Album Review
Major and minor talent
Rott’s influence, Mahler’s genius
The bore of the world
Give this one a miss
Schumann/Mahler: Symphonies 1&2 (Naxos)
Schumann cannot be ignored
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Sixth Symphony (Hyperion/ICA Classics)
As shattering as any work of its era
Gustav Mahler: 5th symphony (Pentatone)
Its ethos in Mahler remains inimitable
Franz Schubert: String quintet/Quartettsatz (Chandos)
Intimations of life’s fragility
Jean Sibelius: Orchestral songs (LAWO)
The themes are cruel and cold
John Adams: Slonimsky’s Earbox (Alpha)
Among his best work
Nico Muhly: Stranger (AVIE)
This new album of three works offers quiet empathy more than overwhelming emotion
Olivier Messiaen: Quartet for the end of time (OUR)
Messiaen’s quartet, first performed in a freezing barracks in 1941, is a thing of great beauty
Dark lessons from Canada
Once “assisted dying” is legal, the boundaries of what is permissible expand
White male conservatives for identity politics
Kemi Badenoch’s supporters should have fewer illusions
How should we teach about the Holocaust?
Keir Starmer’s social engineering aims seem ill-conceived
Labour has a conspiracy problem
Dawn Butler MP should reevaluate her eccentric ideas
Nigel’s knees-up
Can Reform become a serious contender for power?
Justin Welby should resign
If sin means anything, how can the Church of England hierarchy be maintained?
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
Brutalist beauties
These monstrosities were imposed on the population, not desired
Tom Stoppard’s Hampstead drama
Best not try to memorise this deceptive Connect Four of relationships — just get into the flow
Reparate good times, come on!
The Critic’s Extremely Factual Guide to Slavery Reparations the UK Most Definitely Owes
Murders for October
Tales from the gothic to the macabre
