Lebrecht’s Album of the Week
Sensitivity of a high order
Sibelius and Prokofiev: Violin concertos (Decca)
Well-behaved Beethoven
Beethoven: Triple concerto and British folksongs (Decca)
Polish strings
Grazyna Bacewicz: Symphonies 3 &4; Concerto for string orchestra (both on Chandos)
Music for a disintegrating world
Valentin Silvestrov: Widmung, Postludium (Naxos)
Music for a warm bath
Bloch, Bruch, Dohnanyi (Claves)
In praise of the viola
Cantabile: Anthems for viola (Delphian)
An array of civilised music
Walter Kaufmann: 3rd piano concerto, 3rd symphony &c. (CPO)
Musical no man’s lands
Two violin concertos fail to inspire
A masterpiece in miniature
Taneyev, Schumann: Piano quintets (Signum)
Playfulness and tedium
Stravinsky, Petrushka; Debussy, Jeux and Prelude (Decca)
Nigel’s knees-up
Can Reform become a serious contender for power?
Boris the Innocent
The Johnsonian lexicon has yet to incorporate the word “responsibility”
Out of power for half a century
As the Conservatives face the prospect of a long spell in opposition, they must heed the lessons of their predecessors
The dangerous fallacy of “self-deterrence”
The concept makes little sense and could create serious risks
Homes for heroes
MPs are committed public servants who need accomodation in London to do their job
The Critic
No they haven’t put the mag on the silver screen just yet, but its still worth watching
The vital few
A new book explores the importance, as well as the dangers, of risk
Smacking harms children
Smacking didn’t harm you? Maybe this debate isn’t for you
Midlands marvels and mysteries
A fitting if flawed tribute to one of England’s more undersung counties
Why can’t there be more vampires?
Bloodsucking, in various more or less metaphorical guises, is after all opera’s happiest place
The nurseryfication of culture
Alienation has encouraged the normalisation of childishness
