It has emerged that the FSB unit which poisoned the Russian defector Alexander Litvinenko in November 2006 almost took the life of a pianist at the London hotel where they met their prey.
Derek Conlon, 51, later drank from the same coffee cup. Although it had been through the dishwasher, it was still contaminated with the polonium-210 that killed Litvinenko.
He has written about the experience in a new book, Sea’s the Moment.
Read here.
This is the new UK classical chart.
All 10 entrants are from Decca.
Top 10 Classical Artist Albums Chart
A dozen years ago, only one of these records would have classified as classical.
Malcolm Young, co-founder of the Australian rock band AC/DC with his brother Angus Young, died today.
He was 64 and had been struggling with dementia.
The group sold 200 million records.
In the late Soviet era, Nikolai Kapustin looked like a route to the future – a composer who ignored party norms and wrote in an idiom that, while rooted in Bach, is easily mistaken for jazz.
He turns 80 this week, on November 22.
Let’s give him a shout-out.
From the Korea Herald:
A child violinist battling leukemia had the chance of a lifetime when his musical hero Itzhak Perlman gave him a special one-on-one master class.
Cha Hee-su, 8, was greeted at the waiting room where Perlman was resting after his concert at Seoul Arts Center on Sunday.
Cha played “Humoresque,” a piece he had been practicing 20 minutes a day the last three days, which require great effort given his weak physical conditions. Perlman carefully listened to him playing and offered advice on his posture and playing style.
Read on here.
From Al-Arabiya:
Shireen Maalouf is one of the most precious people I met while studying in Lebanon. She resembles sweet rain that flows in a forgotten and remote land.
Read on here.
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