Caucasus
Tigran Mansurian: Con anima (ECM New Series)
You may find that Con anima is one of the best ways of spending the next 15 minutes of your life
None should sleep
A TOSCCA conversation on potential catastrophe in the Caucasus
Incel inside
The Russians assume we use Opera to project state power, I assure them that the government hate the arts
Raab’s home truths
PMQs: Raab’s back from his holidays but not quite at home
Renée Fleming: Voice of Nature, The Anthropocene (Decca)
Beauty released by the singer’s larynx is met by plodding fingers on a monochrome keyboard
Pet Mischief
In a serious country serious people would resign over Pen’s pets
Sean Lock – the comedian’s comedian
Lock, who has died at the age of 58, was a popular figure on the UK comedy circuit — not bad for someone who described himself as “a miserable, authoritarian guy”
Brighton crock
Starmer struggles to speak his mind – about his own party
Australia’s Covid crisis
Australia is still standing at the gates of hell, while the rest of the world has already been through it
Monuments to victory and loss
This is a beautifully illustrated, handsomely printed and thorough, scholarly exposition of the triumphal arch
Sally Rooney and cultural boycotts
Rooney has now run into greater controversy than simple literary taste
Dominic Hilton’s Buenos Aires Diary 9.0
Dominic Hilton spots a sniper on a balcony, has embarrassing encounters in lifts and thinks gender-neutral language would make learning Spanish a lot easier