On Music
Myth of Igor, the Great Composer
Norman Lebrecht says an affair with Coco Chanel did Stravinsky’s PR, and hers, no harm at all
Take a leaf out of sport’s book
Music has lost its unpredictability, its thrilling fear while sport’s passion shines, says Norman Lebrecht
From disaster to opportunity
London’s orchestral rat-race will have fewer runners when musical life returns, says Norman Lebrecht
The Russians aren’t coming
New music was not officially muted in the Soviet Union. It just got left at home, says Norman Lebrecht
No direction from directors
Music directors who fail to provide any direction in times of crisis
Wagner, restless provocateur
Wagner’s sexual ambiguity spoke to Oscar Wilde, Aubrey Beardsley and Thomas Mann, says Norman Lebrecht
A worthy heiress to Princess Ida
Where has originality and character gone in the art of Violin playing?
The sadder side of summer
Tragedy struck Gustav Mahler, the archetypal summer composer, in 1907
The welcome sound of silence
For three days I listened to nothing but birdsong, marvelling at the variety and the volume
Lifetimes of self-isolation
Composing in seclusion
What the Protocol border inside the UK is doing
What Jeffrey Donaldson thinks the government should do about that
Is Hezbollah protected by the Lebanese political system?
And does Lokman Slim’s murder indicate a change in Hezbollah’s deployment of violence?
150 years of Palm Beach
Paul du Quenoy learns how this enclave for the American elite shifted from swamp to swank in Russell Kelley’s: An Illustrated History of Palm Beach
Passport to Pimlico?
In his most demanding role yet, Boris is wrestling with “complicated ethical and practical issues”
A very English take on espionage
Alexander Larman on the newest release in Mick Herron’s best-selling and critically acclaimed Jackson Lamb crime series: Slough House
Why does ITV insist that violence against women is normal?
Bruce Newsome says that an elite obsessed with social justice is failing at criminal justice
Beware the power of muscle memory
The ability to train our malleable minds is both a blessing and a curse—as the grand social re-engineering experiment of Covid-19 lockdowns is revealing
The battle for Ofcom
Ofcom is currently a bastion of woke liberal values; appointing Paul Dacre as the new head would go a long way in redressing the balance
Ban Trans myths by writing ‘FACT’
Prevent the rise of fascism by letting the state arrest people for what they think
Saving Rugby from BLM Marxism
Governors of boarding schools are supposed to be custodians, not political activists