BBC Music Magazine

‘I have been a fan of Jessye Norman since hearing her sing many times at the Metropolitan Opera in the late 1980s, and researching my article has given me an even deeper connection to her.’ Page 26 ‘Evocations of fire and the natural world are just

Until recently, the name of Florence Price was alien to most concert goers. If we wanted to hear the musical voice of 20th-century America, we’d turn to Copland, Gershwin, Barber, Ives and handful of other men. But happily the world has changed, and

Editor Oliver Condy Nigel Westlake’s ‘Spirit of the Wild’ Deputy editor Jeremy Pound Frederick Septimus Kelly’s ‘Elegy In Memoriam Rupert Brooke’ Reviews editor Michael Beek Christopher Gordon’s ‘Mao’s Last Dancer’ Editorial assistant Freya Parr R

I read, with great interest, Jessica Duchen’s The Gentle Giant feature about Bartók. I fully agree with her that the time has come to celebrate Bartók’s achievements as a scientist, pianist and composer. However, the photo captioned ‘the composer wit

Do other listeners share the experience of being completely baffled by a piece of music at first hearing, wondering if they could ever follow it, let alone like it, then after an interval hearing it again and finding it made sense and spoke to them?

2005 Charles Mackerras 2006 Bryn Terfel (bass-baritone) 2007 Judith Weir (composer) 2008 Kathryn Tickell (Northumbrian piper) 2009 Colin Davis (conductor) 2010 Emma Kirkby (soprano) 2011 Nicholas Daniel (oboist) 2012 National Youth Orchestra of Great

100 …years of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, celebrated with a concert conducted by Sir Simon Rattle (below) in early September. 200 …miles cycled by the Armonico Concert and wine guru Oz Clark to raise money for the Unlocking Baroque/Mu

Plans have been announced for the construction of a state-of-the-art new concert hall in Oxford. Leading acoustician Ian Knowles has been appointed to work on the venue, which will consist of a main 500-seat auditorium plus another 250-seat performin

Born: London, UK Career highlight: Playing the piano in the world premiere of Thomas Adès’s opera The Exterminating Angel in Salzburg, taking the Shadwell Opera’s orchestra to the Mariinsky Theatre for the Russian premiere of Knussen’s Where the Wil

3rd Frederick II’s Prussian forces defeat the Austrian army commanded by Count Leopold Joseph von Daun at the Battle of Torgau in Saxony. For both sides, the battle proves one of the costliest of the Seven Years’ War, with 16,670 Prussian and 15,897

Though the Coronavirus outbreak has scuppered most of this year’s Beethoven 250th-anniversary plans, Steinway has at least done its bit to help the composer blow out the candles in style. The company has built ten ‘Appassionata’ pianos (left), whose

Deutsche Grammophon has recently signed baritone Andrè Schuen. The 35 year-old, from Italy’s South Tyrol region, recently appeared in Mozart’s Così fan tutte at the Salzburg Festival and will embark on a series of Schubert recordings for the label. T

The Passacaille of David Lang’s chamber work is slow-moving and lyrical, almost a chorale, but with extremely alarming and increasingly distressing interruptions from the percussionist. It feels like two worlds colliding and you’re never quite sure h

In the June issue I enjoyed reading about the music that signified the plague. The piece didn’t reference Cui’s brief, and pretty much unknown opera, A Feast in the Time of Plague. Rather than just a curiosity piece, it is actually somewhat relevant

Just to be clear, I have the highest regard for the pianist Imogen Cooper. As I have for the singers Bryn Terfel and Emma Kirkby and – while they were still with us – the conductors Charles Mackerras and Colin Davis. I just wonder why, when it comes

As the days grow ever more autumnal, so does my taste in wine, food and music, and yearnings for sunny bursts of Baroque concerti grossi turn to a desire for something a little fruitier. Brahms has always struck me as a composer to accompany our relu

Throughout her career, Jessye Norman recorded recitals with Philips, Deutsche Grammophon and Decca, all of which are now available in a 47-disc retrospective to celebrate what would have been her 75th birthday. The limited-edition box-set features st

1945: Jessye Norman is born in Augusta, Georgia. Her father, Silas, sings in a local choir and her mother, Janie, is an accomplished pianist. 1962: Returning home from the Marian Anderson Vocal Competition in Philadelphia she auditions for, and earns

When, in 1995, BBC Proms controller John Drummond commissioned Harrison Birtwistle to write a work for saxophone and orchestra to be played by John Harle at the Last Night, it was all pretty well-intentioned. Although the Last Night had never feature

The detail, range of colours and virtuosity on display make this 1964 disc with the Julian Bream Consort an enchanting listen. Sony G0100029919854 The Brazilian wrote some of the most ravishing of all 20th-century guitar music. Bream is fully equip

Believed to be one of the world’s oldest instruments, the didgeridoo dates back some 1,500 years (at the very least). Developed by Australia’s Aboriginal people, the cylindrical instrument is made from a hollowed-out tree – often a eucalyptus. Someti

Start with the bright colours of Glanville-Hicks’s Etruscan Concerto from the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (ABC Classics ABC4763222), paired with the finale from her opera Sappho, followed by The Warriors by her fellow expat Grainger (below), which i

John F Kennedy’s White House was probably the most culturally welcoming of all US presidencies. Bernstein, Stravinsky and Copland were all invited, and the great cellist Pablo Casals played a recital. JFK no doubt inherited his penchant for domestic

Le Mozart Noir While there are superficial similarities between the two composers – ambitious fathers, both inhabiting the world of musical classicism – Bologne’s nickname ironically also highlights Mozart’s (below) much greater range and profundity.

