(Deutsche Grammophon)
Olafsson’s account of Beethoven’s Op 109 is one of the most beautiful on record, the centrepiece of a recording that links the composer to Bach and Schubert

Disinclined to follow the herd and record Beethoven’s three final piano sonatas as a job lot, Víkingur Ólafsson has chosen to circle one of them, No 30 in E major, Op 109, locating it in a musical timeline that reflects both the composer’s past and the Viennese milieu of the early 18th century.

For Ólafsson, looking backwards means turning to Bach, whose musical fingerprints he detects all over late Beethoven. The latter’s uninhibited invention, he argues, has its roots firmly in the baroque with its improvisatory elements and enthusiasm for the dance.

The acclaimed documentarian’s latest epic series has been in the works for a decade and features A-list contributions from Meryl Streep to Tom Hanks

Ken Burns is no longer a mere documentarian; he is a brand, a franchise, a one-man industrial complex. When he has a new project heading for the small screen, everybody wants a part of him.

Burns has done “more fucking podcasts than I ever thought possible”, he says, nearing the end of nine-month promotional tour that included 40 cities, 80 screenings and hundreds of interviews. “I think there are 340.1m podcasts, one for every American, and I’ve done half of them.”

Lucia Braham has spent 10 years documenting women in motorcycle culture in Australia and the US. Her new exhibition in conjunction with the 2025 Head On photo festival’s Open Program is on now until 30 November at the Enmore Hotel, Enmore

As the veteran actor turns 100 he reveals that he was approached to play the British spy in the early 60s, but realised his accent wouldn’t have been up to scratch

For more than six decades, the actor Dick Van Dyke has been pilloried for his attempts at a British accent in Mary Poppins (1964). Now, the actor who has since apologised for the “most atrocious cockney accent in the history of cinema” as chimney sweep Bert in the Disney classic has revealed he was in the running to play another UK icon on screen: James Bond.

Speaking on the Today TV programme in the US , Van Dyke, who turns 100 next month, said that Bond producer Albert Broccoli approached him to ask if he fancied the role of the British spy in his first big screen outing.

Musician says seeing national flags on recent visits to Luton and Dublin ‘doesn’t make me feel safe’

The UK and Ireland are entering “dark times”, according to the singer Joy Crookes, who said the influence of far-right ideology on mainstream politics is comparable to the 1970s when the National Front was at its peak.

Crookes, who has just played two sold out shows at the O2 Academy in Brixton, said that the recent wave of nationalism and the far-right march through central London in September made her feel unsafe in the UK.

Southwark Playhouse Elephant, London
A rollercoaster accident leaves six choristers in limbo, each having to make their case for a second chance on Earth in this eccentric show

Well, this is a peculiar musical. Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell’s cult hit, which began life in a fringe theatre in Canada in 2009, has the spirit of the circus woven into its fabric. It arrives in London, quirks and all, in a wonderfully eccentric production directed by Lizzi Gee.

A story about six high-school choristers sent spiralling to their demise from a rollercoaster is hardly the most conventional ground for an all-singing, all-dancing show. But as we travel with them into a space between life and death, where they are forced to compete for a second chance on Earth, the narrative gradually slips away from its morbid trappings and celebrates life.

Actor praises co-star in abominably reviewed Ryan Murphy legal drama, and claims show deserved more appreciation

Glenn Close has hit back at the critical mauling for her recent series All’s Fair. The actor stars in Ryan Murphy’s legal drama, which has received a string of zero-star reviews. In her appraisal, the Guardian’s Lucy Mangan described it as: “Fascinatingly, incomprehensibly, existentially terrible.” The series currently holds a 3% rating on reviews site Rotten Tomatoes .

According to Close, the main issue was the choice to air the worst three episodes first. “I personally think that the first three episodes were the weakest,” she told Variety. “That was a tough way to start. I’ve seen all nine episodes, and I think it actually adds up to something.”

As she launches her first children’s book, the actor answers your questions on Alan Partridge, her iconic green dress and thrilling 10-year-olds with a bullseye

Have you read or listened to the delightful chapter in Alan Partridge’s Big Beacon where he demands: “We came for Knightley, we want to see Knightley, where’s Knightley?” dcieron
No! Do I want to see it? Or is it something that will make me cringe and want to hide under the sofa? I do like Alan Partridge. He’s kind of terrifying but amazing, so now that I know I’ve been a part of Alan Partridge, I should check it out.

When you first wore the green dress in Atonement, did you realise how iconic it would be? Murdomania
I thought it was a bloody good dress. It never actually lasted. It was so fragile that, any time you touched the front, it would completely break, so they had to make a load of different fronts. By the end, I was thoroughly sick with having the dress remade on me. But it’s a beautiful dress and I had no idea that it would have the life that it did.

Royal Court theatre, Liverpool
Paul Duckworth’s sweary Scrooge has romantic history with Marley’s widow in a pun-heavy festive show

Whether it’s Paul Hilton at London’s Old Vic this winter or Marti Pellow in Glasgow next year, you’re never far from a Scrooge during the festive season. Only one of them, however, will strip down to his long johns as he sings I’m Too Sexy by Right Said Fred.

At Liverpool’s Royal Court they do things differently. With his brushed back mane of silvery hair, Paul Duckworth’s Scrooge is not just miserly, he is also libidinous and foul-mouthed, not to mention being a hot shot on the harmonica.

At Royal Court theatre, Liverpool , until 24 January