Well it’s a new year and I’ve decided it’s time I got some of my jumbled thoughts and ideas down on paper, or rather on line.

Don’t worry, it won’t be too personal. I’m not really prone to public navel gazing, or outpourings of personal angst, which isn’t to say I don’t have my own problems to deal with. I just don’t think the internet is the best place to air them.

So this blog is probably going to be more about music, theatre, movies, places I’ve visited, and (hard to avoid) politics. Well, one has to admit that the world we are living in isn’t quite the one I thought I lived in a few years ago. According to Adam Curtis in his brilliant film Hypernormalisation, we are living in a post-truth world. We know it’s not real, but we accept it as normal. How else can one explain Trump, and Brexit? Liberal is now a dirty word, intellectuals are derided and experts ignored. Anything that departs from the norm is suspect, and creativity, in so many walks of life, at an all time low. If it doesn’t make money it’s worthless, seems to be the message of the present generation.

However to begin with, I’m going to be indulging my passion for opera and, in particular, Maria Callas, with a group of reviews of all her studio recordings, which I will publish one by one over the next few weeks. A few of you may find them interesting, those who don’t know anything of Callas may choose to investigate, or not. I don’t expect everyone to have the same passions as me, so I will have to ask a little forbearance.

Happy New Year.