Lebrecht’s Album of the Week
Peers but not equals
Ferdinand Ries: Symphonies 1&2 (Ondine); Franz Clement: Solo violin works (Naxos)
Sensitivity of a high order
Sibelius and Prokofiev: Violin concertos (Decca)
Well-behaved Beethoven
Beethoven: Triple concerto and British folksongs (Decca)
Polish strings
Grazyna Bacewicz: Symphonies 3 &4; Concerto for string orchestra (both on Chandos)
Music for a disintegrating world
Valentin Silvestrov: Widmung, Postludium (Naxos)
Music for a warm bath
Bloch, Bruch, Dohnanyi (Claves)
In praise of the viola
Cantabile: Anthems for viola (Delphian)
An array of civilised music
Walter Kaufmann: 3rd piano concerto, 3rd symphony &c. (CPO)
Musical no man’s lands
Two violin concertos fail to inspire
A masterpiece in miniature
Taneyev, Schumann: Piano quintets (Signum)
Most Read
The Book of JO’B
James O’Brien’s aggressive incuriosity is becoming ever more embattled as his worldview crumbles
The rise and fall of Nicola Sturgeon
The former SNP leader squandered her talents in a classic tale of hubris
Fear and fury in Belfast
Violence spiralled out of control in Northern Ireland in the aftermath of a shocking crime
The screaming spires
Oxford University must clarify where it stands on academic freedom
Nigel Farage, community leader
The logic of multiculturalism is turning on its architects
Assisted suicide has been dealt a fatal blow
The Scottish Parliament arrived at the right decision. Westminster should do the same
A second Northern Ireland?
How the SNP squandered a major opportunity for independence
Unreadable red bile
This anti-capitalist screed is profoundly and irredeemably fatuous
Terry tackles literary lightweights
Is a distinguished professor right to hold intellectual biography in low esteem?
The hollow men
T. S. Eliot understood contemporary politicians better than they understand themselves
The enduring fascination of Richard Nixon
Why America’s most contradictory president still exerts a strange grip on the political imagination.
Joyous genre-bending
Milestones (Signum Classics)
Selling the commons
How Britain put a price on nature
The sickness of Sickfluencers
Social media and AI are enabling the exploitation of our benefits system
Irish anti-Israel agitation is out of control
Anti-Israel sentiments among Irish nationalists are irrational and opportunistic
Whip smart
Threatening the whipping system would be alarmingly stupid