Cirrus@Austlit

'Welcome to the September issue of ABR! Our cover story, written by well-known musician and musicologist Peter Tregear, concerns the plight of classical music in the age of Covid-19. Music – like theatre and opera and film – has been devastated (silenced almost) by new restrictions and social isolation. When the lockdown is over, what will be retrievable, and will the repertoire be fundamentally reshaped? Peter Rose, in a diary piece, worries about the new era of conformism and prohibition and asks, ‘What personal freedoms are being sacrificed along the way?’ Megan Clement is underwhelmed by Julia Gillard and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s new book on women and leadership. We publish Kate Middleton’s poignant essay ‘The Dolorimeter’, runner-up in the 2020 Calibre Essay Prize. And Don Anderson, Morag Fraser, and James Bradley review new novels by Kate Grenville, Amanda Lohrey, and David Mitchell, respectively.' (Publication abstract)