ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
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Best of 2023: Contemporary classical music
BEN LUNN singles out the remarkable swansong of Kaija Saariaho, and James Weeks’ monumental feat of social organisation
HEROINES AND HEROES: (L) Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho in the red scarf at Cite de la Musique, Paris, 2013; James Weeks, composer and organiser
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
MICK McSHANE rubs shoulders with Mod legend Steve Craddock and joins in with the joyous Glasgow choir
DENNIS BROE sifts out the ideological bias of the newest TV series offerings, and picks out what to see, and what to avoid
2023 has been quite a manic year for the arts, especially in Britain — though, like all years, there are the good, the bad and the curious moments of light and clarity which do make life truly interesting.
Personally, it has been a busy year on numerous fronts — which despite working in music has meant my ability to listen to and see performances has ironically been lessened, a truly strange quality of the profession.
That being said, there are a handful of things I want to share and reflect on.
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BEN LUNN draws attention to the way cultural expressions of solidarity with Palestinians in the UK are being censored by Israeli-sponsored lawfare
BEN LUNN reports from a new music festival in New York, and singles out a breathtaking composition that protests directly against femicide in Mexico
The centenary of his birth is a chance to assess the remarkable combination of Marxism, activism and modernism in the works of Luigi Nono
As the debate around voluntary euthanasia returns, we now have some seriously disturbing evidence from those places where it has become recently legalised to convince us that Britain is not ready, argues BEN LUNN
