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

Welcome

THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORS

BBC Music Magazine

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The full score • Our pick of the month’s news, views and interviews

Busoni puts on a fine show as Bechstein Hall opens its doors

Also in May 1901…

The BBC Music Magazine team’s current favourites…

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

My Hero

Pushing the limits

FAREWELL TO…

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

Richard Morrison • Timothée Chalamet’s dismissal of ballet and opera may be a good thing

Perfect delivery • A programme of works familiar and new sung superbly live in concert has proved the winning formula for Nigel Short’s Tenebrae choir, writes Jeremy Pound

Orchestral Award Sascha Goetzel

Jan Schulmeister

Concerto Award Julian Bliss

Chamber Award Marmen Quartet

Premiere Award Dobrinka Tabakova

Opera Award Karina Canellakis

Vocal Award Anna Lucia Richter

Instrumental Award Timothy Ridout

Choral champion • Having led The Sixteen to global fame, conductor Harry Christophers is now hard at work encouraging the singers of tomorrow, as he tells Jeremy Pound

Piece of mind • American cellist Alisa Weilerstein speaks to Ariane Todes about her ‘Fragments’ project, combining solo Bach with 27 new commissions

Fit for a Queen • As a lover of music, Marie Antoinette did much to promote composers and performers at her court in Versailles, explains Claire Jackson

Shock tactics • Some opera productions really do push the boundaries of good taste, reflects Ashutosh Khandekar as he relives some of the most outrageous of all

A change of tempo • For musicians, relaxation can be a luxury. Five performers speak to Anne Templer about how they spend their precious days off

Celebrate timeless design, with Homes & Antiques magazine

FESTIVAL GUIDE 2026

UK Summer Opera

Europe

North America

Rest of the World

Charleston US • Charlotte Smith is impressed by an elegant city owning up to its dark past – and with a thriving and innovative arts scene

Miles Davis • Roger Thomas marks 100 years since the birth of a jazz legend by looking back at the style and personality that shaped his unique career

MILES DAVIS Life&Times

Pietro Mascagni Cavalleria rusticana • The Sicilian sun is shining and passions are high, as Alexandra Wilson explores the best recordings of Mascagni’s masterful one-act opera

Passion, personality and plenty of fire

Three other great recordings

Continue the journey… • We suggest operas to explore after Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana

Welcome

A fascinating portrait of Russian nostalgia • Michael Church is impressed by pianist Alexander Malofeev’s carefully considered and sensitively delivered programme

Performer’s notes Alexander Malofeev

Masterful orchestral writing on full display • Mark Elder and the Hallé expertly showcase Huw Watkins’s delightful works, notes Geoff Brown

A second flowering for the lute concerto • Evangelina Mascardi is an elegant advocate for her instrument, writes Kate Bolton-Porciatti

A striking rediscovery and bold world premiere •...