My review of the Radical Harmony (aka Pointillist) exhibition at the National Gallery.

My friend @georgehallmusic.bsky.social is trying to locate a manuscript full score & orchestral parts of the cantata Once Upon a Time (Boosey & Co, 1903) by the composer Liza Lehmann having failed to locate them via Boosey & Hawkes, the British Library et al. If you have any ideas, do contact him.

Please come along and hear me discussing my new book "Someone Else's Music: Opera and the British" at this event at the Royal Academy of Music on 26 September. www.ram.ac.uk/whats-on/ope...

Doesn't sound as if this is being well-handled. www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/2544414...

A VIENNESE COFFEE HOUSE "is a democratic club to which admission costs the small price of a cup of coffee. (...) every guest can sit for hours on end, discuss, write, play cards, receive his mail, and, above all, can go through an unlimited number of newspapers and magazines." Stefan Zweig 💛

If you want to understand the debates we are having about opera today concerning "elitism" and "who opera is for", you need to read this book. The official UK publication date is a month today but you can preorder your copy now. Thank you - every sale counts!

G is for Greenwich ------ 'The Terrace of the Trafalgar Tavern, Greenwich, London' (1878) by James Tissot (Private collection)

Please come along and hear me discussing my new book "Someone Else's Music: Opera and the British" at this event at the Royal Academy of Music on 26 September. www.ram.ac.uk/whats-on/ope...

"Sometimes, you begin to realise, one must look to the periphery of a country to discover its heart." My latest essay for Engelsberg Ideas.

If you're starting a postgraduate course in History this autumn, please do consider joining the Royal Historical Society bit.ly/41mTuck Postgraduate Membership brings access to research funding, events, publications and networks. You'll join an international community of more than 6500 historians.

My latest article, on the "un-Italianness" and yet quintessential Italianness of Turin.

‘… social historian David Kynaston, told The Observer he suspects “a serious scandal is unfolding” John Wyver, Ian Greaves, Erica Wagner and others on the growing battle to prevent damaging changes to the BBC’s priceless behind-the-scenes archives:

Train leaving Newcastle upon Tyne station, 1937, photo by Bill Brandt.

Some thoughts on the problems with our current system of academic peer review. There aren't any easy answers but I think revealing the identity of reviewers might at least make it more civil. thecritic.co.uk/the-pitfalls...

A modest but moving exhibition of Jean-François Millet’s works illuminates the divisions, routines and solitude of French 19th-century rural life. Millet’s rural rides | @amwilson.bsky.social engelsbergideas.com/reviews/mill...

I wrote this after seeing James Inverne's new play "That Bastard, Puccini!" Catch it at the Park Theatre in North London until 9 August. Recommended!

Our short story prize is open for submissions again! Please share this widely - and please send us your stories: www.galleybeggar.co.uk/prize Closing date 8 November!

Writing tip. Before you start, locate your inner critic. They’re not hard to find. They’re the arsehole sitting on your shoulder saying “nope that’s shit” every time you type the word “the”. Bind them. Gag them. Chuck them into the linen cupboard, to subsist on crumbs and water. Now you can begin.

I'm entering my 25th year in the job, having taught for 4 years at Yale and 20 at Berkeley. The clearest trendline in my experience (fwiw) is the *dramatically* diminished willingness or capacity of undergrads to read. I used to assign 150 pp./week. Closer to 40 now—and even that is aspirational.

I loved this play at @TheRSC! Do catch it if you can: tickets available daily until 2 August.

The Vaults & Garden cafe says “legal costs have escalated dramatically” in its fight to stay put in the face of an eviction attempt by its landlord, the University Church. The cafe has launched an appeal for £100,000 towards its legal bills.

My author copies arrived! This is my sixth book and the one of which I am most proud: a sweeping history of the British relationship with opera over the last century. Available in 🇺🇸 this month, on Kindle immediately, and in 🇬🇧 and Europe in October. global.oup.com/academic/pro...

