Classic Rock
Last Train
With album number three they're hoping to pull into stations outside their native France.
2 min |
March 2025
Classic Rock
SONGS OF INNOCENCE, SONGS OF EXPERIENCE
Moving to a new studio, and with band members taking on new roles, with their new album The Manic Street Preachers continue to innovate and experiment.
10 min |
March 2025
Classic Rock
THE VAGABONDS RETURN
With the release of Thin Lizzy's new Acoustic Sessions, with Phil Lynott's 70sera vocals, guitarist Eric Bell and producer Richard Whittaker tell us about grassaddled sessions, unfinished business and why this project definitely isn't Al.
5 min |
March 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Puppet of the Reich?
Wilhelm Furtwängler has long been seen as a symbol of Nazism. But, as Andrew Green explains, the conductor was a strong opponent of the regime
8 min |
February 2025
BBC Music Magazine
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN Pick a theme... and name your seven favourite examples
Conductor Domingo Hindoyan nominates the best musical depictions of anger and frustration
3 min |
February 2025
BBC Music Magazine
A glittering beacon
Until its destruction in the fire of 1936, the Crystal Palace was one of the world's most exciting music venues, and its legacy still lives on today, writes Tom Service.
2 min |
February 2025
BBC Music Magazine
The censors' refusal to play ball drives Verdi to despair
In the early months of 1857, Verdi had Shakespeare on his mind, and specifically King Lear.
2 min |
February 2025
BBC Music Magazine
André Rieu Violinist, Conductor
King of the Waltz, Dutch musical impresario André Rieu has taken the world by storm with his Johann Strauss Orchestra.
3 min |
February 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Late Bloomer
Three hundred years ago, Antonio Vivaldi published The Four Seasons. But despite the work's spectacular popularity today, it was not until the 20th century that it really discovered its true audience, writes Nicholas Kenyon
10 min |
February 2025
BBC Music Magazine
LEADING FROM THE FRONT
From running efficient rehearsals to learning to speak to orchestras with clarity and empathy, an array of exciting courses for conductors has bloomed in recent years, finds Clare Stevens
6 min |
February 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Kindred spirits
As their second opera takes to the stage, composer Gregory Spears and librettist Tracy K Smith talk to Charlotte Smith about their special partnership
7 min |
February 2025
Record Collector
Finished Symphonies
In the late 80s, Shelleyan Orphan made rarefied, ravishing, precious (both meanings) baroque pop, all chamber quartet accompaniment and literary reference points, like an 18th century Cocteau Twins.
8 min |
February 2025
Record Collector
WINDOWS ON THE WORLD
At the peak of their powers in the early 70s, by 1975 there were signs that Led Zeppelin were burning out, and their legendary appetite for excess, not to mention stadium-straddling, mythically charged, epically inclined hard rock, might be waning.
10+ min |
February 2025
Record Collector
UNDER THE RADAR
Artists, bands, and labels meriting more attention
4 min |
February 2025
Record Collector
THE ENGINE ROOM
The unsung heroes who helped forge modern music
4 min |
February 2025
BBC Music Magazine
11 Bed-Hopping Composers
Jeremy Pound lifts the covers off those notorious notesmiths who found the thrill of playing away simply too hard to resist
6 min |
February 2025
BBC Music Magazine
A way with words
Great operas are inextricably linked with their composer but, asks Jessica Duchen, how often do we acknowledge the important role of the librettist?
7 min |
February 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Paul Riley traces the wandering existence of a cosmopolitan composer who made it his life's work and ambition to rip up opera's rulebook
7 min |
February 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Ludwig van Beethoven
Terry Williams explores the best recordings of a symphony that shows the perky sense of humour lurking within its curmudgeonly composer
4 min |
February 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Atlanta US
Though well known for its world-class orchestra, Georgia's leafy state capital also boasts a thriving opera scene, as Michael Beek discovers
3 min |
February 2025
BBC Music Magazine
The Awards are upon us once more!
Time to vote for the best recordings of the last 12 months
3 min |
February 2025
BBC Music Magazine
"The first time I was shown how to play Bach on the harpsichord, it gave me goosebumps
As Bach Collegium Japan celebrates its 35th anniversary, its legendary music director speaks to Amanda Holloway about a lifetime devoted to the great Baroque composer
7 min |
February 2025
Record Collector
45 SHEFFIELD 45s
Continuing our celebrations of RC's 45th birthday and following on from our look at the best 45s to come out of Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol and Glasgow, we focus on the urbanisation formerly known as Steel City: Sheffield. Close to the (Nether) Edge: Jeremy Allen
1 min |
February 2025
Record Collector
HI-FIDELITY?
Running a record shop is a dream for many music aficionados. Steve Burniston investigates how to run a successful one
6 min |
February 2025
Record Collector
"BLACK BRITISH PEOPLE HAD SOMETHING TO SHOUT ABOUT"
Breaking new ground for black music in Britain from his teenage years in Matumbi in the early 70s, Dennis Bovell went on to become one of reggae's most highly regarded producers, helping popularise lovers rock. He also played a pivotal role in post-punk's experimental incorporation of dub influences on records like The Slits' Cut and The Pop Group's Y. As new compilation, Sufferer Sounds, reaches back to his early days to compile some of his best early dub plates, Lois Wilson gets the full backstory from one of British music's most enduring forces.
10+ min |
February 2025
Record Collector
FRENZY REUNITED
Swindon's finest musical export, XTC were also one of the most quietly influential British bands, setting a template for Britpop while pioneering a brand of left-field guitar pop – from herky-jerky invention to consummate craftsmanship – that has spawned many imitators.
10+ min |
February 2025
Guitarist
BECK THE GUITAR AUCTION
Jeff Beck had no equal for the joyous, headstrong energy and beguiling subtlety he brought to his playing. When he died suddenly in January of 2023, he left behind the lightning rods through which his electrifying talent passed an eclectic collection of guitars, many of which are as heavily customised as the hot-rod cars that were Beck’s other ruling passion. Almost exactly two years after his passing, these legendary instruments are now set to go under the hammer in London. We join the experts from Christie’s auction house on the eve of the sale to take a closer look at Oxblood’ and other historic instruments from Jeff’s career and discuss the portrait they paint of a pragmatic, restless yet peerlessly gifted talent and his musical legacy
10+ min |
February 2025
Guitarist
1960 Epiphone Coronet
Not long ago I was at the Philadelphia Guitar Show and a buddy of mine told me he had something I’d probably never seen before – and, sure enough, it turned out he did.
3 min |
February 2025
Guitarist
Larkin Poe
Seventh studio album, Bloom, sees Rebecca and Megan Lovell embrace family dynamics, take the spark from stage to studio, and serve up the guitars neat”
9 min |
February 2025
Guitarist
New York City Guitar Shops
For vintage guitar enthusiasts, a shopping trip to the US is surely a fixture on the bucket list.
8 min |