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Adrian Ainsworth

@adrianspecs.bsky.social
425 followers 243 following 639 posts

Mostly music, art, film & photography. Likes writing about all of these: formerly on the ‘Specs’ blog, now part of the ArtMuseLondon team.

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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
🖼️🤔👓 Powerful, timeless work in its ideal setting: Henry Moore at @kewgardens.bsky.social is a must-see. More enthusiasm (& photographic evidence) in my post for ArtMuseLondon here… artmuselondon.com/2026/09/27/l...
artmuselondon.com
Life forms: ‘Henry Moore: Monumental Nature’, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK
This exhibition brings together the largest-ever outdoor assembly of Moore’s work, and marks almost two decades since his pieces were last shown at Kew Gardens. Much has happened since then. That p…
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Enjoyed the Anish Kapoor exhibition - the scale & intensity are staggering in places, & perfect for a space like the Hayward. (Gigantic entrails not pictured.)
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Here for some big shapes. I should fit right in!
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Beautiful recital from Xuefei Yang this evening: the Silk Road was the through-line as she showed how the rhythms & melodies of east & west could cohere. A soundtrack to the vivid images she placed in our mind’s eye. Superb.
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
A beautiful setting - St George’s Hanover Square - to hear this fascinating programme from the wonderful Xuefei Yang. Looking forward!
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Powerful, uplifting evening at the Moment’s Notice gig tonight (or last night!)… there to support the brilliant @rebecaomordia.bsky.social but the whole thing was a thrill. Had to miss the final set (trains 🙄) but still so glad I went.
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
😍 Mrs Specs (Bruges, Sept 2026).
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Spent yesterday among the Henry Moore sculptures at @rbgkew.bsky.social. A magnificent retrospective.
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
🖼️🤔👓 Giving this post for ArtMuseLondon another nudge as I feel rather evangelical about these albums. More song-based enthusiasm here: artmuselondon.com/2026/08/31/g...
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Second slightly boozy night out in a row!
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Flying solo today, heading for 2 exhibitions: ✅ 🇺🇸 Photography @dulwichgallery.bsky.social ❔Possible record shop detour ✅ Whistler at Tate Britain Looking forward! Hair apparently declaring independence.
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
👏👏👏💐💐💐 @mischiefcomedy.bsky.social. Such skill & commitment in the service of uncontrollable laughter. 🫡
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Ready for more Mischief at the Adelphi!
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Very excited at the prospect of a 5-year @thegesualdosix.bsky.social residency @wigmore-hall.org.uk. Off to a sublime start this evening with their programme of English Motets. 👏👏👏
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Our final Prom of the summer: very civilised late morning start. Sumptuous playing from the Sinfonia of London Strings, joined by the excellent Julie Roset for Britten’s ‘Les illuminations’.
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Specs gang photobombed by John Wilson at this morning’s Prom! 😉
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
🖼️🤔👓 In my latest post for @ArtMuseLondon, I get vocal about some of the excellent song albums released so far this year… artmuselondon.com/2026/08/31/g...
artmuselondon.com
Going for a song: a recital disc round-up
Do not adjust your browser: this is not my annual ‘recordings of the year’ post, four months early. However, I feel that in my favourite area of classical music – song – there’s been an…
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Damnation acclamation @bbcradio3bot.bsky.social Proms this evening! 👏👏👏
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Pair of Specs (& honorary Spec-tator David) back at the Proms for some devilish entertainment. Looking forward!
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Emerging from the barber’s to enjoy the brief interval before I devolve back into caveman level.
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
😔 Dolly Parton. youtu.be/z9CODdcyS8E?...
youtu.be
Steady as the Rain
YouTube video by Dolly Parton - Topic
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
The sightseeing concludes… on way home today #InverSpecs
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Pair of Specs, Logie Steading.
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
The sightseeing continues… #InverSpecs
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Outing to Cawdor Castle. #InverSpecs
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Outing to Logie Steading. #InverSpecs
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
