Author Archives: leslie

Endnotes, November 2023

Posted on November 7, 2023 by leslie

Endnotes, November 2023 In this edition: seasonal music by Bax, Medtner in England, reviewed by Stuart Millson Sibelius once remarked that the English composer, Arnold Bax, was “his son in music”. Readers who are familiar with the early-to-mid 20th-century Finnish … Continue reading →

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Traitor King

Posted on November 3, 2023 by leslie

Traitor King, Andrew Lownie, Blink Publishing Bonnier books, 2021, isbn 978-1-78870-487-8, reviewed by Monty Skew Before his death in 1972, Edward, Duke of Windsor, mindful of history and his inglorious role therein, gave an interview in which he boasted of … Continue reading →

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Hayek, A Life, 1899-1950

Posted on October 26, 2023 by leslie

  Hayek A Life, 1899-1950, Bruce Caldwell & Hansjoerg Klausinger, University of Chicago Press, Chicago & London, 2022, 840pp, HB, reviewed by Leslie Jones Introduction. Friedrich August Hayek’s family was conservative, “culturally German” but only nominally Christian. Both parents belonged … Continue reading →

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Commissar Order

Posted on October 12, 2023 by leslie

Commissar Order, by Bill Hartley Commissars can be traced back to the Commissaire politique of the Revolutionary Army during the French Revolution. Armies are something of a blunt instrument, a necessary arm of the state but in some countries notoriously … Continue reading →

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Six Poems, Concerning An Affair

Posted on October 7, 2023 by leslie

Six Poems Concerning An Affair Near Waterloo Bridge I’m not sure why I did it. She’d said something self-deprecating This young girl; semi-star-struck, smitten; Who’d taken me to some hippy pub in Lower Marsh. Theatrical props, psychedelic paintings, All wrapped-up … Continue reading →

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Endnotes, October 2023

Posted on October 4, 2023 by leslie

Endnotes, October 2023; in this edition, premiere recordings of British piano concertos from the Lyrita label, reviewed by Stuart Millson Aside from the thoughtfully-chosen, sometimes recondite musical material, Lyrita enhances the latter with evocative artwork, lengthy and detailed sleeve notes, … Continue reading →

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Monteverdi 1610 Vespers

Posted on October 2, 2023 by leslie

Monteverdi 1610 Vespers, I Fagiolini, plus English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble, directed/conducted by Robert Hollingworth, Kings Place, Sound Unwrapped, Friday 29th September 2023, reviewed by Leslie Jones In 1610, Claudio Monteverdi, maestro cappella at the court of Duke Gonzaga in … Continue reading →

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Tales of Ancient Kings

Posted on September 28, 2023 by leslie

  Tales of Ancient Kings Historia Augusta trans. by David Magie; revised by David Rohrbacher. 3 vols. Harvard University Press, 2022. $30.00. Vol. I: pp. i-liii, 1-471; Vol. II: pp.1-463; Vol. III: 1-562, reviewed by Darrell Sutton Wading through the … Continue reading →

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Das Rheingold

Posted on September 24, 2023 by leslie

Das Rheingold Music drama in four scenes, music and libretto by Richard Wagner, conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano, directed by Barrie Kosky, Royal Opera, 20th September 2023, reviewed by Leslie Jones Indicatively, Wagner called Das Rheingold a music drama, as … Continue reading →

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Bigamy

Posted on September 12, 2023 by leslie

Bigamy by Bill Hartley This year marks the one hundredth anniversary of the Matrimonial Causes Act, the first Act to establish equal rights in divorce for men and women. In contrast, the first Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 allowed a … Continue reading →

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