Treasured, Anglican Cathedral, Liverpool

TREASURED, ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL, LIVERPOOL The story of the Titanic is spectacularly reimagined in the city where the ship was registered

The story of the Titanic is spectacularly reimagined in the city where the ship was registered

You could say that the Titanic has been done to death, and that any new show would really need to say something different, something so far unknown, unearth a new angle, find new facts. To some extent, Treasured does that. Who’s ever heard of Mouser, the Titanic cat, who is supposed to have carried all six of her new-born kittens off the ship in Southampton?  Allegedly her feline prescience sensed impending doom.

Henry, RLPO, Petrenko, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool

HENRY, RLPO, PETRENKO Kurt Schwertsik’s flute concerto receives its world premiere in Liverpool

Kurt Schwertsik’s flute concerto receives its world premiere in Liverpool

The prospect of a new concerto from a largely unknown composer who, it’s safe to say, had never been performed previously in Liverpool may have seemed a little daunting. By the end of the 22-minute world premiere, however, rapturous applause greeted this approachable, tuneful, understated and, above all, gentle work. This was so much the case that it will no doubt be heard again soon.

Good Cop, BBC One

GOOD COP, BBC ONE New prime time police drama is handcuffed by cliché

The BBC's new prime time police drama is handcuffed by cliché

A sense of déjà vu strikes from the very first shot. It is a dark and stormy night. A lone man staggers down an empty street through the lashing rain. Once indoors we see he has blood on his hands. A minute has not yet passed but Warren Brown – for it is he – tears his shirt off. Before we can admire the size of the former cage fighter’s guns he produces a real one. Roll titles.

Good Cop: From Page to Screen

GOOD COP: FROM PAGE TO SCREEN The creator of the BBC's new police drama outlines the ABC of screenwriting

The creator of the BBC's new police drama outlines the ABC of screenwriting

On Thursday the BBC will screen the opening episode of the television drama Good Cop. I finished writing it back in August 2010, and on the strength of that story and ideas for a total of four episodes, the series was green-lit in February 2011. We completed filming (pictured below) by the end of December 2011, then came post-production. Now at last we have our transmission date and it will be broadcast to the world.

Maxwell Davies Ninth Symphony, RLPO, Petrenko, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool

MAXWELL DAVIES NINTH SYMPHONY: The Master of the Queen's Music rounds on the recent armed interventions

The Master of the Queen's Music rounds on the recent armed interventions

The new Ninth Symphony, from the pen of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, is something of a paradox.  It was commissioned by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the Helskinki Philharmonic Orchestra and is dedicated to the Queen on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee. And yet it is a round condemnation of the nation’s interventions – called "disastrous" by the composer in his programme notes – in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Help! Are you a John or a Paul?

Open auditions for a show timed for the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' first single

One day soon Beatles scholars and Professors of Fabology will emerge from their caverns and their ashrams to inform us that it was 50 years ago today. On 5 October 1962 “Love Me Do” was released and, to recycle a phrase often appended to lesser earthquakes, the world would never be the same again. There will be celebrations, doubtless, across the universe. Tribute bands will perform bootleg gigs in the likes of, probably, Indonesia and the Baltic, all booted and suited and moptopped up and harmonising like the Everlys etc etc.

theartsdesk in Liverpool: The Sea Odyssey

THE SEA ODYSSEY: Titanic-themed street puppeteering on an epic scale takes over Liverpool for the weekend

Titanic-themed street puppeteering on an epic scale takes over Liverpool for the weekend

There is something surreal about emerging from an underground station in Liverpool and being confronted by an enormous giant lumbering its way up the street. Even coming up the escalator it is possible to hear the band accompanying this gigantic being merging with the roar of delight from the crowd. And crowds there have been. Over the three days of the Sea Odyssey it is estimated that 600,000 people have seen the latest street theatre creation from Nantes-based Royal De Luxe.

Lindberg, Cowen, RLPO, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool

LINDBERG, COWEN, RLPO: It's not often you hear a concerto for one trombone. Premiering in Liverpool was one for two

It's not often you hear a concerto for one trombone. Premiering in Liverpool was one for two

There’s always a bit of a buzz around a premiere, even one which may seem slightly off-the-wall. Jan Sandström’s Echoes of Eternity is a concerto for two solo trombones – unusual in itself, given that there are precious few concerti for just one solo trombone – and symphony orchestra. Add to that the fact that one of the soloists is also the conductor and it’s easy to see that this piece is beginning to get complicated.