I did not like Arabella Steinbacher's recent recording of the Beethoven violin concerto, finding it too slow and sentimentalised -- sort of Beethoven / Bruch. But I do like her performance of the second violin concerto of Shostakovich and here, with a better balance, the orchestra plays a much more important part than in the recent Czech performance with Bohumil Kotmel (which I may have over-praised at the time).

No danger of over-praising Elly Ney. Ronald kindly donated two CDs of her playing, and I am highly impressed. Has the adagio molto semplice of Beethoven's Op 111 ever been better played, with more understanding? I suspect not. The recordings (German, mainly from the mid-1930s) are quite extraordinarily good.

And while I am in a praising mood: Marks & Spencer's lamb Rogan Josh is far better than any Indian dish from any other British supermarket. Succulent, tasty, delicious.