The Critics
Giant is electrifying and unmissable
It is a play of nuance and three dimensions, not agitprop
Lady Gaga’s new album is a blast
Until now, she’s never been as much fun as she was in the noughties
Domesticating Wagner
A new production of Die Walküre is at odds with its music
The Merry Widow’s peak operetta
Who should we blame for art admired by monsters?
Painters, legacies and lawyers
Money turns art, and the control of art, febrile
Remembering my old pal, “Peebs”
Andy Peebles had a broader hinterland than one might expect from a DJ
My Master Builder is poorly constructed
An overwrought, undercooked relationship drama with wince-making dialogue
Family matters
Jephtha, Il Pomo d’Oro, Barbican
Desert love songs
Giulio Cesare, The English Concert, Barbican
Art for art’s sake
A collector who bought for pleasure rather than investment
Most Read
The martyrdom of Young Bob
On ebbing power of the political influencer
Grooming gangs and the truth
We should not give ammunition to deniers of the grooming gangs scandal
Babies need women
Leaving children with only men who are not their parents is foolish and dangerous
Stop ignoring the Islamisation of our democracy
The British state is bending to Islamism, not attempting to defeat it
Losing control of the narrative
The British establishment no longer sets the terms of public debate over migration
First-place Finnish
Shostakovich: Symphony 1; Moscow Cheryomushki (Philharmonia Records)
The bonfire of British history
Absentee landlords’ neglect allows architectural jewels to be burned to the ground
No, rent controls don’t work
Stop toying with failed ideas and build some damn houses
The name game
Nominative determinism is a rich seam to be mined in sport
Escape to the country
Some tractor-acceptance meditation might help with moving day
The lonely death of Henry Nowak
We must draw lessons from a horrendous and disgraceful case
A carnivore’s arcadia
Bowled over by a de luxe fillet steak
Why people smuggling means profits
People smuggling is one of the few functioning markets left in the UK
Angst, Nazis and forgotten treasure
Transcription / You Are the Führer’s Unrequited Love / For the Love of Willie
Keir factor
The prime minister must feel as if he faces the Plagues of Egypt
The chairwoman of the board
A story driven at a whip-crack pace, pulsing with manic energy and nail-biting