Music to die for
The elegant narrative solution of suicide has had no greater cheerleader than opera
Ethics men
Opera directors are utilising programme books to purvey their moral and ethical wisdom
Getting wrecked
Dame Ethel Smyth’s opera dated quickly, but it hardly hurts to have another look at it
The original, best and shortest English opera
John Blow, Venus and Adonis; Henry Purcell, Dido and Aeneas (HGO)
Singing lessons
Spare us the social justice preaching
Let’s appreciate Wagner for Wagner
Politics and historical commentary aside, Lohengrin is currently on at Covent Garden
Such sweet sorrow
Lent is an ideal time to take pleasure in a gentle, contemplative and very English strand of musical melancholia
Godunov for me
Ignoring Russian opera — and, in particular, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov — is a mistake
Genuine English opera
‘Peter Grimes’ labours under the weight of national anxieties
Strange happenings back in the USSR
The brilliant story of a Francis Bacon exhibition in Moscow
Childhood reclaimed
Mobile phones have been constraining our kids’ imaginations — but it does not have to be this way
The government is failing Northern Ireland
Its reputation will be stained forever by the Northern Ireland Protocol and the Windsor Framework
Dumb, glum and zero-sum
British thinking has to value supply more than distribution
Ghostbusted
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is heroically pointless
Playing the victim
A new book satirises the bizarre dynamics of social justice activism
Arresting the fertility crisis
Britain needs more babies — and it is far from alone
Small talk and big asks
Men’s mental health is a serious matter — but it is wrong to expect people to be lifesavers
Very public introspection
The content of “misery lit” is disturbing, but what purpose does it serve?
Where is so much gender confusion coming from?
The scope of inquiry into gender and young people should be expanded to schools
Exhibiting military history
Four new exhibitions offer vivid insights into different experiences of war
The deep wisdom of rootedness
Society has lost touch with the people and places who helped to shape it in the first place
