Yet still from Eden springs the root As clean as on the starting day. Time takes the foliage and the fruit And burns the archetypal leaf To shapes of terror and of grief Scattered along the winter way. ... Strange blessings never in Paradise Fall from these beclouded skies.

#Opera Glyndebourne defies 2023 Arts Council England cut with record 2025 crowds (32k; 24% first-time) and expands Autumn 2026: more mainstage shows, concerts, and the world premiere of Spark (Lucy Armstrong/Olivia Bell). Oct 14–Dec 13, 35k tickets, 11k under £50. Thoughts? #UKArts #ArtsFunding

Still the most mesmerising, amusing, atmospheric, crazy and exquisite painting: Ucello's 'The Hunt' at the Ashmolean. A narrative focus disappearing into complete darkness; mayhem, adrenalin and joy everywhere else. Wonderful.

Saw this in the Christchurch Picture Gallery in Oxford just last week, and taken back by just how modern it comes across. (Particularly when you see it at scale - it's big).

One of the very finest

I find myself loving Hobbema more and more these days.

Yes, this is the way to do it! Warmth, humour, authenticity, humanity. Lovely to see.

How insanely beautiful can sunlight on a cloud be? This insanely beautiful. The Maas at Dordrecht, 1650, by Aelbert Cuyp, whose day is today

Delighted to be making my Royal Albert Hall conducting debut with this Glyndebourne performance of Messiah!

Glyndebourne is the pinnacle of country house opera, but the organisation's radical programme and charity work is overlooked.

Free speech latest www.bbc.com/news/article...

Free speech latest Other news as we get it etc etc www.bbc.com/news/article...

A lovely interview with the best music librarian I've ever worked with (and I've known some miracle workers). Martyn makes a vastly complicated job look easy, and runs the nicest and most efficient music team you will ever meet. All of them stellar, and lovely with it. Worth a read.

It was the greatest of pleasures to see Handel's Saul at Glyndebourne on Sunday, and I can now confirm that @timashash.bsky.social is accurate in every respect in this typically insightful review. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...

Saint George doffs his helmet as he presents Canon van der Paele to Mary (as altar) in the apse of a church. Brilliant symbolic construct and so gorgeously painted in 1434 by Jan van Eyck. It’s his day.

Went to the opera at Glyndebourne yesterday. A Stunning performance of The Marriage of Figaro. Too many standout performances to mention. It’s said that opera (and Glyndebourne particularly) are elitist and expensive, but it can cost less than some West End shows. Do yourself a favour and just go.

It was empty the morning we were there last December too, except for the lovely curator who met us by chance and fondly showed us Pieter's burial place, just near this viewpoint.

3 months later, with the Supreme Court now having given effective carte blanche to a rogue regime, this is more true than ever.

★★★★★ Review: Le Nozze di Figaro – Starring Michael Nagl, Mariame Clément’s production of Mozart’s classic comedy showcases Glyndebourne at its best 👇

This is increasingly clear.

“Each move by Trump now seems normalised, hardly a news item for more than a few hours… “The constitution of the United States is in crisis, and there are shrugs rather than pitchforks.” @davidallengreen.bsky.social emptycity.substack.com/p/a-postcard...

If you ever wanted to understand what an effort to exert unchecked executive power against representatives of the legislative branch looks like

All roads lead to the Bavokerk in Gerrit Berckheyde's Haarlem, 1680. Today is his day.

2/2 North transept & choir chapel of St. Janskerk, Utrecht. Trust Pieter Saenredam to find a view in any church that surprises & fascinates the eye.

One of my very favourite artists.

“A Busy, Busy Day at the Airport” By @rubenbolling.bsky.social, after Richard Scarry. Genius. Click in.

observer.co.uk/music/classi... now online - Parsifal and Il barbiere di Siviglia

About time we saw more written about the similarities and indeed links between the mass murderers Putin and Netanyahu. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Imagine the wanton cruelty required to strip wholly innocent, and top-flight students - with no right of appeal, and with no notice - of their place at one of the finest universities in the world, for which they worked so hard. These people truly are monsters.

One of my most formative - and enjoyable - years of my life was as a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard. This kind of fascist thuggery will benefit no one, blight thousands of careers and lives, and hurt America in a myriad of ways no one can fully quantify. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Every book published in the United States is sent to the Library of Congress. Also, if you are under 16 you cannot use the reading room or order books.

Congratulations to Hector and Philippe for making it to the final (along with 4 other singers); commiserations to those disappointed on this occasion. All of them have hugely bright futures ahead of them. Looking forward to an exciting final on Friday!

Wishing all the Kathleen Ferrier Award semi-finalists all the best for today, but *particularly* rooting for the four current and recent members of the Glyndebourne Chorus: Henna Mun, Hector Bloggs, Alex Bower-Brown and Philippe Durrant. Toi toi toi!

US federal judge now basically describing US government as dishonest in its dealings with the court. That this description is not surprising does not take away from how extraordinary this moment is, and should be. This is what a constitutional crisis looks like, played out in real time.

Posted to Truth Social by Trump without comment. Note the production values, the music, the dramatic framing. It really is like the most dystopian movies you have seen.

Put aside the lies and the open defiance of the Supreme Court, as well as the cruelty, and ask yourself: who talks like this? This is the *official* account of the *White House* - is it being run by a six year old?

Journalists quite often get emails written in exactly this style, often sent to scores of recipients on multiple publications, and the sadly reliable assumption is that the irate sender is miserable, paranoid and probably unwell.

Now seriously priced in.

And that was 7 days ago...

Potential for crisis in the US right now is huge. Stock market disinvestment, plummeting foreign student/tourist numbers, disease outbreak, cascading government failure, security breakdown. Any number of different ways in which you could see something catastrophic happen, especially in combination.

"severe challenges to the rule of law are taking place..."

And this. The very fabric of American culture, society, education, history and rule of law under full frontal fascist assault, by presidential edict.

I don't think most people in the UK really have a sense of the deep, deep trouble the US is in.

And this. The very fabric of American culture, society, education, history and rule of law under full frontal fascist assault, by presidential edict.

I don't think most people in the UK really have a sense of the deep, deep trouble the US is in.

The Glyndebourne Chorus assembled this week for the first ever rehearsals of Wagner's Parsifal at Glyndebourne - a real privilege to be a part of this undertaking. #historic

BREAKING: Pianist András Schiff cancels all his US engagements for 2025-26 in response to "the recent and unprecedented political changes in the United States." "Some people might say, 'just shut up and play.' I cannot, in good conscience, do that." www.kirshbaumassociates.com/agency.php?v...

They are - literally - sending armed forces so as to take over the museums and libraries.

Just got an email from the Fulbright Association. As of right now, funding has been cut off to 12,500 US citizens currently abroad and and more than 7,400 foreigner scholars and students in the United States

Now more than ever is the time to follow this account and leaven your doom-laden timeline with exquisite wonders like this. A beautifully curated selection from a different artist or theme every day.