The space for criticism to exist grows smaller and the archways that sustained its presence crumble away, laments Sarah Ditum

Rishi’s £1.57 Billion handout to the arts sector is the last good news it’ll ever hear, says Robert Thicknesse

BBC Proms row has developed into an unexpectedly successful publicity stunt

Half a century on, the song remains an an eternally affecting evocation of the need for solidarity and comfort

The news is bad, but on Del Rey’s watch the poetry is sometimes pretty good, and getting better

Alexander Larman asks whether Jarvis Cocker’s latest album release will reignite his former success

Norman Lebrecht is left wanting more Dutilleux

Daniel Johnson describes the joy of indulging in music as a teenage boy

Norman Lebrecht reviews Shostakovich: Violin concertos 1&2, performed by Alina Ibragimova and the State Symphony Orchestra of Russia

Tragedy struck Gustav Mahler, the archetypal summer composer, in 1907