The Critics
Do not go gently
Opera has treated the subject of cancelling the pleasures of others in some depth
The Russians aren’t coming
New music was not officially muted in the Soviet Union. It just got left at home, says Norman Lebrecht
Fond memories of Sean Connery
I struggle to think of a more glorious spectacle than the sight of Sean flashing that winning smile
Smart work from the Old Vic
The Old Vic shows the way
A pair of Czech masterpieces
Two new Czech masterpieces
Reviving the inner anarchist
A new series shows Britain sliding into authoritarianism. Sound familiar?
Tate Modern in a terrible tangle
Tate Modern gets itself in a terrible tangle over a cancelled show
TikTok goes the clock
It took me a while but now I really appreciate Amy Winehouse
How about some vistas of beauty?
Covent Garden’s first post-lockdown offering is in a long, grim tradition
No direction from directors
Music directors who fail to provide any direction in times of crisis
Hard science is Priti difficult
Getting schooled by the facts of life
Post-colonial bad jokes
The whole history of the West is — to confound the simplicities of the woke — one gigantic act of “cultural appropriation”
Brexit’s best argument
VDL’s hapless performance must be delighting Brexiteers
The Christian case for supporting abortion rights
Rev. Michael Coren says that the Bible simply doesn’t have anything pertinent to say about abortion, and the current extremism alienates people from the church
The Mumford memory hole
The parallels between the latest incident of cancel culture and George Orwell’s 1984 are uncanny
Don’t look for any great departures in Biden’s domestic policy
The Republican opposition has no reason to enable any element of Biden’s agenda and every reason to oppose it
Which political diaries are worth taking seriously?
Professor Jeremy Black discusses with Graham Stewart the craft and value of the political diarist
Losing the plot
Robert Thicknesse reveals how in searching for meaning, opera adaptations are becoming more obscure
Is China heading for global empire or Soviet collapse?
Dan Blumenthal’s new book wants us to be pessimistic, realistic, and proactive
Diplomatic baggage
The EU is now demanding that it has an ambassador of equal standing to any nation state. So is the EU a state after all?