Norman Lebrecht
Englishness with an aftertaste
The pleasures of cowpats
An enemy of the best
Nothing routine, showy or ill-considered
A hundred shades of autumn leaves
He grips the attention with every phrase
The missing dimension
Warning: contains passages of symphonic transcendence
Playing that pulls no punches
Kholodenko is in the elite of classical pianists
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Sixth Symphony (Hyperion/ICA Classics)
As shattering as any work of its era
Gustav Mahler: 5th symphony (Pentatone)
Its ethos in Mahler remains inimitable
Jean Sibelius: Orchestral songs (LAWO)
The themes are cruel and cold
John Adams: Slonimsky’s Earbox (Alpha)
Among his best work
John Cage: Four Walls (Fuga Libera)
More than a little bit mad
Most Read
Tame Impala fails to impress
unconquered by a
taste of Crusader food
Gary Stevenson is wrong about wealth taxes
The popular economist is irritating, but more importantly he is mistaken
Why they hated Ann Widdecombe
Fair-minded people could agree or disagree with her opinions. Left-wing bigots hated her for not abandoning them
What is wrong now was wrong before
Julia Gillard should not pretend that the “unintended consequences” of the gender debate were unknowable
Ethnic minorities are abandoning Labour
It is not just Muslim voters who have been abandoning the Labour Party
Heart of darkness
Alexander Adams encounters an unflinching master of sex and death in Vienna
Were we close to a revolution in 1926?
Nine Days in May / The Edge of Revolution
Taxing the lights on
Miliband’s new levy undermines the very investment needed to bring energy prices down
Taking the Sheen off
Shiny old lies remain the very bedrock of our trade
The ties that bind
A revived society tie has raised thousands for hedgehogs — and reminds us what Britain has lost with the decline of the club tie
Rock star variations
Bows and Arrows: The Autobiography by Julian Lloyd Webber
Are automated auctions on the way?
New technology has a double edge
The case for compromise with Cuba
The strategic case for negotiating with Havana
Right-wing fight night
A debate over the future of right-wing politics in Britain offered little heat and less light
Can we get removals right?
Deporting illegal migrants is a lot more difficult than promising to deport them
Symphonies have life
John McCabe: 2 symphonies and cello concerto (Signum Classics)