Lebrecht’s Album of the Week
Playing that pulls no punches
Kholodenko is in the elite of classical pianists
Sibelius: Symphonies 3&5 (Alpha-Classics)
There’s a new burst of steam from the sauna
The bore of the world
Give this one a miss
Schumann/Mahler: Symphonies 1&2 (Naxos)
Schumann cannot be ignored
Gustav Mahler: 5th symphony (Pentatone)
Its ethos in Mahler remains inimitable
The Kreutzer Project (Avie)
An album sadly more quixotic than chivalric
Franz Schubert: String quintet/Quartettsatz (Chandos)
Intimations of life’s fragility
Jean Sibelius: Orchestral songs (LAWO)
The themes are cruel and cold
Alban Berg: Violin concerto &c. (Chandos)
A stunning marriage of the tragic and the erotic
Prokofiev, Tcherepnin: The Bark of Yearning (Avi-music)
This is prime Prokofiev
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
Unionists should unite
It’s time to build alliances to ensure that unionists are not let down again
Prosthetic, pathetic, human
Angela de la Cruz’s playful and ghastly art touches a raw nerve
No, rent controls don’t work
Stop toying with failed ideas and build some damn houses
Gas shock therapy
Ed Miliband must abandon his absurd and failing approach to energy
A bore and a balm
Inferno: Behzod Abdurimov (Alpha Classics)
Dancing with death
The rush to judge Liam Scarlett was cruel and unjust
The asylum seeker will see you now
We should not legitimise illegal migration and its damaging effects
Trump will not discredit Europe’s populist right
European populism is a lot deeper than mere Trumpism
Asset-stripping on campus?
Selling universities to private companies risks destroying their charitable purpose
Why does Labour hate our pubs?
The government has to stop taxing the hearts of our communities out of business
Today Havering, tomorrow Westminster
The local elections exposed a political class united mainly by its inability to feel embarrassment