Shostakovich’s First at 100

The composer himself never matched the joy, optimism and boldness of his first teenage symphony, as the chill of Stalinism settled on his music

From Eurovision to the Venice Biennale, culture contests are being overshadowed by politics

The Venice Biennale, Eurovision and Cannes are framed as artists representing their nations. But in a fractured world, national identity seems increasingly futile

Sting embarks on "The Last Ship"

For centuries the English city of Newcastle was a hard-scrabble industrial powerhouse that built ships. It was also the hometown of the rock musician Sting, who as a young man witnessed the city's shipbuilding business dry up. He's paid homage to his town's heritage by writing and starring in a musical, "The Last Ship," which he's now taking on an international tour. He talks with Mark Phillips about his long career, and why he can't stop working.

A Great Actor Who Is Also a Perfect Celebrity

Culture and entertainment recommendations from Dan Zak

Georg Baselitz

The German painter, who has died aged 88, captured the great rupture of the 20th century, which shaped a body of work that helped redefine postwar art

Return of Aparicio painting to Prado exemplifies trajectory of human taste

Once the Madrid museum’s biggest draw, The Year of the Famine in Madrid fell out of favour for political and aesthetic reasons

Tom Gauld on almost reading the greats

So near and yet …

Tate at a turning point: new director must confront unwieldy ‘beast’ of an art institution

As Maria Balshaw steps down after nine years, her successor at the gallery needs to forge a fresh financial and cultural path

Grayson Perry Has Seen the Future to Miroirs No 3: The Week in Rave Reviews

The artist and national treasure explores the terrifying onset of AI, and Christian Petzold and Paula Beer team up again for a mysterious drama. Here’s the pick of the week’s culture, taken from the Guardian’s best-rated reviews

The Flying Dutchman review

Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Jack Furness’s unconventional staging for Welsh National Opera sees the orchestra play up a storm under Tomáš Hanus in Wagner’s legend of the man condemned to sail the oceans for eternity

Avenue Q review

Shaftesbury theatre, LondonTwenty years since its West End debut, the sweetly subversive musical returns with a few tweaks and a lot of heart

Filthy fossil fuels, a dizzying debut and the ominous side of the moon

Digital wizard John Gerrard on the energy industry, Michaela Yearwood-Dan’s first UK museum exhibition and a foreboding view from Artemis II – all in your weekly dispatch