My latest academic article, about institutional politics at Covent Garden in the two and a half decades after the War (a livelier topic than it might sound!). Available to read here completely open access.

New this week in our academic journal 'Transactions': 'Universal in Scope and Appeal? The Politics of "National" vs "International" Opera at Post-war Covent Garden' bit.ly/3Gx8KvK By Alexandra Wilson @amwilson.bsky.social‬. Now available Open Access #Skystorians 1/2

You can now buy my forthcoming book with 30% off in the UK and USA. All sales greatly appreciated. Thank you! 🙏

In Van Gogh’s footsteps | @amwilson.bsky.social engelsbergideas.com/reviews/in-v...

An AI-related definition of the word ’slop’ has entered the Cambridge Dictionary for the first time, ’reflecting growing concerns about increasing amounts of low-quality content created by AI’ 👇 #BookSky

Is there anyone here who has applied for an AHRC standard research grant and would be willing to show me their application (whether successful or not), please? I really just want to see what a completed form looks like and what sort of activities and outputs people propose. Thank you. 🙏

I’m proud that Total Politics is launching the Lord Cormack Fellowship - a paid, with accommodation in London, month-long introduction to political journalism, Westminster and publishing. Apply below!

The shortlist for the Society's 2025 First Book Prize for early career historians is now available bit.ly/4kkm4lW Eight titles have been selected, following an open call for submissions of books published in 2024. Two winners of the 2025 prize will be announced in July. #Skystorians

Delighted to have had an academic article accepted for a History journal: Transactions of the Royal Historical Society.

The deadline for postdoc applications (30 May) is fast approaching! 👇

Spanish-speaking followers, please buy my book!

'Westminster Dairy in the Quadrant, Regent Street' (1825) by George Johann Scharf (British Museum)

I was brought up to believe that cheating is wrong. Using generative AI and passing it off as your own work is cheating and there’s no escaping that. People may be comfortable with being a cheat but I’m not going to judge them for that, I’ll leave it to history to be their judge.

My dear friend Adriana Festeu is giving this imaginative recital on 23 May. Please share!

A glimpse of Edwardian splendour l @amwilson.bsky.social engelsbergideas.com/reviews/a-gl...

I loved this exhibition at the King's Gallery, Buckingham Palace. Review for @engelsbergideas.bsky.social engelsbergideas.com/reviews/a-gl...

I'm still looking for a tenor for the MA in Solo-Voice Ensemble Singing at the U of York this September. A year's course, coaching every week from me and top quality singing lessons (not from me...) Please be in touch if you're interested - and do pass on. Current lot (2 groups) pictured.

Here's something to shame the clowns at Arts Council England. This headline translates as 'Let's share excellence'. Now there's a slogan.

*Available to pre-order!* "Someone Else's Music: Opera and the British" traces attitudes towards opera, 1920-2020. It reveals a forgotten history of popular opera-going, which challenges the elitism stereotype. It also examines when and why that stereotype arose. global.oup.com/academic/pro...

King’s Gallery exhibition on Edwardian Age reveals literary, musical and artistic tastes of royal family On show are personal items, as well as art and jewellery, belonging to King Edward and Queen Alexandra, many on view for the first time www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/04/07/k...

Revisiting some writing this morning reminded me that I've got exciting things to share in the next Singing Through Menopause newsletter. Sign up and find more information on resources that are currently available here: www.kathleencronie.com/copy-of-sing...

Turns out you were all right! This Turandot cast knocked it out of the forbidden city www.thetimes.com/article/a927...

Bee on Cow parsley on The Backs, Cambridge. #WildWebsWednesday.

Here's a link to the opera / access event I participated in at ENO last week. Perspectives historical and contemporary. www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQMu...

A case for some fresh thinking when it comes to the study of the history of the arts in HE. thecritic.co.uk/universities...

Others have said this but do you know you can read a lot of paywalled news via @pressreader.bsky.social if your local library has a subscription?