barber at Glyndebourne Festival Theatre  

A rare (first time for 60 years) to see this opera in the UK, a prize-winning opera at the time it was written but which faded into obscurity, along with the reputation of its composer.  Now Barber's music is well known and popular; so this production is long overdue.   

A dark and ambiguous plot: Vanessa, a middle-aged heiress has shut herself off for 20 years from the outside world while she awaits the return of her former lover, Anatol.  The Anatol who finally arrives turns out to be his son, the original Anatol having died.  The young Anatol remains with the family and immediately seduces Vanessa's neice Erika, who becomes pregnant.  In short, Anatol will engage with either woman, but in the end is rejected by Erika, who deliberately aborts her child, and goes off with Vanessa.  

The ambiguity of the plot -- written by Barber's partner and opera composer in his own right, Gian Carlo Menotti -- is reinforced by the staging, in which both past and possibly future events are shown behind enormous framed mirrors.  Could Erika be Vanessa's daughter and not her neice? Are the relationships between the either of the women and Anatol incestuous?     A superb score by Barber and excellent performances from Emma Bell (Vanessa), Virgine Verrez (Erika) and Edgaras Montvidas (Anatol), among many.  And a clever use of video to portray the bleak Northern environment in which the opera is set. 5*