BBC Music Magazine

BBC Music Magazine is a must for anyone with a passion for classical music. Classical music connoisseurs and new enthusiast alike will enjoy the fascinating features and reviews of over 120 new works in every issue.

THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORS

Welcome

BBC Music Magazine

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LETTER of the MONTH

Women composers receive New Year Honours boost • Errollyn Wallen, Judith Bingham and Helen Grime all enjoy due recognition

A purr-fect instrument for Clawed Debussy

THE MONTH IN NUMBERS

Rising Stars • Three to look out for…

Sound Bites

Puccini’s Madam Butterfly fails to take flight in Milan

Also in February 1904

He’s started… so we’ll finish

DÉJÀ VU • History just keeps on repeating itself…

Segun Akinola

Studio Secrets • We reveal who’s recording what and where...

REWIND • Great artists talk about their past recordings

Buried Treasure • Pianist Boris Giltburg introduces three rare works from his own record collection

We can all be composers!

FAREWELL TO…

Music to my ears • What the classical world has been listening to this month

READER’S CHOICE

READER’S CHOICE

Our Choices • The BBC Music Magazine team’s current favourites

Richard Morrison • Beethoven’s remarkable life and music demands to be celebrated

250 REASONS TO CELEBRATE BEETHOVEN • From groundbreaking symphonies to miniature masterpieces and from heroic premieres to disastrous family fall-outs, we invite you to join us on a 15-page exploration of the great composer as we mark the 250th anniversary of his birth

10 famous Beethoven fans

10 composers inspired by Beethoven’s genius

10 must-read books

5 lesser-known contemporaries

10 releases to look out for • Recording highlights for 2020

10 quotes about Beethoven • Words of wisdom across the ages

10 BBC broadcasts in 2020 • Unmissable television and radio

5 unfinished masterpieces

10 unfamiliar works • Lesser-known Ludwig to enjoy

10 arrangements of Beethoven

10 Beethoven performers • History’s legendary interpreters

10 Beethoven references in popular culture • How the composer’s reach stretches far beyond the concert hall

10 unmissable concerts in 2020

20 Beethoven recordings • A round-up of recommendations

A miscellaneous grand finale • Enjoy a motley collection of facts and figures to round off our Beethoven 250 celebrations

Sir Roger Norrington

Pioneering spirit • A potted biography

Last impressions • The 19th and 20th centuries’ fascination with death masks has left us haunting portraits of many great composers, including Beethoven (left). But how many here can you identify? See answers bottom right

AWARDS 2020 • VOTE NOW and help award the best classical recordings of the past 12 months

And the beat goes on • Andrew Stewart reports on how the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain’s peer-to-peer mentorship scheme is reaping great rewards

Litomyšl Czech Republic • Jeremy Pound heads to this charming town in Bohemia, whose major annual festival pays homage to its most famous musical son

Bedÿich Smetana

Johannes Brahms • Hailed as the heir to Beethoven, Brahms grew into one of the 19th century’s truly great symphonists, explains Natasha Loges

Brahms’s style

BRAHMS Life&Times

Piano Concerto No. 4 Ludwig van Beethoven • Stephen Johnson is captivated by Beethoven in warm, lyrical mode as he listens out for the finest recordings of this groundbreaking work

The composer

A blend of beauty and...