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BBC Music Magazine - November 2025

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In this issue

Spirit of the North Hildur Guðnadóttir
The Oscar-winning Icelandic composer on why her work is permeated by darkness

Donald Runnicles
The conductor’s favourite orchestral works
Eleanor Oldroyd
The music that has knocked her for six!
National piano schools
Do all countries’ players sound the same?

Mood music
The pieces that can help you through hard times

Stolen sounds
How a violin seized by the Nazis has been brought back to life

Alison Balsom calls time on career

Last Night of the Proms to be trumpeter's final concert

2 mins

Grave occasions reveal an unexpected taste

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the graveyard...

1 mins

Einstein's fiddle set for sale

A violin that Albert Einstein hid away from the Nazis is set to come up for auction this month.

1 mins

Ravel's Boléro, a ballet with 'no music', takes to the stage

In 1984, a truncated version of Maurice Ravel's orchestral piece Boléro was used to accompany a routine by British ice-dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics. The pair won gold and Boléro went global, its seductive rhythms mesmerising a whole new generation of listeners. Four decades later, Boléro remains one of the most instantly recognisable pieces of classical music, the work’s ‘crossover’ popularity entirely undiminished.

2 mins

The BBC Music Magazine team's current favourites...

Bird in flight: Benedetti recorded The Lark in 2007

1 mins

Concert Heaven Concert Hell

Top artists recall their best and worst performances

3 mins

My Hero

Gavric salutes and Ga her mother, and fellow pianist, Zrinka Gavrić for setting her on the path to her own concert career

1 mins

An environmental force

As he relives a memorable evening at the BBC Proms, Tom Service ponders how music might make us reconsider our relationship with the world around us

2 mins

Rodion Shchedrin - Born 1932 Composer and pianist

Throughout his life, Rodion Shchedrin (left) enjoyed significant status in his home country, both in the Soviet Union and then in Russia – in a 2014 interview, the then prime minister Vladimir Putin cited him alongside Gavrilin and Sviridov as three composers who had brought Russian classical music into the modern era.

1 mins

Christoph von Dohnányi Born 1929 Conductor

Born in Berlin, Christoph von Dohnányi came from an exceptional family.

1 mins

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

Pick a theme... and name your seven favourite examples

3 mins

Richard Morrison There's much that Europe and UK festivals can learn from each other

There’s a mischievous joke running through Harold Evans's scathing account of the British newspaper industry in the 1970s and ’80s, Good Times, Bad Times. As editor of The Times, he constantly tries to make contact with the paper's arts editor. Each time he attempts to set up a meeting he’s told that this elusive figure is ‘reviewing music festivals’ and in transit somewhere between Bayreuth and Verbier, or maybe Salzburg and Aix-en-Provence. In the end, Evans himself leaves the paper, still never having met his arts editor.

3 mins

Dark fascination

Cellist and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir has forged a career spanning classical, film and electronics – but she's always been drawn to unsettling themes

9 mins

A passage to Indonesia

Hearing the Javanese gamelan at the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris introduced Debussy to a new world, explains Simon Broughton

6 mins

Identity crisis

Do national schools of piano playing still exist in 2025, asks Jessica Duchen – and indeed, has the concept ever really been an accurate one?

6 mins

An American in China

Conductor Kazem Abdullah has built his career on introducing American works to international audiences. Tom Stewart meets him in Beijing

5 mins

Rays of light

Multiple studies show that music can do wonders for our mental health. So which pieces do we turn to when times are tough?

8 mins

Stolen strings

Michael White tells how a violin, cruelly confiscated by the Nazis but now recovered, has inspired a new work by Huw Watkins about its heroic owner

6 mins

Screenplayers

Actors 'playing' instruments on screen can be the stuff of nightmares. But, asks Michael Beek, to what lengths have they gone to make it look convincing?

6 mins

Mum's the word

New motherhood and its effects on the careers of professional musicians is a subject rarely broached. It's time to break the silence, says Anne Templer

6 mins

Trieste Italy

John-Pierre Joyce heads to the very corner of Italy to enjoy the cultural riches of a city whose list of musical visitors is both long and illustrious

3 mins

Michel Legrand

With a portfolio ranging from iconic film scores to jazz standards and even a piano concerto, the versatile Frenchman is hailed by Mervyn Cooke

6 mins

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Tempest

Jeremy Pound is storm-tossed and then enchanted as he seeks out the best versions of the Russian's Shakespeare-inspired fantasy-overture

4 mins

A stunning and scholarly performance

Jan Smaczny is enthralled by Isabelle Faust's unique approach to the demanding material of Bach's little-known violin works

2 mins

Thrilling Nielsen from start to finish

Malcolm Hayes finds perfect pacing in the latest instalment of Gardner's cycle

1 mins

A vibrant and humane message

Jo Talbot is impressed and moved by Abel Selaocoe’s first Cello Concerto

1 mins

A captivating take on Weinberg's epic opera

The Vienna Philharmonic flourish in this brilliantly engaging contemporary production, notes Erik Levi

1 mins

An engaging recital with attentive performances

Kathryn Rudge, Alessandro Fisher and Penelope Thwaites make an impression on Terry Blain

1 mins

A thrilling album cements Fretwork's place at the top

Ingrid Pearson is captivated by this stunning showcase of John Jenkins works for viol consort and organ

1 mins

A triumphant return for the Notre-Dame organ

Paul Riley is captivated by this infectious collection of feel-good crowd-pleasers, masterfully performed

1 mins

Unboxed

This month's roundup features multi-decade collections from performers at peak power

1 mins

Best value bookshelf speakers for your budget

Our expert Chris Haslam gives advice on buying the latest hi-fi equipment

4 mins

Cardiff Singer of the World

One of the world's most prestigious international opera competitions, the biennial BBC Cardiff Singer of the World was founded in 1983, and has been a launchpad for the careers of some of the world's major stars. But due to ongoing renovations to the competition's home venue of St David's Hall, it's had to take a hiatus and promises to return in 2027.

1 mins

Eleanor Oldroyd Broadcaster

Having joined the BBC in 1986, Eleanor Oldroyd has become well known as the presenter of radio programmes including Radio 1's Newsbeat and 5 Live Sport, and is perhaps most familiar to many as the voice of 5 Live's cricket coverage. She commentated for BBC Radio on the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh and the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla, and has also presented programmes on choral music for Radio 3. Her book Composers of Barnes: The Flow of Inspiration was published in 2016.

3 mins

Read all Stories from BBC Music Magazine

BBC Music Magazine Description:

Publisher: Our-Media-Ltd

Category: Music

Language: English

Frequency: Monthly

BBC Music Magazine is a monthly classical music magazine published by Immediate Media Company. It was first published in 1992 and is the best-selling classical music magazine in the world.

The magazine covers all aspects of classical music, from news and reviews to features and interviews. It also features exclusive content from the BBC Proms and other BBC classical music events.

BBC Music Magazine is a popular read for many classical music lovers, and is known for its in-depth coverage and expert analysis. It has helped many classical music lovers discover new music and learn more about the genre.

Here are some of the things you can expect from BBC Music Magazine:

* News and reviews of classical music

* Features on classical music composers, performers, and conductors

* Interviews with classical music figures

* Exclusive content from the BBC Proms and other BBC classical music events

If you're looking for a magazine that will help you stay up-to-date on the latest classical music news and trends, then BBC Music Magazine is a good choice. Subscribe today and start exploring the world of classical music!