Opera
Losing the plot
Robert Thicknesse reveals how in searching for meaning, opera adaptations are becoming more obscure
Moving beyond the text
La Clemenza di Tito, Geneva
Shock of the new
People are terrified of modernity’s great gift: the sudden freedom to make appalling noise, says Robert Thicknesse
Cheer leaders
Opera unswervingly believes in the potential for a divine spark in humans, says Robert Thicknesse
Do not go gently
Opera has treated the subject of cancelling the pleasures of others in some depth
How about some vistas of beauty?
Covent Garden’s first post-lockdown offering is in a long, grim tradition
Sex tips from Semele
Opera was the tinder of Renaissance Venice, says Robert Thicknesse
Wagner, restless provocateur
Wagner’s sexual ambiguity spoke to Oscar Wilde, Aubrey Beardsley and Thomas Mann, says Norman Lebrecht
Met with disappointment: a quiet season for postmodern New York
Manhattan’s cultural landscape faces more tough times ahead with the cancellation of the Met’s 2020/2021 season
A grim chorus of philistines
Rishi’s £1.57 Billion handout to the arts sector is the last good news it’ll ever hear, says Robert Thicknesse
Take a leaf out of sport’s book
Music has lost its unpredictability, its thrilling fear while sport’s passion shines, says Norman Lebrecht
How Labour are taking the voting public for granted
Labour has no hope of returning to power if they fail to capture a comfortable working-class seat from a government that has presided over the greatest crisis in living memory
What does the Carey Mulligan controversy tell us about film criticism today?
How one misinterpreted film review may have set a dangerous precedent
Why is atheism no longer cool?
How the New Atheists failed to make God go away
The time of my life
Dominic Hilton explains why time itself has become his biggest enemy
Hats off to the great British greasy spoon
Steve Morris celebrates the great British institution of the greasy spoon ‘caff’ and predicts that it will thrive again in a post-Covid world
How many unionist parties does it take to fix the SNP?
With Reform UK and Alliance for Unity, five pro-union parties are lining-up to fight the SNP – and each other.
An eye for the world after Trump
Senator Tom Cotton ticks all the Republican White House boxes – provided the last incumbent bows out
The ultimate luxury
Clive Aslet says the Barclay brothers were prescient when they built their grand private castle on Brecqhou. Today, true privacy is something only serious money can buy
Busy doing nothing
Thomas Woodham-Smith adjusts to a gentler pace of conducting business