Patrick Maxwell

England

Freelance Writer at Freelance

Writer and journalist. Contact: [email protected] For TheArticle, Big Issue, London Magazine, https://t.co/YCv2kYnm0q, Classical Music Daily.

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Articles

The rise and rise of AstraZeneca

1 day ago | thearticle.com | Patrick Maxwell

Remember AstraZeneca? They were the superheroes of the pandemic, coming to the rescue with their relatively safe and uncontroversial vaccine in the depths of the second lockdown of winter 2020-21, simultaneously justifying the Government’s serendipitous investment right at the start of the coronavirus outbreak. If there was a British success story among the general failures, it was “AZ”. Since 2020, the firm has only grown, and is now one of the biggest in Britain by market capitalisation.
So, farewell then, Seumas Milne: where are the Corbynistas?

3 days ago | thearticle.com | Patrick Maxwell

Remember Seumas Milne? Karie Murphy, anyone? Right-wing journalists used to fill dumb days at the office by re-reading Milne’s archived Guardian articles in praise of the USSR. It seems these central figures in the ill-fated regime of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party are destined merely for the footnotes of the first history books. In 2019, Channel 4 named Milne as one of the two “Men Who Really Run Britain”.
Restless but unsatisfying Mendelssohn from Eschenbach and the Oxford Philharmonic

2 months ago | bachtrack.com | Patrick Maxwell

It’s fair to say that the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra divides opinion. Their repertoire is limited and Music Director Marios Papadopolous is known more for his business acumen than his penetrating interpretations, cultivating a quite remarkable group of donors. This allows the orchestra to entice big names onto its podium at the Sheldonian Theatre: Maxim Vengerov, Víkingur Ólafsson, Martha Argerich among others. On a beautiful spring evening on Thursday, it was the turn of Christoph Eschenbach.
It’s the economy, stupid: why Harris got it wrong

Nov 6, 2024 | thearticle.com | Patrick Maxwell |Ali M. Mahmoud |Sameer Hinduja

How could they all, especially Kamala Harris, get it so wrong? Donald Trump’s easy path to victory is largely a matter of ”margin of error”. Or so we were told by many of the pundits who saw what all thought to be a whisker–thin election margin turn into a comfortable victory for a buoyant Republican Party. There are many reasons why this has happened.
Who will be Oxford’s next Chancellor?

Sep 9, 2024 | thearticle.com | Patrick Maxwell |Sameer Hinduja |Ali M. Mahmoud

Roy Jenkins said that the role of Chancellor of Oxford University was one of “impotence assuaged by magnificence”. No wonder that Imran Khan, incarcerated in his Pakistani prison cell, is so up for it . Khan’s surprise bid has been the highlight of an otherwise uninspiring contest, ever since Chris Patten announced his resignation in July.
Brilliant Bruckner from Berlin at the Proms

Sep 1, 2024 | thearticle.com | Patrick Maxwell |Sameer Hinduja

Member ratings This article has not been rated yet. Be the first person to rate this article. Kirill Petrenko is often said to be the best conductor in the world and his band, the Berlin Philharmonic, the best orchestra. Why is this? For style, pace, virtuosity and true interpretation, their joint rendition of Bruckner’s Fifth Symphony on Sunday night gave a decent answer. It is the 200th anniversary of Anton Bruckner’s birth this year.
Macron and ‘Macronism’ aren’t finished yet

Jul 26, 2024 | thearticle.com | Patrick Maxwell |Ali M. Mahmoud

The disappointment which greeted the far-Right with France’s parliamentary election results on July 7 has been hailed as a victory for the country’s progressive Left. Supporters of Marine Le Pen and her young National Rally president Jordan Bardella have proclaimed that the victory of their party will be only a matter of time.
London’s Great Estates

Jul 13, 2024 | thearticle.com | Patrick Maxwell |Ali M. Mahmoud

I: The Portmans of MaryleboneWe have forgotten just how much Britain’s capital owes to the Great Fire of 1666. The linking of Westminster with London proper and the creation of the West End had ramifications far beyond Wren’s new churches and a spruced-up Covent Garden. The Fire helped to put paid to the London plague, and also opened up large new spaces – acres and acres of fields to the north of the Thames – which were eagerly brought into the property spree.
Scottish orchestras are being neglected by those south of the Border

Apr 14, 2024 | thenational.scot | Patrick Maxwell

IT’S often said by people in the arts industry that classical music in Britain is “under threat”. It is said so often because it is so frequently true. But it should make us wonder quite how some of Britain’s finest ensembles have continued to promote new music, gain new audiences and reach new heights of international standing and fame over the last two decades.
Sargent: major artist or slave to fashion?

Apr 1, 2024 | thearticle.com | Patrick Maxwell |Ali M. Mahmoud

I wonder what it must have been like to have been a sitter for one of the portraits of John Singer Sargent. He apparently used to oscillate between studious concentration and bursts of energy, where he might go off to play the piano in the drawing room of whichever grand or stately home he was visiting to fulfil a latest commission.