The Critics
Operettas for the apocalypse
As we career merrily ever deeper into the end-times, what is the appropriate soundtrack for civilisational collapse?
Soothing sounds in time of war
There are expectations going back to 1948 that musicians turn up to provide relief
The curious case of the “Gaylor” affair
Whatever the framing, the sexuality is the story
A night of spectacle and special effects
Stranger Things: The First Shadow designers aren’t afraid to raid the treasure trove
High art or high camp?
Elektra, Royal Opera House
Row, row, row your boat
“The Boys On The Boat” is wholesome but unconvincing
Goodnight Vienna
A new Austrian musical taps dark material to produce a brilliant, unsettling and darkly funny exploration of the Anschluss
The imagination of Ensor
The great Belgian painter could enliven the most mundane scenes
Behind the scenes at the museums
The exhibits missing from the globe’s galleries and museums
The geopolitical prescience of Handel
On opera’s flirtation with current affairs
The sculptor’s funeral
The death of Imogen Stuart represents the passing of an Ireland that built, rather than destroyed
Small talk and big asks
Men’s mental health is a serious matter — but it is wrong to expect people to be lifesavers
Torygeddon
The Conservatives face an extinction level election, but there’s still time for some prehistoric bloodletting
Tragicomedy at the UN
The limp United Nations cannot be trusted to support the victims of tyranny
The return of Spencerian liberalism
Richard Hanania is a figure of fun for many, but he represents a broader return to liberalism’s sinister origins
Jam, Jute, journalism, Japanese design
There is a lot more to see and enjoy in Dundee than London reviewers suggested
Less than an animal?
It is surely wrong that animal foetuses enjoy more protection under the law than human ones
A cut above
Above all is the quietude, broken only by the snipping chatter of several scissors
William Wilberforce and England’s forgotten saints
The Clapham Saints and their efforts to reform British manners have been unjustly and unwisely forgotten
Attack is the best form of defence
The right cannot always be fighting a rearguard action in the culture wars
The cost of dissent
Brave women have sacrificed a lot to stand up for their gender critical beliefs
