Lebrecht’s Album of the Week
Joyous genre-bending
Milestones (Signum Classics)
Two faces of America
Copland: 3rd symphony, Walker 5th (LSO Live)
Exile and exaltation
Bohuslav Martinu: The Symphonies (Deutsche Grammophon)
Talent and temptation
William Walton: Two symphonies
Polish piano
Andre Tchaikowsky: Piano concertos (Ondine)
First-place Finnish
Shostakovich: Symphony 1; Moscow Cheryomushki (Philharmonia Records)
Hope and stories
Bicinia (Claves)
Pärtly good
Arvo Pärt: 4 symphonies (Chandos)
Most Read
American strategy in Iran is wiser than it seems
President Trump’s intervention will leave the world safer than it was
Saint Nicola
Nicola Sturgeon wants sympathy for her husband’s crimes—but after years spent avoiding awkward questions, her latest reinvention may be the hardest sell yet.
The lonely death of Henry Nowak
We must draw lessons from a horrendous and disgraceful case
Rewatching the English
English identity has become too surreal and discomfiting to define
The establishment is still living in an immigration fantasy land
It is influential left-wingers, not the broader public, who have deluded themselves on mass migration
An artful chip
Any penalty is at heart a psychological battle between taker and keeper
The hidden bureaucracy shaping Britain’s university curriculum
Putting an end to ideological capture must start with the Quality Assurance Agency
The government must end its war on the price mechanism
The government is stubbornly ignoring the harms and risks of its interventions into markets
Jonathan Ross’s existentialist hell
Jonathan Ross’s “crass” new TV show is surprisingly Sartrean
Crushing the real progressives
The Islamic Republic of Iran, now under fire from the demonic West, is the most progressive society on earth
This apology for a political comedy
Amusing as a war crimes trial, and seems to last twice as long
From Newton to newts
Putting badgers on the banknotes may avoid controversy, but it also avoids saying anything meaningful about Britain at all
Gas shock therapy
Ed Miliband must abandon his absurd and failing approach to energy
Ring engagement
The Mash meets The Ring!
The Reparations Game
Chris and Henry talk to Nigel Biggar about reparations.
A mean mood in Makerfield
Reform have enthusiasm, but quiet Labour voters could still swing it for Burnham