Culture
BBC Music Magazine
Mozart breathes his last, with his Requiem left unfinished
The summer of 1791 was an exceptionally busy period, even by Mozart's habitually hardworking standards. He was, to begin with, composing a new opera, Die Zauberflöte (‘The Magic Flute’). Then, in June, he received a commission for a new choral work, a Requiem. By early July there were already signs that Mozart was struggling with the pressure of looming deadlines, and health issues lurking namelessly below the surface.
3 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Make it up as you go along...
Classical music has a problem with perfection. You'd have thought the most important job of any professional musician was learning, playing and repeating the notes composers wrote down so often that they become second nature. Surely that's how the tradition works: keep playing the same music – by Strozzi, Bach or Vivaldi – over and over again until the jewels that they left us are polished to a gleaming finish. That's what the works of classical music are all about: they are bound in the pages of scores, fixed as absolute sequences of pitches in time, and turned into objects of contemplation in performance by classical music's ideals of recreative execution.
1 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Richard Morrison
When is the right time for musicians to take their leave from the stage?
3 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Franz Schubert
From angst to acceptance, Schubert's ability to switch seamlessly between states of mind was a unique part of his genius, says Stephen Johnson
6 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Headphones to help you listen while you work
If you've got a desk job, I'd wager you spend at least some of your time wearing headphones. Whether you work from home or commute into an office, a pair of headphones has become an essential tool for phone calls, video conferencing, enjoying music, or simply to turn the volume down on Debbie and James at the neighbouring desks. Choosing the right pair can make a huge difference to productivity and comfort, especially when long hours are spent wearing them. For most users, modern over-ear wireless designs remain the best option thanks to their mix of sound quality, noise cancellation and wearability.
4 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Georgia on my mind
A product of the fertile Georgian music system, star pianist Mariam Batsashvili speaks to Michael Church about Beethoven, artistic freedom and teaching via social media
8 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
The long goodbye
The farewell concert is a long-established tradition among classical stars. But, asks Andrew Green, how many musicians calling it a day actually mean it?
6 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
An epic journey
When asked to write music for Ibsen's play Peer Gynt, Grieg thought he was facing an impossible challenge. But, as Terry Blain relates, the composer's perseverance resulted in a masterpiece of matchless character and colour
10+ min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Pick a theme... and name your seven favourite examples
3 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Have your say..
Write to: The editor, BBC Music Magazine, Eagle House, Bristol, BS1 4ST Email: music@classical-music.com Social media: contact us on Facebook and X (Twitter)
4 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Concert Heaven Concert Hell
Top artists recall their best and worst performances
3 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Ronnie Scott's takes a classical turn
New Monday night concert series to begin in February
2 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
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 min |
November 2025
BBC Music Magazine
The BBC Music Magazine team's current favourites...
Bird in flight: Benedetti recorded The Lark in 2007
1 min |
November 2025
BBC Music Magazine
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 min |
November 2025
BBC Music Magazine
A triumphant return for the Notre-Dame organ
Paul Riley is captivated by this infectious collection of feel-good crowd-pleasers, masterfully performed
1 min |
November 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Christoph von Dohnányi Born 1929 Conductor
Born in Berlin, Christoph von Dohnányi came from an exceptional family.
1 min |
November 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Unboxed
This month's roundup features multi-decade collections from performers at peak power
1 min |
November 2025
BBC Music Magazine
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 min |
November 2025
BBC Music Magazine
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 min |
November 2025
BBC Music Magazine
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 min |
November 2025
BBC Music Magazine
A captivating take on Weinberg's epic opera
The Vienna Philharmonic flourish in this brilliantly engaging contemporary production, notes Erik Levi
1 min |
November 2025
BBC Music Magazine
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 min |
November 2025
BBC Music Magazine
An engaging recital with attentive performances
Kathryn Rudge, Alessandro Fisher and Penelope Thwaites make an impression on Terry Blain
1 min |
November 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Best value bookshelf speakers for your budget
Our expert Chris Haslam gives advice on buying the latest hi-fi equipment
4 min |
November 2025
BBC Music Magazine
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 min |
November 2025
BBC Music Magazine
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 min |
November 2025
BBC Music Magazine
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 min |
November 2025
BBC Music Magazine
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 min |
November 2025
BBC Music Magazine
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 min |