As it searches for a new editor and presenter, programme is facing questions over its direction and status

With well over 5 million listeners a week tuning in to hear whether another tongue-tied minister will fall foul of its legendary 8.10am interview slot, Radio 4’s Today programme continues to be one of the BBC’s flagship news shows.

It has also traditionally been the pinnacle for broadcasters, producers and editors alike, keen to be associated with a show that has strived to set the daily news agenda since the 1950s.

As it searches for a new editor and presenter, programme is facing questions over its direction and status

With well over 5 million listeners a week tuning in to hear whether another tongue-tied minister will fall foul of its legendary 8.10am interview slot, Radio 4’s Today programme continues to be one of the BBC’s flagship news shows.

It has also traditionally been the pinnacle for broadcasters, producers and editors alike, keen to be associated with a show that has strived to set the daily news agenda since the 1950s.

As it searches for a new editor and presenter, programme is facing questions over its direction and status

With well over 5 million listeners a week tuning in to hear whether another tongue-tied minister will fall foul of its legendary 8.10am interview slot, Radio 4’s Today programme continues to be one of the BBC’s flagship news shows.

It has also traditionally been the pinnacle for broadcasters, producers and editors alike, keen to be associated with a show that has strived to set the daily news agenda since the 1950s.

Two sides on different recent trajectories meet with Steve Tandy finding cause for optimism despite another wooden spoon looming

Which is the sharper motivator, the avoidance of fresh humiliation or the attainment of new heights? Cardiff could be the place this weekend for any students of psychology more interested in such nuances than anything so obvious as an actual attempt to win the title.

Suffice to say, neither Wales nor Italy can win the Six Nations this weekend, nor exert any influence on its outcome. It is mathematically possible for Wales to knock England into last place for the first time in the extended championship’s history, but students of mathematics needn’t bother. For the record, Wales would need to win with a bonus point and, in concert with France, who play England, cover their current deficit of 100 in points difference.

Two sides on different recent trajectories meet with Steve Tandy finding cause for optimism despite another wooden spoon looming

Which is the sharper motivator, the avoidance of fresh humiliation or the attainment of new heights? Cardiff could be the place this weekend for any students of psychology more interested in such nuances than anything so obvious as an actual attempt to win the title.

Suffice to say, neither Wales nor Italy can win the Six Nations this weekend, nor exert any influence on its outcome. It is mathematically possible for Wales to knock England into last place for the first time in the extended championship’s history, but students of mathematics needn’t bother. For the record, Wales would need to win with a bonus point and, in concert with France, who play England, cover their current deficit of 100 in points difference.

Two sides on different recent trajectories meet with Steve Tandy finding cause for optimism despite another wooden spoon looming

Which is the sharper motivator, the avoidance of fresh humiliation or the attainment of new heights? Cardiff could be the place this weekend for any students of psychology more interested in such nuances than anything so obvious as an actual attempt to win the title.

Suffice to say, neither Wales nor Italy can win the Six Nations this weekend, nor exert any influence on its outcome. It is mathematically possible for Wales to knock England into last place for the first time in the extended championship’s history, but students of mathematics needn’t bother. For the record, Wales would need to win with a bonus point and, in concert with France, who play England, cover their current deficit of 100 in points difference.

Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
Receiving its UK premiere in a programme with Britten and Walton, Nico Muhly’s trumpet concerto is inspired by the instrument’s biblical – sometimes apocalyptic – associations

Audiences can be fickle. The Hallé ’s latest programme featured one of the world’s most celebrated trumpeters, a UK premiere from one of the world’s most high-profile living composers, and one of this country’s most successful young conductors – yet the Bridgewater Hall yawned with empty seats. Whatever the reasons, those who decided against booking missed an exhilarating evening.

It started politely enough, with the rollicking baroquery of Britten’s Courtly Dances from Gloriana . A set of Tudorbethan pastiches, these dances encourage orchestral good behaviour. But conductor Alpesh Chauhan also allowed glimpses of a harsher, modernist world outside in the viciously chirrupping winds and off-kilter repetitions of the central Morris Dance and the gleeful snaps and rattles of the closing Lavolta.

Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
Receiving its UK premiere in a programme with Britten and Walton, Nico Muhly’s trumpet concerto is inspired by the instrument’s biblical – sometimes apocalyptic – associations

Audiences can be fickle. The Hallé ’s latest programme featured one of the world’s most celebrated trumpeters, a UK premiere from one of the world’s most high-profile living composers, and one of this country’s most successful young conductors – yet the Bridgewater Hall yawned with empty seats. Whatever the reasons, those who decided against booking missed an exhilarating evening.

It started politely enough, with the rollicking baroquery of Britten’s Courtly Dances from Gloriana . A set of Tudorbethan pastiches, these dances encourage orchestral good behaviour. But conductor Alpesh Chauhan also allowed glimpses of a harsher, modernist world outside in the viciously chirrupping winds and off-kilter repetitions of the central Morris Dance and the gleeful snaps and rattles of the closing Lavolta.

Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
Receiving its UK premiere in a programme with Britten and Walton, Nico Muhly’s trumpet concerto is inspired by the instrument’s biblical – sometimes apocalyptic – associations

Audiences can be fickle. The Hallé ’s latest programme featured one of the world’s most celebrated trumpeters, a UK premiere from one of the world’s most high-profile living composers, and one of this country’s most successful young conductors – yet the Bridgewater Hall yawned with empty seats. Whatever the reasons, those who decided against booking missed an exhilarating evening.

It started politely enough, with the rollicking baroquery of Britten’s Courtly Dances from Gloriana . A set of Tudorbethan pastiches, these dances encourage orchestral good behaviour. But conductor Alpesh Chauhan also allowed glimpses of a harsher, modernist world outside in the viciously chirrupping winds and off-kilter repetitions of the central Morris Dance and the gleeful snaps and rattles of the closing Lavolta.