Brahms in Mexico

I am pleased to present this video of my June 16 performance of the Brahms "Double" concerto with my brother, violinist William Harvey, with José Luis Castillo and the Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco at the Teatro Degollado in Guadalajara, Mexico! The Teatro Degollado was built in 1866 during the reign of Emperor Maximilian. June 16 was the eve of our parents' 50th anniversary; the concerts were dedicated to them.

A speech at the UN

It is my general policy not to comment on the younger son of HRH the Prince of Wales or his wife. However I have to say that to read of someone who was born into the Royal Family moaning to the United Nations about a "global assault on democracy and freedom" as if "democracy" is self-evidently A Good Thing We Should All Cherish is depressing (though in this case not surprising) to me. As republicans in the UK will no doubt be quick to point out, he owes his wealth and fame entirely to the remnants of a system that in principle, despite the de facto supremacy of Parliament since 1688, remains profoundly non-democratic (which of course I unapologetically embrace). Democracy has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that this individual, unlike most people, gets to address the UN. As far as I know he has never won an election, or even voted in one.

Furthermore, I respect the fact that I have friends on both sides of the abortion debate (on which I myself refuse to ever publicly weigh in), but surely anyone with any understanding of constitutional monarchy can agree that it is not an issue on which a member of the royal family (which he still technically is) should be taking a divisive stand against the beliefs of large numbers of people, particularly in the USA but also including some devout members of the Church of which his grandmother is the Supreme Governor. I am not obviously not royal, but in this case I wish he would learn to emulate my official impartiality!

However, I also detested Meghan McCain's contemptuous knee-jerk Americanist response, in which she described the majority of Americans as "monarchy-hating." Indifferent, sure, but I would hope not hating. "Hating" takes a lot of energy, which I honestly don't think most Americans invest in opposing the British Monarchy.

You can Google the relevant articles if you need to; I'm not posting links.