What a set. 🤩 Contains ‘Giant Steps’, ‘Coltrane Jazz’, ‘My Favorite Things’, ‘Olé Coltrane’, ‘Coltrane Plays The Blues’, & ‘Coltrane’s Sound’. C’mon September!
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
The sightseeing continues… #InverSpecs
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Return to Perth. #InverSpecs
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
BIG DAY OUT! Pair of Specs just setting off to Perth for Scottish Colourists exhibition. (📷 Mrs Specs)
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
The sightseeing continues… #InverSpecs
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
More Cromarty. #InverSpecs
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
The sightseeing continues… #InverSpecs
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Outing to Cromarty. #InverSpecs
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
First scone of the holiday! 😋 #InverSpecs
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Pair of Specs, with a couple of Specs-tras 😉. We reach Inverness: gloriously, invigoratingly cool. Even in the airport car park.
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Two masked balls for the price of, er, two at the splendid @operahollandpark.bsky.social this week: a sparkling #OHPFledermaus & a powerful #OHPBallo. Superb entertainments both, a unique atmosphere & still the best interval cuppa. 🙌
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Reposted by Adrian Ainsworth
Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
🖼️🤔👓 After seeing @openspacer.bsky.social’s brilliant ‘Tao of Glass’ at Soho Place, I called it “a riveting tapestry of music, mystery & memory’. More enthusiasm is now available in my write-up for ArtMuseLondon here…
artmuselondon.com
Echo chamber: ‘Tao of Glass’, Soho Place, London, UK
‘Tao of Glass’ is somewhere between play and performance art, a mix of memoir, meditation and music. It’s a show only actor-director Phelim McDermott could create, and probably only now. It brings …
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Good challenge. A few I didn’t see in the thread… Roxy Music: For Your Pleasure, Stranded, Country Life. Elvis Costello & Attractions: Armed Forces, Get Happy!, Trust; w/o Attractions: Spike, Mighty Like a Rose, Brutal Youth (ish). Richard Thompson: You? Me? Us?, Mock Tudor, The Old Kit Bag.
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
🖼️🤔👓 After seeing @openspacer.bsky.social’s brilliant ‘Tao of Glass’ at Soho Place, I called it “a riveting tapestry of music, mystery & memory’. More enthusiasm is now available in my write-up for ArtMuseLondon here…
artmuselondon.com
Echo chamber: ‘Tao of Glass’, Soho Place, London, UK
‘Tao of Glass’ is somewhere between play and performance art, a mix of memoir, meditation and music. It’s a show only actor-director Phelim McDermott could create, and probably only now. It brings …
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
📷 Asked to do a photo session for my friend Andy recently: very pleased with the results. (As is he, fortunately!)
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Pair of Specs, at large. I’m trying out my new air-conditioning hat.
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
‘Tao of Glass’ at Soho Place is a riveting tapestry of music, mystery & memory: Phelim McDermott is wit, raconteur, visionary & sage all rolled into one, making this universal, generous body of work deeply personal. I loved it.
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Applause photos from last night’s excellent Prom: first Poulenc, then the colossal forces amassed for the Adams. 👏👏👏
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Pair of Specs, Royal Albert Hall.
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Pair of Specs on day-long cultural mission. Agenda: ✅ Escher at Somerset House ✅ Hepworth at Courtauld Gallery ✅ 🍕 ✅ Poulenc / Adams at the Proms Looking forward!
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Magnificent Prom by Sinfonia of London tonight: applause at interval after the Walton Cello Concerto, then for the ensemble after an inspirational performance of Respighi’s Roman Trilogy. 👏👏👏
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
First of four Proms this year. Love the Sinfonia of London’s Respighi disc so very excited for this!
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
🖼️🤔👓 The Marilyn Monroe exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery achieves something remarkable, looking at the iconic star’s career through a new lens. More enthusiasm in my write-up for ArtMuseLondon here…. artmuselondon.com/2026/07/19/s...
artmuselondon.com
Still life: ‘Marilyn Monroe: a Portrait’, National Portrait Gallery, London
I confess: initially I was in two minds about even attending this exhibition. The hook, for the record, is that 2026 marks Marilyn Monroe’s centenary year. Even so, i was a little sceptical about w…
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Adrian Ainsworth @adrianspecs.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
We’ve made it to the 9.30am screening, so it’s not just you having a tough time, Odysseus.
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