Just in

Articles by Michael Stuart

Avatar photo
About Michael Stuart

After university, Michael spent twelve years working for MELODY MAKER before going freelance. He claims to keep doing it because it is all he knows. More Posts

Time for reflection

No apologies today as I return to a what is commonly known as The White Album, a classic and often under-rated Beatles offering recently in the news for being re-released in an anthology version. Here’s a link to a piece by David Lister, setting the album in its historical context as a [...]

November 22, 2018 // 0 Comments

A musical milestone remembered

As a fiftieth anniversary ‘remastered’ anthology edition of the flawed but brilliant Beatles’ White Album is being issued accompanied by with all sorts of analysis, out-takes and different demo versions – I cannot help but reveal myself as owning an original issue of it [...]

November 6, 2018 // 0 Comments

Wigmore Hall

Last night I was invited to a recital at Wigmore Hall by the violinist James Ehnes and the pianist Andrew Armstrong. They played 4 violin sonatas by Robert Schumann, Maurice Ravel, Johannes Brahms and John Conigliano. The Wigmore Hall with its excellent acoustics is a celebrated venue for chamber [...]

September 22, 2018 // 0 Comments

Still Standing

When self-posting our blogs to the Rust via the administrative website and – thereby ticking the ‘category’ boxes to tag our occasional offerings to ensure that regular readers and others become aware of them – we have one designated to ‘Lists’. Here’s a [...]

September 14, 2018 // 0 Comments

Aretha Franklin (1942-2018) R.I.P.

What a singer, what an interpreter of other people’s songs! Since the news of her death hit the media yesterday I’ve been wallowing in the tributes coming in from all sides, listening to and/or watching some of her performances on YouTube and listening to the contributions of people who [...]

August 17, 2018 // 0 Comments

Walking on the spot

Most people will have heard Walking In Memphis, the 1991 multi-Grammy award song by American Marc Cohn, a 59 year old, twice divorced, singer-songwriter. I know I have, but until this week – my problem rather than anyone else’s, I admit – neither his name nor his connection to said ditty had [...]

July 20, 2018 // 0 Comments

Burt Bacharach in concert

Perhaps the most tellling thing about the legend that is Burt Bacharach is that aged 90 he is performing at all. I had expected that rather like another ageing maestro Otto Klemperer he would be going though the motions with some conducting but no over 2 hours he presented, played, sang and I was [...]

July 11, 2018 // 0 Comments

A soul legend rocks the Union Chapel

The Grade 1-listed Union Chapel in Islington/Highbury, built in the late 19th Century in Gothic-revival style, is both a working Congregationalist church and a charity drop-in centre but perhaps best well-known to irreligious bums like me as a corking-good live music venue. Somehow its combination [...]

July 11, 2018 // 0 Comments

Madame Butterfly /Glyndebourne

I had seen this Madame Butterfly 2 years ago in gestation as part of the autumn repertory and last night Puccini’s masterpiece made a powerful impression as the story is as magnificent as the music despite some tinkering by director Annilese Mackinnon. I imagine most readers know the story [...]

July 9, 2018 // 0 Comments

Bob Dylan’s time out

I’m not a one-eyed Dylan worshipper but acknowledge him as one of the all-time greats of rock music. To put it in context, my favourite Dylan album is his thirtieth – Time Out Of Mind (1997) – probably because I related to its themes of world-weariness at the time – and for large [...]

June 9, 2018 // 0 Comments

1 … 7 8 9 10 11 … 17

Copyright © 2026 The National Rust | Design by Premonition