BBC Music Magazine

BBC Music Magazine is a must for anyone with a passion for classical music. Classical music connoisseurs and new enthusiast alike will enjoy the fascinating features and reviews of over 120 new works in every issue.

Please Note: Our digital edition does not include the cover mount items or supplements you would normally find with printed copies

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THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORS

BBC Music Magazine

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Eric Lu takes coveted Chopin prize • American pianist adds to his Leeds victory in 2018

Bach’s recycled choral music brings festive cheer to Leipzig

Also in December 1734…

The BBC Music Magazine team’s current favourites…

Concert Heaven Concert Hell • Top artists recall their best and worst performances

My Hero • Vision String Quartet violist Sander Stuart shares the group’s admiration for composer and pianist Gabriel Kahane

Extremely good ideas

FAREWELL TO…

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN • Pick a theme… and name your seven favourite examples

Richard Morrison • There are far too many wonderful carols that have faded into obscurity

In dulci jubilo • When Christopher Gray became director of music at St John’s College, Cambridge in 2023, he stepped into a tradition 350 years in the making, as he tells Ashutosh Khandekar

Pulling out all the stops • A new organ for St John’s

Life beyond the stalls • Some notable St John’s alumni

Jingle hell! • As the Christmas season approaches, the BBC Music Magazine team share the festive tunes that make our hearts sink

Go fourth in piece • The perfect carol start

The jolly and the lively • A seasonal gallery of what the musical stars have got up to at Christmas time

In good faith • Composer Roxanna Panufnik and writer Jessica Duchen tell Amanda Holloway how they have joined forces for a new choral work that looks well beyond Christmas for its festive celebrations

Leading lights • The festivals in Aurora

Westward Ho! • Composer Alex Ho is part of a growing community of musicians combining their British and Chinese heritage in fascinating ways, writes Richard Morgan

Alexander the Great • Ho on three pivotal works

Music&mercy • Harriet Constable, author of The Instrumentalist, explores Venice’s Ospedale della Pietà, the girls’ orphanage where Vivaldi taught and composed

Abundance of riches • Early 18th-century Venice

Hiss and make-up • From boos to vegetables, opera stars have had to put up with all sorts being aimed in their direction over the centuries, as Alexandra Wilson explores

Very Bard behaviour • The Astor Place Riot

It’s all in the genes • Is it a bonus or a burden to be the musical child of musical parents? Michael White tracks down prominent examples for the inside story

Wolfgang & Leopold • A fraught relationship?

Banff Canada • Spectacular views and equally stunning string quartet performances are on Jeremy Pound’s agenda as he heads to the Canadian Rockies

Morten Lauridsen • Terry Blain explores the life of a self-imposed recluse whose magical O Magnum Mysterium beguiles millions of listeners each Christmas

LAURIDSEN Life&Times

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Swan Lake • A compelling narrative and a bevy of stirring melodies did not prevent the Russian’s ballet ruffing feathers at its outset, as Jo Talbot explains

A perfectly poised balletic balance

Continue the journey… • We suggest five more ballets to explore after Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake

Welcome

A vivid and intimate portrait of Mahler • Anna Lucia Richter brings striking depth and expressive insight to...