Why we need orchestras
China has grasped that an orchestra is more than a payroll of musicians
The twilight of genius
Dmitri Shostakovich: The last 3 quartets (Harmonia Mundi)
A better America
American Tapestry (Signum)
Schubert à la mould
Prize-winning pianism curdles into self-regard
Small chips off an old block
Soulima Stravinsky (Nimbus)
Bird man of Finland
Einojuhani Rautavaara: Cantus arcticus/Hugo Alfven: Gustav II Adolf (Chandos)
Anything you can do …
Mendelssohn, Enescu: Octets (Erato)
A centenary to celebrate
Ida Haendel: Violin Concertos (ICA Classics)
Album of the Year
Arvo Pärt: And I heard a voice
Emotional restraint
Josef Bohuslav Foerster: 2nd symphony; Cyrano de Bergerac (Naxos)
Most Read
Why they hated Ann Widdecombe
Fair-minded people could agree or disagree with her opinions. Left-wing bigots hated her for not abandoning them
A chaplain’s vindication
The case of Dr Bernard Randall has exposed the rot in our institutions
Amnesty irrational
Gender identity ideologues cannot get away with baseless smears any more
The myth of banned books
If transgression is fun and easy, it is probably not transgressive
The case against recognising Somaliland
The Somaliland lobby is being dangerously naive about the realities of the region
Better Slayyyter than never
Like the first Strokes album if Max Martin had produced it
Eine kleine Berlinermusik
Berlin! Berlin! Berlin! (Bis); Love Maps (TXYart)
A very American birthday party
n the USA’s divisive 250th birthday celebrations
Life for petty theft?
IPP sentences are a shocking stain on the criminal justice system that the Prime Minister would do well to kill off
California dying
The world’s dream factory now produces scenes from a dystopia
A second Northern Ireland?
How the SNP squandered a major opportunity for independence
Fisticuffs over the fourth movement
When did classical music become so disturbingly polite?
The Reparations Game
Chris and Henry talk to Nigel Biggar about reparations.
The mirage of majesty
Royal charm cannot disguise Britain’s shrinking power in a transactional world
Broken windows
If small instances of disorder are neglected, greater ones will soon be committed
Manchesterism is dead in the water
Andy Burnham already appears to have abandoned hope for meaningful change