On Opera
Shock of the new
People are terrified of modernity’s great gift: the sudden freedom to make appalling noise, says Robert Thicknesse
Cheer leaders
Opera unswervingly believes in the potential for a divine spark in humans, says Robert Thicknesse
Do not go gently
Opera has treated the subject of cancelling the pleasures of others in some depth
How about some vistas of beauty?
Covent Garden’s first post-lockdown offering is in a long, grim tradition
Sex tips from Semele
Opera was the tinder of Renaissance Venice, says Robert Thicknesse
A grim chorus of philistines
Rishi’s £1.57 Billion handout to the arts sector is the last good news it’ll ever hear, says Robert Thicknesse
To the streets, via the Crush Bar
Robert Thicknesse on Opera
An opera critic in lockdown
The critic, like a used-up traveller in ladies’ corsetry in a Fifties film, is enjoying a happy furlough
Wildest dreamland
It’s the perfect medium for the End Times, unequalled in its devotion to doom
Men beware women
How we underestimate the women in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte
It’s more than just a bag
The V&A’s new exhibition demonstrates that a handbag is indeed much more than its function
John Luther Adams: The ‘Become’ trilogy (cantaloupe)
You will either feel very relaxed by the middle of the piece or you will throw things at the wall and say some very bad words
Why are poor people so much nicer than rich people?
It’s a broad generalisation – but the author can only go off his extensive experiences bouncing between the developing and developed worlds
The broken circle
A remarkable group of intellectuals in pre-war Vienna used philosophy to explain the scientific progess of their time — until they were halted by murder and Nazism
Pleasures of the plague year
Lisa Hilton welcomes the locals back to Venice and enjoys a spicy nod to the city’s vibrant past
Primary sauces
Lisa Hilton savours a timeless French bistro in Pimlico that displays no timidity with the ladle
What deal would be acceptable to most Brexit-supporting MPs?
How far will regulatory divergence be permitted and how will disputes be settled?
The life and loves of John Nash
Andy Friend provides a readable account of Nash’s life, but omits important detail about how the artist made others feel
What is MAGA America thinking: eavesdropping on the Deplorables
Contrary to what left-wing commentators might think, Steve Bannon’s podcast is no haven for fascists or white supremacists
We have dispensed with independent thought
Are we just going to continue outsourcing every foundational fibre of our being?