When music kills: seven tales of musical curses and death wishes
From eerie coincidences to bizarre psychological effects, here are seven stories of classical music with deathly powers
Dalia Stasevska extends BBC Symphony principal guest conductor contract to 2027
Bonbons, candied fruits and royal jelly... 5 notoriously sweet-toothed composers
Would you go for a delicate Marjolaine or a hearty game pie? Bakewell tart or savoury fougasse? We find out which composers had a taste for sugary treats…
Mozart stories: ten of the wildest rumours about the great composer's life and death
Did Salieri poison him? Was he buried in a pauper's grave? And is that his widow in a photo? We examine 10 Mozart rumours
Star Wars music: ranking the nine film scores from worst to best
How do all nine Star Wars scores stack up? Here's our ranking of the best and worst Star Wars music
Simon Rattle receives 2025 Ernst von Siemens Music Prize
The celebrated British conductor receives the award, worth €250,000, on 17 May 2025 at a ceremony in Munich
And the BAFTA goes to...? Music nominees revealed!
The nominees for the British Academy Film Awards have just been revealed, and here are the composers up for this year’s BAFTA for Original Score...
The humble coat button that saved a great composer's life
How a fight between Mattheson and Handel could have caused the demise of one of classical music’s greatest composers – had it not been for a metal coat button
English folk songs: 11 beautiful, memorable folk melodies from our past
Are these the best English folk songs?
'No deflowering took place': inside Tchaikovsky's tragic sham marriage
Tchaikovsky's marriage to Antonina Milyukova was a disaster, with the composer repressing his homosexuality and finding his wife to be 'absolutely repulsive'
Meet the most fascinating figures from classical music
Clara Butt: her generation's greatest contralto, or the butt of a cruel joke?
Clara Butt may be remembered chiefly as a cardboard cut-out figure of fun – notorious enough for Disney to lampoon as Clara Cluck. But, says Andrew Green, it's time to readdress her reputation
Who is Alexandre Kantorow? The exciting young pianist described as 'Liszt reincarnated'
The exciting young French pianist shares with Jessica Duchen the enormous thrills of performing at the 2024 Paris Olympics and winning the 2019 Tchaikovsky Competition
Dennis Brain: the British virtuoso who brought the sound of the French horn to millions
Dennis Brain inspired a generation of musicians and music fans alike. Andrew Green traces the meteoric rise and tragic end of the French horn virtuoso
The great composers
Explore the lives and works of classical music's finest composers
Alexander Scriabin: mystic, avant-gardist, devil worshipper
Surrounded by controversy throughout his life, the composer Alexander Scriabin did little to discourage people from seeing him as a kind of Messiah, as pianist and Scriabin devotee Yevgeny Sudbin explains
Honestly, it's never too late. These seven composers hit a brilliant creative peak in middle or old age
Who were the composers who produced their masterpieces in later life? Rebecca Franks finds out
Best Polish composers: eleven great musical figures, from Chopin to Penderecki
John Allison explores how Poland’s turbulent history has left an exceptional musical heritage
Thomas Tallis: the ultimate Tudor survivor
The Tudor era was rarely a safe place to be - but its greatest composer Thomas Tallis had the guile and talent to survive its many perils
Greatest Recordings
Our recommendations of essential additions to your listening library
Winterreise: the tale of Schubert's brilliantly bleak song cycle - and four great recordings
Michael Tanner sets out on one of the bleakest and loneliest journeys in classical music, as he selects the finest recordings of Schubert's harrowing song-cycle, Winterreise
Mahler Symphony 5: a guide to this journey from darkness to triumph, and its best recordings
We name the greatest recordings of Mahler's legendary Fifth Symphony
18 weird and wonderful Christmas album covers: our pick of the best
Christmas over the years has inspired a glorious array of quirky covers from record company designers. We present our favourites…
Essential Christmas albums: 10 timeless recordings to get you in the Christmas spirit
What is the perfect music to get oneself into the festive spirit? We ask ten of our writers to name the albums they couldn’t imagine Yuletide without
Albums of the week
A selection of the best reviewed albums from the latest issue of BBC Music Magazine
Review: Scarlatti: A Man of Genius (Francesco Corti)
In his review, Nicholas Anderson enjoys the bravura of the Italian harpsichordist Francesco Corti’s survey of these evocative solo works by Domenico Scarlatti
Review: Block: Chamber Works (ARC Ensemble)
In his review, Erik Levi enjoys discovering the life and music of exiled Austrian composer Frederick Block in this superb ARC Ensemble album
Review: The Salvage Men (Eric Ericson Chamber Choir)
The Eric Ericson Chamber Choir shine in this outstanding selection of modern works for choir by US composers, says Kate Wakeling in her review
Audio equipment reviews and advice
A selection of the best reviewed albums from the latest issue of BBC Music Magazine
Audio gift guide 2024: perfect gifts for audio lovers this Christmas, at every price point
From cute bedside radios to tantalising turntables, Chris Haslam suggests a wide range of perfect gifts for audio lovers this Christmas
How to get the most from your Spotify subscription
Our expert Chris Haslam gives valuable advice on getting the very best from your Spotify subscription as a classical music listener