Music
BBC Music Magazine
Spotlight on unusual solo instruments
Claire Jackson is mightily impressed by Bezaly's mastery of the rare alto flute
6 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
A personal and deeply felt expression of sorrow
Roger Thomas is impressed by the elegant skill and emotional conviction of this accomplished debut
9 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
A heartfelt and beautiful performance for our time
Tippett's meditation on inhumanity is as relevant today as at its premiere, writes Christopher Dingle
6 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
A rich score drawn from wanderings in America
Kate Wakeling is captivated by the Partch Ensemble's compelling realisation of a truly original body of works
10 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
An inspired and artful ode to Beethoven
Joy and camaraderie are palpable in Yo-Yo Ma, Leonidas Kavakos and Emanuel Ax's latest release, notes Rebecca Franks
2 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
All aboard!
Clare Stevens joins the intrepid presenters of Radio 3 for a day of remarkable on-the-move broadcasting, travelling the length of the United Kingdom by train
6 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
A compelling revival of Hasse's tragic masterpiece
Anett Fritsch, Roberta Mameli and Jeremy Ovenden deliver vivid performances, notes Nicholas Kenyon
6 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Ludlow United Kingdom
Each April, the English Song Weekend fills this Shropshire town with music by composers from both near and far
3 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
London calling
Clifford Hall recounts Haydn's huge successes in the English capital, a far cry from the composer's hard-up days in a freezing Vienna garret
9 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Sergei Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2
Jessica Duchen enjoys more than a brief encounter with the Russian's much-loved work as she gets on track with the best recordings available
3 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
All together now
In recent years, more and more artists have invited audiences to sing along with their performances. Rebecca Franks investigates this growing trend
7 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Performances equal to the great icons of the past
Morley and Brownlee are on sensational form in 19th-century arias and duets, writes George Hall
6 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Winner takes all
Competitions may be 'for horses', as Bartók once claimed, but they're a useful promotional tool, writes Claire Jackson, and sometimes they reveal a real star
7 min |
December 2025
BBC Music Magazine
15 show-stealing moments
We take a look at the arias, movements, songs and dances whose fame has outshone the larger works in which they first appeared
6 min |
December 2025
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 |