Welcome to The Proms!
Your complete guide to this summer’s concerts, including the BBC Music team’s personal highlights.

Perfect Finnish
Sakari Oramo, conductor of this year’s Last Night of the Proms, shares his love of the job with John Allison.

Pride and joy
Oliver Zeffman, founder of the Classical Pride festival, tells Claire Jackson about this summer’s colourful event...

Pictures at an Exhibition - On its 150th anniversary, Jessica Duchen takes us on a guided tour of Mussorgsky’s unique piano mastepiece.

Perfect pitch? - Some of opera’s more adventurous, and unlikely, ways of promoting itself are relived by Alexandra Wilson.

Vilde Frang The Norwegian shares with Ariane Todes the joys and challenges of recording Elgar’s mighty Violin Concerto.

Giacomo of all trades Puccini didn’t just compose opera, says Adrian Mourby, as he explores some of the Italian’s assorted other works...

MUSICALS!
How opera gave birth to the world’s greatest stage shows

Also in this issue…
Beethoven’s remarkable late creative surge

How Myra Hess brought joy to wartime Britain

Smetana’s hymn of love to his Czech homeland

Holst: Beyond The Planets
Daniel Jaffé explores the extraordinary variety of the composer’s works outside his great masterpiece; plus, a 150th-anniversary display of previously unseen photos.

Song and dance man
The exhaustive of efforts of folk collector Cecil Sharp changed the face of English music, reveals Andrew Green.

A classroom collaboration
Charlotte Smith visits the Shireland CBSO Academy, a Midlands state school where music enjoys top billing...

The Sixteen
The world-renowned choir is in great spirits at 45 years old, conductor Harry Christophers tells Andrew Stewart.

Symphonies by the sea
Andrew Green unfolds his deckchair as he investigates the erstwhile phenomenon of British seaside orchestras.

Harmonic progression
Big, brash and often over-the-top: Prog Rock, classical music’s pop cousin, is introduced by Meurig Bowen

And the winners are…
We present the BBC Music Magazine Awards 2024, complete with interviews with all the performers on what went into making their prize-winning recordings.

A false start
Michael White heads back to 1920s London, where Walton announced his arrival with Façade, a work that had concert-goers scratching their bewildered heads.

Cover: Errollyn Wallen

From solitude to wild inspiration, the composer tells Kate Wakeling the secrets of her award-winning success

The Big 400!

We celebrate the 400th issue of BBC Music Magazine with a flick through some of those we made earlier…

Avian anthems

Tom Stewart listens out carefully for the various ways that composers have represented birdsong in music

Music to die for
From raging Verdi to blissful Brahms, the range of Requiem settings is rich indeed, says Jeremy Pound

Amadeus
In a nine-page special, Charlotte Smith celebrates the 40th birthday of the greatest classical music film ever made, and shares the memories of those involved.

A Marriner’s tale
On the 100th anniversary of his birth, conductor Neville Marriner is remembered by Michael White

A cast of thousands
Andrew Green sings a triumphant ‘Hallelujah!’ as the Really Big Chorus continues to raise the roof at 50..

On a wing and a prayer
Andrew Green on Ernest Lough, whose 1920s recording of Mendelssohn made him an instant treble superstar.

Alternative Ulster
Tom Stewart takes a look at how Northern Ireland’s contemporary music scene is thriving against the odds..

Awards 2024 nominations
We invite you to vote on the finest recordings of last year, as shortlisted by BBC Music’s expert reviewers.

Keep it in the family
Claire Jackson looks at musical siblings, from the Mozarts and Mendelssohns to today’s top performers.

Closing the gap
Jessica Duchen assesses the state of play with regards to the number of female conductors on the world’s stages..

Angela Gheorghiu
The soprano tells Christopher Cook how she is marking 100 years since Puccini’s death in suitably songful style.

The Third Man
Andrew Green investigates how a wealthy mover and shaker may have given flight to The Lark Ascending.

Great Scots
Michael White visits the Scottish Chamber Orchestra which, at 50 years old, is enjoying life as much as ever..

King’s College Choir
Amanda Holloway heads to Cambridge, home of the famous Nine Lessons and Carols radio broadcast.

A King of King’s
Andrew Green remembers Boris Ord, the choirmaster who did so much to make King’s what it is today.

Settling the Score
Femke Colborne reports on how a classic Charlie Chaplin film has been adorned with brand new music..

Maria Callas
Ashutosh Khandekar marks the centenary of ‘La Divina’ with a look at what set the soprano apart from all others.

Rising in the East
The Symphony Orchestra of India is rapidly winning fans at home and abroad, as Owen Mortimer reports.

Arias of achievement
Tom Stewart learns how the Glyndebourne Academy is providing rare opportunities to enter the world of opera

The Tallis Scholars
As his trailblazing vocal group turns 50 years old, conductor Peter Phillips celebrates with Jeremy Pound.

