You can’t improve on Schubert
Franz Schubert: Orchestral Songs, 9th symphony (Chandos)
This earthy opera is a real sob story
I have seen seven different productions of Jenůfa and I never fail to be overcome
Royally good
The King’s Singers: Such stuff as dreams are made on (Signum)
Exceptional performance by a cancelled conductor
Stravinsky: Le Rossignol (Erato)
When only Elgar will do
Edward Elgar: 2nd symphony (SOMM)
Boulez celebrated but titans ignored
Two painful coincidences underline the imbalance of a presidential command
Sheer sensual pleasure
Fatma Said: Lieder (Warner Classics)
Mahler done right
Gustav Mahler: 7th symphony (BR Klassik)
Hahn and Gál: Music out of time
Two composers who stuck to their musical roots as the world turned
Rouvali’s subtle genius
Santtu-Matias Rouvali delivers a masterclass in restraint and resonance in Shostakovich’s 6 and 9
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We should feel fortunate indeed to have the Aeneid
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Orbánism is not dead
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He kept the flame of classicism alive at a time when it burnt very low
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Self-inflicted misery
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Why 1776 matters to modern Britain
The American founding is a case study in peaceful regime change
Indefinite leave, unlimited access
While Westminster fixates on survival, a deeper battle will decide whether mass migration becomes a permanent and costly feature of the state
A king’s ramsons
Look after the woods, and they will continue to give
North Korea’s rogue state development
How Kim Jong Un is embracing the modern world
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