Norman Lebrecht

Norman Lebrecht is a British commentator on music and cultural affairs, a novelist, and the author of the classical music blog Slipped Disc. He was a columnist for The Daily Telegraph from 1994 to 2002, and assistant editor of the London Evening Standard from 2002 to 2009. He tweets at @NLebrecht

Hahn’s finely honed skills as a violinist are seldom in demand on this one-star album

Artillery Row

The baritone Matthias Goerne sings with a voice like brushed velvet and diction clearer than iced vodka in this five-star album

Lebrecht's Album of the Week

Norman Lebrecht says an affair with Coco Chanel did Stravinsky’s PR, and hers, no harm at all

On Music

The climaxes are sensational, some of the strongest music Penderecki ever created; we may never see its like again

Lebrecht's Album of the Week

Stanchinsky occupies a tonal territory midway between Rachmaninov and Scriabin; an amalgam of suppurating misery and crackpot visionary

Lebrecht's Album of the Week

Gulda’s Symphony in G has 35 minutes of invention, which is more than can be said for most late-twentieth century symphonies

Lebrecht's Album of the Week

Music has lost its unpredictability, its thrilling fear while sport’s passion shines, says Norman Lebrecht

On Music

Alexander Tchaikovsky’s Quarantine Symphony triggers a subtle, wordless response to the things we are experiencing

Lebrecht's Album of the Week

If you want to know what a piano can do, you really need to settle down with this absorbing world of sound

Lebrecht's Album of the Week

The outstanding Offenburg String Trio play a gripping compilation of some of the most richly coloured and painfully consequential music you are ever likely to hear

Lebrecht's Album of the Week