Aidan Oliver

A lovely interview with the best music librarian I've ever worked with (and I've known some miracle workers).

Martyn makes a vastly complicated job look easy, and runs the nicest and most efficient music team you will ever meet. All of them stellar, and lovely with it. Worth a read.

It was a grid problem.

PS I know that you would *love* there to be some negative angle about the wind turbine in this incident, but I'm afraid there just isn't one.

Saul review – probing, dark and engrossing staging of Handel’s oratorio Barrie Kosky’s remarkable 2015 production returns to the summer festival with Christopher Purves and Iestyn Davies superb in the lead roles

It was the greatest of pleasures to see Handel's Saul at Glyndebourne on Sunday, and I can now confirm that @timashash.bsky.social is accurate in every respect in this typically insightful review.

www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...

Saint George doffs his helmet as he presents Canon van der Paele to Mary (as altar) in the apse of a church. Brilliant symbolic construct and so gorgeously painted in 1434 by Jan van Eyck. It’s his day.

Went to the opera at Glyndebourne yesterday. A Stunning performance of The Marriage of Figaro. Too many standout performances to mention.

It’s said that opera (and Glyndebourne particularly) are elitist and expensive, but it can cost less than some West End shows. Do yourself a favour and just go.

It was empty the morning we were there last December too, except for the lovely curator who met us by chance and fondly showed us Pieter's burial place, just near this viewpoint.

3 months later, with the Supreme Court now having given effective carte blanche to a rogue regime, this is more true than ever.

This is highly disingenuous reporting.

The turbine is not meant to supply "back-up": Glyndebourne relies on the grid for power, the turbine just keeps the energy bills down. Surplus energy is sold to the grid in winter; the grid supplies the additional power needed in the summer.

Le Nozze di Figaro: Mariame Clément's production is observant and truthful

★★★★★ Review: Le Nozze di Figaro – Starring Michael Nagl, Mariame Clément’s production of Mozart’s classic comedy showcases Glyndebourne at its best 👇

Love everything about this!

This is increasingly clear.

Yes indeed! Looking forward to it.

Excellent!

A postcard from a spectator of a constitutional crisis How things look in June 2025

“Each move by Trump now seems normalised, hardly a news item for more than a few hours…

“The constitution of the United States is in crisis, and there are shrugs rather than pitchforks.” @davidallengreen.bsky.social emptycity.substack.com/p/a-postcard...

If you ever wanted to understand what an effort to exert unchecked executive power against representatives of the legislative branch looks like

All roads lead to the Bavokerk in Gerrit Berckheyde's Haarlem, 1680. Today is his day.

2/2 North transept & choir chapel of St. Janskerk, Utrecht. Trust Pieter Saenredam to find a view in any church that surprises & fascinates the eye.

One of my very favourite artists.

“A Busy, Busy Day at the Airport”

By @rubenbolling.bsky.social, after Richard Scarry.

Genius.

Click in.

The production values were stupendous and so was the calibre of everything else - script, casting, intelligence and nuance of the story arcs. Jaw-dropping quality, and far in excess of what I had expected when subscribing (specifically for Andor) so as you say, crazy but brilliant.

Very much enjoyed your Les Noces exploration on R3 yesterday! *Such* a thrilling work.

Glyndebourne’s triumphant opening weekend | The Observer The new season kicks off with riotous Rossini and the festival’s first ever staging of Wagner’s hallowed swansong

observer.co.uk/music/classi... now online - Parsifal and Il barbiere di Siviglia

Trump refuses to accept that for Netanyahu and Putin forever war is the only option | Simon Tisdall The US president thought he could impose peace through sheer personality, but he didn’t reckon with two leaders with so much to lose, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisdall

About time we saw more written about the similarities and indeed links between the mass murderers Putin and Netanyahu.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Imagine the wanton cruelty required to strip wholly innocent, and top-flight students - with no right of appeal, and with no notice - of their place at one of the finest universities in the world, for which they worked so hard.

These people truly are monsters.

Trump administration ends Harvard's ability to enrol international students The move escalates the administration's row with America's oldest university over hiring, admissions and teaching practices.

One of my most formative - and enjoyable - years of my life was as a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard.

This kind of fascist thuggery will benefit no one, blight thousands of careers and lives, and hurt America in a myriad of ways no one can fully quantify.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

It's linked clearly and directly from the main article. You can't miss it.

Are white South Africans facing a genocide as Donald Trump claims? US President Donald Trump says a genocide is taking place in South Africa, a claim a judge dismissed as "imaginary".

There is literally a whole article devoted to assessing the reality: www.bbc.com/news/article...

Every book published in the United States is sent to the Library of Congress. Also, if you are under 16 you cannot use the reading room or order books.