First they took away my violin. Then they took my chair….

Memo to DG photographers: Pose artist in Berlin. Perch on Wall (railings will do if you can’t find Wall). Wait for car in matching shade.

Then shoot.

The elegant Mahan Esfehani.

The main complaint made by Christian Thielemann, in a carefully-coded Pegida bombshell article, is that German politicians are refusing to address the concerns of German citizens.

The conductor accuses his country’s leaders of elitism and hypocrisy.

In one telling quote, he flings an Angela Merkel quote back in the face of the Chancellor:

Der Islam gehört zu Deutschland? Warum nicht. Vielleicht gehört das Christentum ja irgendwann zur Türkei und das Judentum zur arabischen Welt. Solange dies nicht der Fall ist, müssten wir allerdings sagen dürfen, dass es nicht der Fall ist, ohne als faschistoid, rechtspopulistisch oder intolerant zu gelten.

So Islam belongs in Germany. Why not? Perhaps Christianity also belongs in Turkey and Judaism in the Arab world. So long as that is not the case, however, we ought to be allowed to say it is not the case without being called quasi-Fascist, rightwing-populist, or intolerant.

Thielemann’s article was published on Thursday in Die Welt.

Not a squeak has been heard about it in other German media, or from any leading politician. No letter have appeared in the press.

Thielemann has made his point.

Foto: picture alliance / Sven Simon

LA-launched and London-based, Angel Blue has signed with AskonasHolt.

The deal is not as simple as it looks.

Angel is managed by Emma Hawkins at The Music & Media Partnership, a branding agency that works for David Garrett, Russell Watson and Cliff Richard.

They are not equipped to manage a developing operatic career. That’s where AH comes in. Toi-toi.

Watch her with Melvyn Bragg here.

A full chamber orchestra of 30 musicians was hidden in complete silence behind the Paris catwalk.

When the models started to strut their stuff, the ensemble struck up. A spotlight showed them all dressed in Dior Homme.

They played a suite by the Ivory Coast composer, Koudlam. All the fashion writers were *amazed*. Celebrities gasped.

Chic?

Not if you’ve been sat for an hour in pitch darkness, wondering if you’re still in tune.

Any of our Paris readers actually play in this charade?