Album Review
Surprise and tension
Czech Songs: Magdalena Kozena (Pentatone)
Well-behaved Beethoven
Beethoven: Triple concerto and British folksongs (Decca)
Polish strings
Grazyna Bacewicz: Symphonies 3 &4; Concerto for string orchestra (both on Chandos)
Having a bad Bey
If you’re going to jettison the essence of the song, why even bother?
Elgar’s excellence
Elgar: Symphonies (Halle/Oehms)
Musical no man’s lands
Two violin concertos fail to inspire
Playfulness and tedium
Stravinsky, Petrushka; Debussy, Jeux and Prelude (Decca)
A talented pianist and a battered piano
Bezhod Abduraimov: Shadows of my ancestors (Alpha-Classics)
What became of Tchaikovsky?
Tchaikovsky: 5th symphony etc (ICA Classics)
Essential all-embracing warmth
Gidon Kremer: Songs of Fate (ECM)
No average Joe
“He looked like the Milkybar Kid but played like Clint Eastwood”
Why Christian culture is essential to education
It deeply informed our art and our ideas
The same old song
A reboot of nineties favourite Le Caprice is more museum than restaurant
Is Starmer the anti-Thatcher?
He does not have the right ambition and imagination
Kemi’s men of mystery
The second tier Conservatives had a chance to shine
Living the good life
The rising middle classes were decisive in shaping the late 19th century English town
The personal has become far too political
Something has gone very wrong when we are acutely aware of politics
Sometimes it’s best to shoot the messenger
Ordinary citizens feel a greater claim than ever before to what goes on in public institutions
Strictly Come Tory
Who will win the hearts of the nation?
They call it Poppy love
Poppy is, simply, a dog who knows what she wants
We should have the freedom to criticise Islam
Religious freedom entails the right to criticise a belief system as well as to adhere to it
