Damian Thompson

Damian Thompson is an associate editor of The Spectator

The greatest pianist you’ve never heard of

20 August 2015 1:00 pm

William Kapell was an American concert pianist with the looks of a male model and the fingers of a wizard.…

The greatest pianist you’ve never heard of

20 August 2015 1:00 pm

William Kapell was an American concert pianist with the looks of a male model and the fingers of a wizard.…

After coming forth in the Tchaikovsky competition, Lucas Debargue is the only competitor anyone is talking about

The real winner in the Tchaikovsky competition is the man who came last

18 July 2015 9:00 am

Lucas Debargue, a 24-year-old French pianist, came fourth in the finale of the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow on 30 June,…

After coming forth in the Tchaikovsky competition, Lucas Debargue is the only competitor anyone is talking about

He wuz robbed!

16 July 2015 1:00 pm

Lucas Debargue, a 24-year-old French pianist, came fourth in the finale of the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow on 30 June,…

After coming forth in the Tchaikovsky competition, Lucas Debargue is the only competitor anyone is talking about

He wuz robbed!

16 July 2015 1:00 pm

Lucas Debargue, a 24-year-old French pianist, came fourth in the finale of the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow on 30 June,…

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is greeted by Pope Francis during the Ordinary Public Consistory at St. Peter's Basilica in February (Photo: Franco Origlia/Getty)

Benedict XVI leaves Rome to deliver a coded message to his supporters

11 July 2015 9:00 am

Quietly, discreetly, the Pope Emeritus is offering a different vision to that of Pope Francis

Is this the greatest piano work of the 21st century?

20 June 2015 9:00 am

The award of a knighthood to the composer James MacMillan will have ruined last weekend for lots of unsavoury people:…

Forward thinking

18 June 2015 1:00 pm

The award of a knighthood to the composer James MacMillan will have ruined last weekend for lots of unsavoury people:…

Forward thinking

18 June 2015 1:00 pm

The award of a knighthood to the composer James MacMillan will have ruined last weekend for lots of unsavoury people:…

2067: the end of British Christianity

13 June 2015 9:00 am

England’s churches are in deep trouble

The Heckler: why does John Eliot Gardiner have to be so rude?

2 May 2015 9:00 am

Sir John Eliot Gardiner is talented almost beyond measure. His Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists and stupidly named Orchestre Révolutionnaire…

John Eliot Gardiner

30 April 2015 1:00 pm

Sir John Eliot Gardiner is talented almost beyond measure. His Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists and stupidly named Orchestre Révolutionnaire…

John Eliot Gardiner

30 April 2015 1:00 pm

Sir John Eliot Gardiner is talented almost beyond measure. His Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists and stupidly named Orchestre Révolutionnaire…

Why Daniel Barenboim should be the next head of the Berlin Phil

18 April 2015 9:00 am

Daniel Barenboim is back in town: the South Bank is mounting a ‘Barenboim Project 2015’ in which he’s playing the…

The legend returns

16 April 2015 1:00 pm

Daniel Barenboim is back in town: the South Bank is mounting a ‘Barenboim Project 2015’ in which he’s playing the…

The legend returns

16 April 2015 1:00 pm

Daniel Barenboim is back in town: the South Bank is mounting a ‘Barenboim Project 2015’ in which he’s playing the…

Maria Callas recording an album for EMI at the Salle Wagram, Paris, in 1963. Photo: Robert Doisneau

The audio anoraks bringing the great vintage recordings back to life

4 April 2015 9:00 am

Damian Thompson on the audio anoraks rescuing some of the greatest recordings ever made

Classical music's greatest political butt-kissers: Dudamel, Gergiev and Rattle

14 February 2015 9:00 am

On 8 March 2013, Gustavo Dudamel stood by the coffin of the Marxist autocrat Hugo Chavez and conducted the Simon…

Dudamel’s dilemma

12 February 2015 3:00 pm

On 8 March 2013, Gustavo Dudamel stood by the coffin of the Marxist autocrat Hugo Chavez and conducted the Simon…

Dudamel’s dilemma

12 February 2015 3:00 pm

On 8 March 2013, Gustavo Dudamel stood by the coffin of the Marxist autocrat Hugo Chavez and conducted the Simon…

The march of the new political correctness

7 February 2015 9:00 am

Twenty-first century political correctness isn’t benign: it’s creepy and all too keen on witch-hunts

Confessions of an illegal downloader

24 January 2015 9:00 am

I’ve never been into shoplifting, though I once had a friend who was. And, no, before you ask, I’m not…

Stolen pleasures

22 January 2015 3:00 pm

I’ve never been into shoplifting, though I once had a friend who was. And, no, before you ask, I’m not…

Stolen pleasures

22 January 2015 3:00 pm

I’ve never been into shoplifting, though I once had a friend who was. And, no, before you ask, I’m not…

This ex-priest’s history of the gospels could unsettle the most faithful churchgoer

13 December 2014 9:00 am

When James Carroll was a boy, lying on the floor watching television, he would glance up at his mother and…