Culture

Unleash this heavenly voice

The role of music in Jewish worship has acquired a sudden topicality with the involvement of two major record labels

On Music
Less austerity, more pizazz

Grand opera was long thought quite dead but is suddenly rearing its shaggy head again

On Opera
Calculated absurdity

I want to listen to music that sounds like the dumb hopefulness of being young that I once couldn’t wait to rid myself of, says Sarah Ditum

On Pop
Insight of a prolix pluralist

Christopher Bray reviews The Philosophy of Isaiah Berlin by Johnny Lyons

Books
The real Amis?

X.Trapnel on the book world’s latest guessing game

Literary Review
Adventures in La-La Land

Simon Callow reviews A Fate Worse than Hollywood by David Ambrose

Books
An American icon is born again

Kanye West was mocked for rediscovering faith, but he has genuine concerns about the modern world he helped fashion

Features
Brief encounters and romps in the park

George Orwell pursued women with enthusiasm and varying degrees of success

Features
Thoughts on the BBC: Reflections of a conservative historian

Jeremy Black ponders the place of the BBC

Artillery Row
Has the National Theatre lost its way?

Alexander Larman considers Rufus Norris’s vision, and the future of the National Theatre.

Artillery Row