It was a strange year as I suddenly lost my interest in fiction (films and books) in the middle of it; doubt that this was related to COVID-19 but… So, much of these ‘best 10s’ refer to the first six months of the year.
Films of the year
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire
- So Long, My Son
- Lillian
- Parasite
- The Truth
- Bacurau
- Weathering With You
- Little Women
- Lovers Rock
- Kuessipan
Films seen this year
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire
- The Searchers
- Blade Runner 2019
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- Casablanca
- Children of Men
- Under the Skin
- So Long, My Son
- Lillian
- Parasite
Books of the year
- Beethoven, Anguish and Triumph, Jan Swafford
- Olive, Again, Elizabeth Strout
- Miles Davis, Ian Carr
- Infinite Detail, Tim Maughan
- The Eighth: Mahler and the World in 1910, Stephen Johnson
- Wagnerism, Alex Ross
- The Blue Moment, Richard Williams
- A Theatre for Dreamers, Polly Sansom
- The Nickel Boys, Colston Whitehead
- Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell
Albums of the year
- Debussy-Rameau, Víkingur Ólafsson
- Part, Macmillan, Vasks, Clare College, Cambridge, The Dmitri Ens – Ross
- Rava, Herbert, Guidi, For Mario
- Vasks: Viola Concerto; Symphony 1, Rysanov – Sinfonietta Riga
- Barbarians, Young Knives
- Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Schmidt, BPO – Petrenko
- Gogo Penguin, Gogo Penguin
- Beethoven: Symphonies 1-5, Le Concert Nation – Jordi Savall
- Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde – Het Collectief, Yves Saelens, Lucile Richardot – de Leeuw
- Jehnny Beth, To Love is to Live
Top Live Events
- Beethoven: Rasumovsky No3 and Op. 131 quartets, Elias String Quartet, Square Chapel – Halifax
- Celtic Connections: Nitin Sawnhey, Fruit Market – Glasgow
- Celtic Connections: VILDÁ and Fatoumata Diawara, Tramway – Glasgow
- Celtic Connections: Anaïs Mitchell and Bonny Light Horseman, Fruit Market – Glasgow
- Iceland Symphony Orchestra – Yann Pascal Tortelier, Town Hall – Leeds
- Cries and Whispers, Manchester Collective, Town Hall – Leeds
- Alaw, The Live Room – Saltaire
- Rossini, Vaughan Williams, Schubert, Beethoven, Apple, Childress, RLPO – Petrenko – Leeds
- Beethoven and Bruckner: Yeol Eum Son, Liverpool Philharmonic – Andrew Manze, Philharmonic Hall – Liverpool
- Oscar Marzaroli, Street Level Gallery – Glasgow
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