Tallis Scholars
Master of the notes
Stepping into the Sistine Chapel, the choir loft is probably the last thing you’d notice. ‘Loft’ is, frankly, a stretch…
Last words
This, my 479th, is to be my last contribution as a regular columnist to The Spectator. I have written here…
Fantasy on ice
In this exciting new era of Spectator cruises I have been put in mind of a dream event long in…
Orchestral infallibility
Watching the Berlin Philharmonic going into conclave to choose a successor to Simon Rattle — after countless hours of secret…
Glad to be Grey
Great works of art may have a strange afterlife. Deracinated from the world that created them they are at the…
Saved by Spotify
We have all read about the current woeful state of the CD industry — how it is 28 per cent…
Cultural revolution
We have read about the remarkable opening up of China in recent years: how many people live there and how…
Class of ’73
The death of Christopher Hogwood has deprived the world of the most successful exponent of early music there has ever…
Pitch perfect
To go from the second day of the England v. India Test match at Lord’s to the Albert Hall for…
Codes of conduct
Not long ago the great conductors of classical music were general practitioners. They expected to give satisfactory interpretations of music…
