Very much enjoyed ‘Arcadia’ at the Old Vic; but special mention to the amazing stage management and FOH dealing with two medical emergencies and keeping everything running safely and smoothly.

Young men are the second most liberal group in the country after young women.

Gordon Brown is very very angry. And brutally honest about his own failings.

ICYMI “Star soprano Ermonela Jaho and tenor Thomas Elwin join the BBC Concert Orchestra and conductor John Andrews in favourite arias. Recorded at West Green Opera, Hampshire, last summer.” Now on BBC Sounds:

The FT have got at least ten of these haven't they....?

E.g. James Levine was a Very Good Conductor, but he wasn’t the only one; what made him *indispensable* was the fairy dust that 40-foot posters and gal dinners with sponsors confer.

The grotesque paradox in music/academia is that the ‘stars’ are made by the press/PR - there are always a dozen more supremely talented people ready to take their place. But then they are *made* indispensable to sales and so must needs be protected.

I know it would be considered FAR too far from Westminster, but I swear there are plenty of great big buildings in the Olympic Park that could do with being used….

... and if you're inclined to offer celestial thanks for the close of the week, here you go (fun fact: Handel's Dettingen Te Deum was composed in honor of a 1743 victory, the final time a sitting British monarch (George II) personally led forces in the field): youtu.be/AxgWzeEII0U?...

Trying again with contact lenses; first main realisation is that my specs were doing really quite a good job of hiding the dark rings under my eyes.

Remembering Grażyna Bacewicz on her birthday 🎂 📷 Andrzej Zborski "Why is a creative voice as vivid and original as Bacewicz’s so conspicuously absent from our concert halls? It’s a trick question; we know the answer to that one." - Joshua Kosman

I may never have opened the score, but my interpretation will be all the more inspirational for it….

OK my highly-educated friends; help me resolve an argument(between the offspring); Novels that fulfil the definition “Peak Slop” - that is to say unashamedly mass-market and easy to read yet embodying a literary magnificence for the ages…?

Little opera quiz: name as many operas as you can where the English Parliament is mentioned. I can think of 4, but there may be more.

In a darkly comic reminder of who the rules are for in society, today I am (very willingly!) going through DBS clearance in order to host my second-born's German Exchange/pen pal in the summer.

Though 20 minutes in a church pew and all my back problems return with a vengeance; someone is trying to tell me something…

Love a bit of Tudor London.

Mozzie admiring Carwithen’s string writing….

A Child's Dream: pianist Alexandra Dariescu's 10th album, on Signum Classics with Academy of St Martin in the Fields, launched at the Romanian Cultural Institute. My article: www.planethugill.com/2026/02/a-ch...

Happy Birthday Felix (performance from 2024 I think…).

🥳🥳🥳 4.5 stars for Avril Coleridge-Taylor's Piano Concerto and Orchestral Works @jkaconductor.bsky.social @leahbroad.bsky.social

🎶 Daunse thy cares awaye Dispatch thyne woes to othir dayes Make lute and drums to playe Yn the court of Fraggle Rocke 🎶

Happy Birthday Felix (performance from 2024 I think…).

"Samatha Ege is an ardent advocate, never shying away from the music’s muscular demands, nor its tendency to wear its heart on its sleeve. She’s aided by John Andrews’ incisive conducting and fine playing by the BBC Philharmonic. This is very likeable music indeed."

Gordon Brown writes to Met to back case for investigation into Mandelson's 'inexcusable and unpatriotic' leaking - www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

"Samatha Ege is an ardent advocate, never shying away from the music’s muscular demands, nor its tendency to wear its heart on its sleeve. She’s aided by John Andrews’ incisive conducting and fine playing by the BBC Philharmonic. This is very likeable music indeed."

And as true for singers, if not more so.

She is!

New from Symphony: Trump to Close Kennedy Center for Two Years for “Complete Rebuilding”

Shakespeare for today...

Alistair Darling and the official Treasury were always aware that investment banks had an inside track to Number 10. But the brazen nature of that inside track is rather breath-taking.

★★★★★ Brutality and transcendence: Bryn Terfel stars as Boris Godunov at the Royal Opera, where deep sound under Mark Wigglesworth complements Richard Jones's vision finds @davidnice.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/opera/boris-...

For American readers, the Daily Mail is a *Very Right-Wing* publication; as far from Liberal as you get over here…

Morning Calisthenics…

Hard to see this as good news…

Really quite awkward…

Meanwhile chez Andrews, the firstborn is trying to use screenshots of source quotes to circumvent a word count....

Aside from the corruption and abuse, I’m still astounded at how little our elite leaders understand how emails work (and are kept).

As a massive nerd criticising Matt Goodwin, I want to assure him that the cool kids are only abstaining because they don't know who or what he is. Idris Elba is not sitting by the phone waiting for a dinner invite to discuss how he's not really British.

In terms of bringing down the Monarchy, Harry’s a rank amateur isn’t he…?

Unglaublich…

Self-ID latest…

Still amazes me that they think this kind of anonymous briefing is helpful, but whatever....

*264BCE* obvs.....

Never mind jobs you had, tell me five (or rather: five of the) classes you took at university. 1) Rome 753-246BCE 2) Ancient Political Thought 3) The Struggle for Mastery in Germany 4) Graphic Satire in the 1820 Royal Divorce Controvery 5) Henry Purcell (One of these was in fact a dissertation)

Never mind jobs you had, tell me five (or rather: five of the) classes you took at university. 1) Rome 753-246BCE 2) Ancient Political Thought 3) The Struggle for Mastery in Germany 4) Graphic Satire in the 1820 Royal Divorce Controvery 5) Henry Purcell (One of these was in fact a dissertation)

Apart from the DJ this is the kind of club I could join.

Congratulations to my wonderful colleague and dear friend @josephmchardy.bsky.social on this magnificent achievement.

Also, given what’s kicking off down the road I have to point out that 75% of these absolutely superhuman medics were born outside the UK and the whole edifice would be in ruins without them.