Forgotten Voices
Championing the cause of lost 20th-century composers.

Gravity and Grace
Jessica Duchen explores a strange, surprising… and highly effective new visual take on Fauré’s Requiem..

Wonder Woman
Author Clemency Burton-Hill has spurred an orchestra to form its own book club, as Rebecca Franks discovers.

For the masses
Clive Paget explores The English Concert’s vast project to make all of Handel’s works available online for free.

A secret language
The improvisatory, instinctive world of Irish composer Jennifer Walshe proves an inspiration for Tom Stewart..

Anna Lapwood
The organist and conductor tells Richard Morrison all about her remarkable journey to TikTok stardom.

Ancient and Modern
As it turns 50 years old, the pioneering Academy of Ancient Music’s history is related by Nicholas Kenyon

Opera Heroines
Rebecca Franks explores the neglected operas written by women composers, dating back to the 17th century..

Voices from the past
A new compendium of first-hand musical accounts from centuries past catches the eye of Simon Heighes.

A song in her heart
Rebecca Franks explores an engaging new project to make the songs of Fanny Hensel available online to all.

Breaking the sound barrier
Ailís Ní Ríain explains to Claire Jackson how hearing loss brings unique challenges to her work as a composer..

Welcome to The Proms!
Your guide to the 2023 BBC Proms season, complete with the BBC Music Magazine team’s personal picks.

A titan without ego
Conductor Otto Klemperer’s drama-filled career would make a fine subject for a movie, explains Andrew Green.

Hidden treasures
Conductor Charles Peebles discusses the pleasures and pitfalls of researching and staging long-forgotten operas..

Vive la révolution!
Roger Nichols explores in depth the wonderful variety of Saint-Saëns’s five groundbreaking piano concertos.

A slave no more
Gayle Wood on the remarkable story of Joseph Emidy, from captivity in South America to violin superstar.

Smooth operator
Conductor Oliver Zeffman tells Michael White about staging concerts in unlikely and imaginative spaces..

Isata Kanneh-Mason
The pianist tells Jessica Duchen how her new recording was inspired by the music of her unique childhood.

French master
Roger Nichols shares his memories of happy Parisian times in the company of composer Henri Dutilleux.

East meets west
The Clarion Choir is marking Rachmaninov 150 by recording all his choral works, discovers Charlotte Smith.

An orchestral odyssey
A dazzling new animated film introducing the orchestra has caught the eyes and ears of Tom Stewart..

Wagner’s Ring cycle
Terry Blain tells the story of opera’s mightiest work, from composer’s dream to four groundbreaking dramas; plus, four top Wagnerians share their love of his music.

The city of light
In 1923, a wealth of premieres in Paris took classical music in exciting new directions, reveals Roger Nichols..

The BBC Music Magazine Interview
Pianist Benjamin Grosvenor enters the complex world of Brahms and the Schumanns with Jessica Duchen.

Composer of the Month
The up-and-often-down career of Leoncavallo, composer of Pagliacci, is charted by Alexandra Wilson

Scholes of thought
Andrew Green explores the tireless industry of Percy Scholes, author, critic and music educator extraordinaire.

A change of tune
Rachel Rowntree asks what is being done to welcome musicians with disabilities onto the orchestral stage..

’Tis the season to be jolly
What is the perfect recording to get oneself in the mood for Christmas? Ten of our writers tell us their favourites.

Early learning
Nicholas Kenyon looks at the history of early music TV and radio programmes over the BBC’s 100 years on air.

A touch of Fröst
The Swedish clarinettist Martin Fröst tells Tom Stewart about his drive to bring imagination to the concert hall..

And did those feet…?
Jason Whittaker explores how Parry’s Jerusalem has attracted an array of arrangements, from Elgar to ELP.

Playing for her life
Rebecca Franks on Hélène de Montgeroult, a composer whose skill at the piano saved her from the guillotine.

The sound of silence
World War I saw many German composers banned by a disgruntled British establishment, as Erik Levi reveals..

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
MARIN ALSOP
‘My heart at the moment is really with Vienna

William Walton
His Cello Concerto – the key recordings

Lang Lang
The music that shaped his life

Britten-Pears
Inspiring young talent for 50 years

Changing lives
Leon Bosch reports on the work of the Buskaid charity in inspiring the South African musicians of tomorrow.

Evgeny Kissin
The pianist shares frank thoughts with Michael Church on the Ukraine crisis and Russia, country of his birth.

Fifteen composers at 30
Jeremy Pound explores what top composers were up to as they left their twenty-something years behind them.

Roger Norrington
As he lays down his baton at 88, the great conductor looks back at his pioneering career with Julian Haylock.

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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
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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!

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BBC Music Magazine - July 2024

BBC Music Magazine - July 2024

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