Last week, with the final embers of Summer illuminating the evening sky in Manchester, music lovers came together to greet the opening of Hallé Orchestra’s 2019-2020 season. Beethoven and Shostakovich were on the card at...
Read MoreIn Manchester, in the north of England, there is a corner of an English field that is forever ANZAC. It is a quiet place, peaceful and loved. Tall, gently swaying trees watch over verdant well-tended lawns from which rise, in...
Read MoreLast week the Hallé Orchestra took its audience on an heroic expedition, one that began in the splendour of a Papal Palace before advancing, through the drifting sands of Egypt, to the frozen wastelands of Antarctica. It was a...
Read MoreWhen does Christmas begin? On the surface this would seem an innocent enough question. But dig a little deeper and yule (sorry) find it’s debated with enough heat to warm a lifetime’s supply of mulled wine. For some, the...
Read MoreGeorge Orwell had relatively little comment on the subject of the visual arts save to say that he didn’t much care for Salvador Dali whose autobiography he described as “simply a strip-tease act conducted in pink limelight”. He...
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