The Lady Of The Rivers

IMPLACABLE November, an exaggeration?

GUSTAV Mahler has had many champions since his death in 1911, from conductors Bruno Walter through Leonard Bernstein right up to today and the likes of Claudio Abbado.

IF he wrote about the tribulations of turnip growing or the life story of, say, Noel Dempsey, Peter Ackroyd would still produce a bestseller.

It is 44 years since Time Magazine placed London, The Swinging Capital on its cover and declared: “In a once sedate world of faded splendor, everything new, uninhibited and kinky is blooming.” The cast may change, but the characters remain the same, writes Allan Prosser