Lebrecht’s Album of the Week
Nostalgia – The Sea of Memories (Accent)
A marvellous blend of early Baroque and Mediterranean traditional songs
Christopher Rouse: 5th symphony (Naxos)
What Rouse wrote was an intimate series of love letters to the orchestra
An essential record
Norman Lebrecht reviews Shostakovich: Violin concertos 1&2, performed by Alina Ibragimova and the State Symphony Orchestra of Russia
Most Read
The martyrdom of Young Bob
On ebbing power of the political influencer
Grooming gangs and the truth
We should not give ammunition to deniers of the grooming gangs scandal
Why has Keir Starmer been so unpopular?
He was the perfect embodiment of a failing system
Babies need women
Leaving children with only men who are not their parents is foolish and dangerous
Stop ignoring the Islamisation of our democracy
The British state is bending to Islamism, not attempting to defeat it
Carry on, matron
The crisis in nursing can be reversed by a return to Florence Nightingale’s vision of vocation and a rebuilt hierarchy on the wards
The simple joy of giallo
Giallo films made for glorious Italian escapism
Facing demons
On the highs and lows of demonic infestation
The rise and fall of Nicola Sturgeon
The former SNP leader squandered her talents in a classic tale of hubris
The underworld on the high street
Beneath the façade of everyday commerce, organised crime has quietly captured British high streets
The Book of JO’B
James O’Brien’s aggressive incuriosity is becoming ever more embattled as his worldview crumbles
The futility of right-wing cancel culture
Trying to get left-wing comedians fired for edgy jokes is stupid as well as wrong
Heart of darkness
Alexander Adams encounters an unflinching master of sex and death in Vienna
Critical briefing: local elections
Our political editor explains what to look out for in Thursday’s elections
Russia’s useful internet addicts
No, Russia is not a beleaguered outpost of European values
The testing of Giorgia Meloni
Italy’s first woman PM has proved a pragmatic conservative who has brought stability to her country