Today’s highlights
Art
The bank that thinks it’s a gallery
Corporate giants buy great art like stocks and shares – and then hide it from the public. But in Italy, things are thankfully a little different…
A great British refugee’s pottery throwdown
Hans Coper fled the Nazis – and found a post-war state ready to sponsor art as it rebuilt the country
Paule Vézelay, the reinventor
Marjorie Watson-Williams changed her name to Paule Vézelay, her home city from Bristol to Paris… and then set about changing art
Siena, the shining city
For a golden period, the Tuscan hill town ruled the art world. Now its treasures are reassembled in a remarkable exhibition
Turning Elon’s toxic masculinity into art
Starting ‘by accident’ 10 years ago, the Profanities Embroidery Group has been described by the comedian Kathy Burke as a punk version of the Women’s Institute
Warsaw’s museum of the future
Poland’s capital city boasts a variety of museums commemorating history, but MSN Warsaw has a futuristic approach to culture
Books
Jules Verne, the writer who travelled in his imagination
The Frenchman always stressed that he was a writer of science fact, not science fiction
The horror that spawned Putin
The siege of Leningrad brought desperation, degradation and death – and a host of stories which shaped a future dictator
Liverpool and the worldmakers
Throughout the 20th century, the currents of global change pulsed through the city. One man was at the centre of it all
Black Bag will keep you guessing until the very end
Forty years since his first feature film, Steven Soderbergh has rarely been better
The days of Dolce Vita
Hollywood on the Tiber lifts the lid of Rome’s riotous postwar film industry
Eimear McBride is not playing games
The Irish writer with the ‘blazingly daring’ style is back. But don’t call her the next James Joyce
Music
Healing through harmony: 20 years of the European Doctors Orchestra
The EDO celebrated the milestone with a public charity concert at the Glasshouse International Centre for Music in Gateshead
Can Eurovision still unite Europe by music?
In divisive times, the contest still holds extraordinary power, explains Chris Harms of Lord Of The Lost – even if you finish last
Everyday Philosophy: John Cage and the sound of silence
A collective called the 1000 Artists have followed in the composer’s footsteps by releasing a silent protest album
Barry Harris, the man who made European jazz
The American jazz pianist had a passion for teaching music, and created a bridge between the worlds of bebop and classical
Giuseppe Di Stefano, the tenor who captivated Callas
‘Pippo’ soared to fame alongside Maria Callas in the 1950s but his playboy lifestyle ultimately led to the loss of his golden voice
The Mail’s musical mishap
A scoop about cult singer Mark E Smith’s will falls down on inspection
Film
The iron curtain and the silver screen
Under communism, Polish artists were given freedom to produce posters advertising Hollywood films in a way their makers never dreamed of
Black Bag will keep you guessing until the very end
Forty years since his first feature film, Steven Soderbergh has rarely been better
The days of Dolce Vita
Hollywood on the Tiber lifts the lid of Rome’s riotous postwar film industry
Capucine, the French cover girl turned Hollywood star
It was while the 22-year-old Germaine Lefebvre was walking down a Parisian street that her life was forever changed
The Seagull is an evening of convention-busting Chekhov
The imaginative liberties on show here are the trademark of director Thomas Ostermeier
Ken Adam, the fighter pilot who defined the look of Bond
Like Stanley Kubrick, his gift was to imagine and then realise the unimaginable, the unrealisable – places you could never go
Theatre
Black Bag will keep you guessing until the very end
Forty years since his first feature film, Steven Soderbergh has rarely been better
The Seagull is an evening of convention-busting Chekhov
The imaginative liberties on show here are the trademark of director Thomas Ostermeier
Review: You wait ages for a great role for a woman.. in Backstroke, two come at once
Celia Imrie and Tamsin Greig are funny, tragic and unforgettable
Review: Tom Hiddleston’s CBeebies Shakespeare is a waste of space hopper
Hayley Atwell can’t save a witless update of Much Ado About Nothing
Vulnerable, terrifying Rami Malek will have you in rhapsodies
The man who played Freddie Mercury stuns in an Oedipus revival
The Ambassadress of French Song
One chance encounter transforming a life is rare enough. Guilbert enjoyed two a few days apart
Great European Lives
Jules Verne, the writer who travelled in his imagination
The Frenchman always stressed that he was a writer of science fact, not science fiction
Capucine, the French cover girl turned Hollywood star
It was while the 22-year-old Germaine Lefebvre was walking down a Parisian street that her life was forever changed
Ken Adam, the fighter pilot who defined the look of Bond
Like Stanley Kubrick, his gift was to imagine and then realise the unimaginable, the unrealisable – places you could never go
Giuseppe Di Stefano, the tenor who captivated Callas
‘Pippo’ soared to fame alongside Maria Callas in the 1950s but his playboy lifestyle ultimately led to the loss of his golden voice
The Pirate who valued his authenticity above all else
At a time when cyclists had begun to resemble machines, Pantani was almost impossibly human, unable to conceal his emotions
The soprano dubbed the ‘highest expression of Venus on Earth’
Her career as one of the world’s leading operatic sopranos often came second to gushing entreaties to her ravishing appearance