Lebrecht’s Album of the Week
Alexander Zemlinsky: The Mermaid (Pentatone)
Norman Lebrecht breaks a rule in his review of The Mermaid
An essential record
Norman Lebrecht reviews Shostakovich: Violin concertos 1&2, performed by Alina Ibragimova and the State Symphony Orchestra of Russia
The invasiveness of voice notes
Don’t send them, and if you must send them keep them short
Very public introspection
The content of “misery lit” is disturbing, but what purpose does it serve?
Women in prisons deserve better
Classifying male criminals as women adds insult to injury
Playfulness and tedium
Stravinsky, Petrushka; Debussy, Jeux and Prelude (Decca)
Addressing misogyny must include addressing trans activism
Against the wokewashing of sexual objectification
Get rid of Rishi
Sunak hanging on can only make things worse for the Conservatives and worse for Britain
The campaign against National Conservatism is a disgrace
A peaceful conference is facing state and activist intimidation
Snook dazzles as Dorian Gray
Wilde’s preoccupation with beauty and artifice brings a sassy Victorian immorality tale into our own times
Realism is not the same as self-pity
There is a limit to how much women can physically protect themselves from men
Hellenism in Rome
Children of Athens is an absorbing romp through Greek (and Roman) history
A cut above
Above all is the quietude, broken only by the snipping chatter of several scissors