Lebrecht’s Album of the Week
Go get this record!
Arirang (Orchid)
No relationship with the keyboard
Pierre Boulez/Alfred Schnittke: Piano works (Naxos/BIS)
A riveting selection of itinerant tunes
Gypsy Melodies (La dolce volta)
A well-watered lawn
Viktor Kalabis: Chamber music (Hyperion)
Defying categorisation
Valentin Silvestrov: “… flowering over Lethe…” (ECM); Violin concerto (Naxos)
Comfort to troubled minds
Carl Nielsen: Clarinet concerto, 5th symphony (Chandos)
Haba listen
Alois Haba: Complete piano music (Supraphon)
Riddles to resolve
Dmitri Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues (Pentatone)
A thoughtful take on Schubert
Schubert: Piano sonata D959, Moments Musicaux (Hyperion)
Yunchan Lim: Tchaikovsky, The Seasons
A deeply satisfying performance
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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
The right does not need religion
We should not mourn the end of the Quiet Revival
A moment of profound national unseriousness
Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch know that the world faces crises — but are they part of the crises?
The disunited kingdom
The establishment must confront the disturbing realities of sectarian politics in the UK
Irish anti-Israel agitation is out of control
Anti-Israel sentiments among Irish nationalists are irrational and opportunistic
Why do we still have social housing?
A decade working in Social Housing taught me that the sector’s perverse incentives guarantee the perpetuation of the very poverty it exists to eradicate
Britain needs the Med mindset
We have to adapt to the sweatier realities of a changing climate
Women should not have to apologise for their rights
There is nothing cruel about women wanting single-sex spaces
Why tradition, not utopia, protects expression
Free expression thrives on human frailty, debate, and tradition — not on utopian zeal or moral legislation
Greene around the gills
A truly ghastly gastropub
Marketing masters
Catching the eye of a buyer in the social media era
Critical briefing: energy price shocks
The shocks from the Iran War are yet to be felt, but are sure to be powerful