The cult of Trifonov is doing the pianist no favours
Grade: B– Deutsche Grammophon have decided that Daniil Trifonov’s new Rachmaninov piano concertos with the Philadephia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin…
I’d rather live under communism than the tyranny of social media
At the time it felt like a century, but it was only 12 years. I began this column in 1977…
The joy of a Rwandan airport
Our plane touched down in Rwanda at 7 p.m. Stepping outside on to the metal steps, I smelt that unmistakable…
The strange case of six missing horse rugs
The night after the fireworks display the barn was raided and our horse rugs were taken. Good job I’ve watched…
Bridge
Congratulations to Janet de B and her team, who had an excellent week last week — as I know to…
Dubov’s dynamite
When Daniil Dubov advanced his queen’s pawn in Batumi last month, he might as well have chewed the head off…
no. 580
Dubov-Svane, White to play. Later in the event, Dubov played another masterpiece, sacrificing a rook to reach this extraordinary position.…
It’s a date!
In Competition No. 3124 you were invited to compose clerihews about any date in the calendar. I was very grateful…
2434: Eat it!
The unclued lights (two of two words), individually or as one pair, are of a kind. Across 9 City…
to 2431: Pride of place
Each of the pairs of unclued lights is a CITY (formed from the letters in the yellow squares) and its…
Why does someone keep sending me furniture?
When a new vacuum cleaner was delivered to my house last week I assumed it was a belated birthday present…
England’s rugby team are embarrassingly sore losers
Sports events come and go, but good manners, as William of Wykeham might have put it, last for ever. Or…
Dear Mary: What should I do about a Lib Dem friend who can no longer take a joke?
Q. I sent a WhatsApp message to a Lib Dem friend of 15 years. ‘How are you finding being a…
Back in the Babington Triangle: Roth Bar & Grill reviewed
The Roth Bar & Grill exists on an art-farm called Durslade in Bruton, Somerset, which is also the country outpost…
Why is a ladybird called a ‘bishy barnabee’?
People in different regions like to think their dialects incomprehensible to outsiders, yet they can usually come up with quite…
Caroline O’Connor is the Spider Woman
They wrote musicals based on the most unlikely material but John Kander and Fred Ebb enjoyed ultimate success with Cabaret…
Rampant antisemitism
Australia was recently shaken to learn of the horrifying news of two blatantly antisemitic incidents within Melbourne’s public schools. One…
Simon Collins
‘We are assessing the concerns raised and will investigate whether the program met our editorial standards,’ said the ABC’s managing…
Dutton’s dinner diary
I want to speak as a proud member of the Abbott cabinet, but I also want to speak as a…
Energy notes
The world needs more Australian coal, not less Most fairy tales contain important life lessons and as the father of…
Allan, James Allan
I have to confess that I’m a little bit insulted that no one in the totally impartial and apolitical Commonwealth…
Fran’s feminist fascists
‘I thought there would be a range of views on this in the panel,’ said wannabe full-time Q&A host Fran…
The carbon dioxide trap
Many people who discuss climate change believe that if atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rise so does the Earth’s temperature. This…
John Lennon’s friend imagines
For several years in the 1950s Peter Jones shared a desk with John Lennon at Quarry Bank High School for…
