Russians are prone to ask the big questions, and among them, resonating periodically and patriotically, from film studio corridors to the Kremlin itself, is, "What is the state of our national film industry?" A partial answer is provided by a fleet of films in three forthcoming British festivals. And the forecast? Much darkness visible. But a rare chance to see five classic Soviet musicals from the 1930s to the 1940s on the big screen in Britain does something to brighten the picture.

The term "Awards Ceremony" can strike terror into the stoutest of hearts, but hats off to the masterminds of the 2009 Classic FM Gramophone awards. Their shindig at the Dorchester was enjoyable, educational, and even intermittently hilarious (and for the right reasons).

Mathieu Herzog, viola player with France's Quatuor Ebène who carried off the lusted-after Recording Of The Year award for their disc of Debussy, Ravel and Fauré, even ran Antoine "Eurotrash" de Caunes close as the Frenchman the Brits love to love. Having tried, and failed, to phone his French amis back home to share the moment ("no signal," he shrugged), he took photos of the audience instead, before warning us that since the Quatuor's next disc would be pop and jazz, it might be years before Gramophone critics gave his combo the nod a second time.

Refreshingly lacking in the glittery crossover celebs who drape themselves over the Classical Brits, the event packed in nutritious quantities of classical bang-per-buck. Octogenarian Austrian conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt made a worthy recipient of the Lifetime Achievement award, speed-fingered 22-year-old pianist Yuja Wang collected Young Artist of the Year, and the Artist of the Year paperweight went to the very lovely Harry Christophers and his ensemble The Sixteen.

Solo Vocal award was scooped by baritone Gerald Finley (an ex-member of The Sixteen, as he reminded us) and pianist Julius Drake, while Bryn Terfel (pictured right) loomed onto the stage to collect the Choral gong on behalf of the Dream of Gerontius recording by the Hallé Orchestra under conductor Sir Mark Elder.

Steven Osborne cheerily trousered the Concerto award for his Britten Piano Concerto, then amazed the house by springing to the piano and rocketing through Oscar Peterson's scarily rapid (Back Home Again In) Indiana, skilfully managing not to sound like a classical pianist at all. Assorted live performances, from The Sixteen singing plainsong to slightly bonkers contemporary music, were sprinkled refreshingly throughout the proceedings.

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“Cricket was very much part of my life from the day I was born,” Harold Pinter once said, only partly joking. “There was a general feeling about cricket. In the 1930s the whole of England loved cricket, I think – that was my impression as a child, anyway, when I was six months old.”

Last night I was thinking, as I often do, of Britney, Kylie, Beyoncé, and less of Shakira, mainly because her name doesn’t end in y or e. The reason that my thoughts turned to Britney et al (incidentally we are delighted to have britneyspearsfans @BritneySpears4u site following theartsdesk on Twitter) was a list published this Saturday in the Telegraph of the best 100 songs of the Noughties.

Outside it’s snowing in the pale and spectral city of St Petersburg. Inside it’s 4.30 am and we’ve been drinking for several hours in a restaurant next to the Mariinsky Theatre when Valery Gergiev, for many the world’s greatest conductor and with a reputation as a wild man, suggests now would be the best time for an interview with him.

Welcome to the first professionally produced arts critical website in Britain, theartsdesk.com, a new space for reviews and features about all the arts from live to recorded. Attendance at live music, galleries, theatres and other arts events has never been higher, and even seems to be increasing, but print arts coverage is in decline. We want to reflect the health of the arts scene and the potential of the web with a new kind of coverage.