Crucial Track for 07 March 2026

"Violin Concerto No. 1: I. Quarter note = 104 — quarter note = 120" by Gidon Kremer, Christoph von Dohnányi & Vienna Philharmonic

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Philip Glass again. My friend Michael always took a dim view of him - and I get it. There's a brash cheapness to Glass that even a skilled violinist like Gidon Kremer can't entirely disguise. But if you asked me what was the music of the great American city before the Fall, I'd say maybe because of its brash cheapness: Glass's Violin Concerto 1. You just have to listen to it to know the fascists will hate it.

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Was 2004’s NESNO Dominic Cummings’ original sin? Or a mistake he was paid to make? I think about this from time to time when I imagine a Britain that didn’t take the path to sectarian hatred.

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An interesting thing about the Mandelson-Epstein affair is that no one is expressing any surprise at Mandelson’s venality and corruption. Yet until recently the media treated him as a “serious politician”, albeit controversial. Which leaves me wondering, what is it that political journalism does?