LIFE: Joseph Bologne is born in Guadeloupe to George Bologne de Saint-Georges, a wealthy plantation owner, and Ann, his wife’s 16-year-old African slave. TIMES: Bonnie Prince Charlie sails from France to Scotland as part of the Jacobite Rising to win

Puccini was 41 years old at the time of Tosca’s premiere, and by this stage wealthy enough to own a lakeside villa in Torre del Lago – the purchase of his first luxury motor (and, soon after, car crash) would follow. His career as an composer had, th

What a package! This 1976 film boasts superb singer-actors, ravishing orchestral playing, and the real locations in Rome. Kabaivanska’s lyrical Tosca – more coquettish than vixen-like – is unusually sympathetic and Plácido Domingo as Cavaradossi is v

With a starry cast that includes Mirella Freni as Tosca, Decca’s 1978 recording should have been a winner, but the indulgently slow pace of Nicola Rescigno’s conducting saps the life out the piece. There is abundant glorious singing – notably Pavarot

Such is the nature of classical music’s long and sometimes complicated history that it’s possible to have a world premiere of a work over 200 years after it was written. That was the case with the 1778 revision of Lully’s opera Armide, which went unp

Why do you think this version of Armide was never performed? Louis-Joseph Francoeur wrote the Prologue, the first, second, third and fourth acts, and they began to rehearse. But there were many problems, so they cancelled the show and it was never st

Gürzenich-Orchester Köln/ François-Xavier Roth Myrios MYR 028 (CD/SACD) 55:16 mins Do we really need more reminders that Schumann wasn’t the clumsy, imaginatively hampered orchestrator of legend? If you still do, then listen to this. No orchestral c

Born in Altona (today a suburb of Hamburg), then under Danish rule, Carl Reinecke learned music from his father and showed talent from an early age. He made his debut as a violinist aged 11 and began his career as an orchestral violinist. He then bec

The American singer is a rare phenomenon: a true contralto, possessing the deep vocal range for which singers such as Kathleen Ferrier and Marian Anderson were celebrated. Born and raised in Florida, Amereau initially studied law but was inspired to

Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 Lang Lang (piano) DG 481 8971 91:16 mins (2 discs) Lang Lang has studied the Goldbergs for 20 years, and recording this work has been his dream. He played it from memory for Christoph Eschenbach when he was 17, and did

In 1705, the 20-year-old Bach set off on foot from Arnstadt to Lübeck, a journey of just over 250 miles, to hear the great Danish organist Buxtehude perform. Like most composers at that time, Buxtehude did not just play the organ – witness the only s

Folk singer Kate Rusby has made 19 albums since 1997, interpreting traditional material, songs by others and writing her own gems. She concluded 2019 with Holly Head, a fondly-wrought album of Christmas-themed songs from her native Yorkshire. Hand Me

Bubblewrap Collective BWR051CD Mai is an exquisite third album by Welsh singer/harpist Georgia Ruth – and it could be the sound of an artist really hitting her stride. Having won a Welsh Music Prize for her 2013 debut album Week of Pines, and prais

There is a lot to enjoy in these wonderfully upbeat works by two pupils of JS Bach, whose influence is not hard to discern. They benefit here from energetic, enthusiastic performances . (JP) ★★★★★  This powerful fusion of traditional Gaelic psalm si

Alongside direct responses such as Mehldau’s, it’s easy to imagine other musicians finding time and cause to consider subjects to which they personally relate during this time of constraint. It’ll be largely coincidental, of course, as many such proj

Brad Mehldau (piano) Nonesuch 007559 791928 Will critics dub this the COVID era if it lasts long enough? We’re now seeing works in many artistic fields created as a response to the current situation, of which this solo piano album is one. It’s bril

At the time of writing, Shabaka Hutchings, composer, saxophonist and leader of The Comet Is Coming, Sons of Kemet and Shabaka and the Ancestors, is looking forward to a back-to-basics event in the social-distance-friendly outdoor environment of the B

Launched to celebrate 95 years of Danish audio design, the Beoplay H95s are a luxurious treat, combining the latest active noise-cancelling technology, wireless Aptx Bluetooth streaming and exceptional comfort with accomplished 40mm titanium drivers,

Alan Davey , the controller of BBC Radio 3, picks out three great moments to tune into this November Donald Macleod explores the life of James Price Johnson, a pioneer of stride piano – a style of jazz created by ragtime players – and composer of ‘T

The final fortnight of this year’s Proms took place in the Royal Albert Hall without an audience. For the first time in Proms history, every concert was filmed, broadcast live and is now available to watch back on the BBC iPlayer. Catch up on the wor

Steven Isserlis is one of the world’s greatest cellists, both as a concerto soloist and as a chamber player. He broadcasts, writes children’s books and tweets regularly on the great composers. No Longer Mourn for Me, his new recording with the Philha

Parlophone R 5055 Daniil Shafran (cello), Nina Musinyan (piano) Doremi DHR7741 Chorale Gabriel Fauré Turnabout TV-S 34486 Berlin Philharmonic/Klaus Tennstedt EMI 094 4332 Dunedin Consort/John Butt Linn CKR313 ■