Classical Music
Modernism for the many
Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra, Partita &c (Ondine)
Album of the year
The best of an inspiringly musical 2023
Music of hypnotic power
Thomas Larcher: The Living Mountain (ECM New Series)
A conviction singer who convinces
Folk Songs: Magdalena Kozena/Simon Rattle (Pentatone)
Art is not all about you
It is not elitist to expect audiences to be quiet
Passionate subjectivity
La traviata, ENO, Coliseum
Notes of promise
Bruce Liu: Waves (Deutsche Grammophon)
Fanfares for the common man
Communist composers tried to create ideologically pure works for the workers — but without any great degree of success
A giant dipper of delights
BBC Legends Volume 4 (ICA Classics)
Over-simplified and underpowered
Shostakovich symphonies 2, 3, 12, 13 (DG)
Lightweight Kate Winslet
Our most versatile of English roses must accept that one role is beyond even her
Are Jewish students really afraid of the Freedom of Speech Act?
Some of have raised concerns, yes, but generalisations are wrong and unhelpful
Shades of Gray
Never underestimate the mysterious yet powerful Sue Gray
What is Toryism for?
What has it done if it has not made a system it wishes to defend?
Lily Phillips and the importance of feeling
We must remain sensitive to unspoken pain
Ultra processed arguments
Public health commentators cannot seem to decide what is safe to eat
International courts are largely irrelevant
An institutional spider’s web cannot stop a geopolitical elephant
A bloodless coup in Bucharest
How can elections be cancelled without substantive reasons even being presented?
Get smartphones out of school
Young people desperately need a break from social media
A recipe for decline
This budget will do nothing to lift Britain from its doldrums
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the forgetting of feminist principles
Single-sex toilets are essential if we are going to respect women’s personal space
