January 2010

I was lucky - privileged even - to be invited by the Southbank Centre to watch Daniel Barenboim rehearse with the Berlin Staatskapelle for his run of Beethoven and Schoenberg concerts. I

The Times reports today on the ‘Taliban payoff row' surrounding the plans set out yesterday during the London Afghanistan conference to coax factions that are fighting under the Taliban umbrella into switching

I've got the latest statement here from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) celebrating their first anniversary, before which its local chapters in Saudi Arabia and Yemen operated entirely independently.

Dearest Wolfi,Today, 27 January, I thought I'd write to you personally to wish you the very happiest of happy birthdays.

RIP Earl Wild, the great American pianist who has died at the age of 94. There's a perceptive and thorough obituary on the Gramophone site, written by Jeremy Nicholas and another excellent

I’ve been away on tour with the LPO in sunnier climes, but in the intervening time a piece of mine came out in the Independent. The day of the woman conductor…

A FEW days ago, Guernica magazine accused me of not citing sources when I criticised Noam Chomsky. I responded by posting a source-ridden chapter from my What's Left (you can read the

I have a piece in today's Independent about the new classical series at the Roundhouse, 'Reverb', from 22 to 31 of this month, aimed at cool 20-somethings. The crux is: to stop

The other night I saw Dinner with Portillo -a show whose conceit of filming members of the chattering classes eating lukewarm food and regurgitating received opinions I can assert with confidence would

Lord Justice Jackson's report on legal costs today is a remarkable piece of work and his presentation at a press briefing - delivered without notes - left the Lord Chief Justice and

[UPDATE, FRIDAY 15 JANUARY: Since writing the post below, I've been in contact with Alex Prior who tells me that he was "totally misquoted" in the articles that caused the fuss!]I've been

The rumours from the comrades are of one last coup attempt against Gordon Brown in March. The Cabinet will tell him to go and install Alan Johnson. Whether this is likely to