Review: Bach Cantatas (Ensemble Correspondances/Sébastien Daucé)
Sébastien Daucé turns to Bach in accounts of fervour and tenderness, writes Nicholas Anderson
CDs are back! And these modern all-in-one CD players are the best way to listen to them
CDs are back! And these modern all-in-one CD players are the best way to listen to them, writes Chris Haslam
Are you a 'super listener'? These 4 simple concepts will unlock the secrets of music
Our guide to the four concepts that will help you to unlock classical music's secret code and become a great listener
Celebrate the future of music with the Festival Academy Budapest
FAB celebrates its 10-year anniversary in 2025 with honoured guests and young talent
BBC Music Magazine Awards 2026: nominations announced
From Chamber to Concerto, Opera to Orchestral, we proudly announce the nominations for this year's BBC Music Magazine Awards - all the very finest classical albums released during 2025
BBC Music Magazine Awards 2026
BBC Music Magazine Awards 2026: vote now for your favourite classical music releases of 2025
Vote now for your favourite classical music releases in the 2026 BBC Music Magazine Awards
Orchestral, Opera, Chamber and more: vote now for your favourite classical music releases of 2025, in the 2026 BBC Music Magazine Awards
BBC Music Magazine 2026 Concerto Award
Welcome to the 2026 BBC Music Magazine Awards. The nominated recordings for the 2026 Concerto Award, in association with ABRSM, are listed below. The nominees for the 2026 Concerto Award Kalevi Aho • Magnus Lindberg Clarinet ConcertosJulian Bliss (clarinet); BBC Scottish SO/Taavi OramoSignum Classics SIGCD898 Reviewed November 2025 In his introductory note, Julian Bliss says the Lindberg and Aho clarinet concertos are ‘two of the greatest of the 21st century.’ ‘It’s a bold claim,’ said our reviewer, ‘and one that is easy to endorse.’ Indeed, these engaging works are brought to life by the virtuoso, who thrives in their colourful
BBC Music Magazine 2026 Opera Award
Welcome to the 2026 BBC Music Magazine Awards. The nominated recordings for the 2026 Opera Award are listed below. The nominees for the 2026 Opera Award Bartók Duke Bluebeard’s CastleRinat Shaham (mezzo-soprano), Gábor Bretz (bass-baritone); Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra/Karina CanellakisPentatone PTC5187225 Reviewed June 2025 Our reviewer was amazed and chilled by this concert take on Bartók’s blood-curdling masterpiece, Bluebeard’s Castle, our ‘Opera Choice’ for June. Gábor Bretz and Rinat Shaham are brilliantly risk-taking in their roles, and Karina Canellakis ‘conducts the orchestra as if her life depended on it,’ we wrote. Lerner & Loewe My Fair Lady Scarlett Strallen, Jamie Parker
BBC Music Magazine 2026 Newcomer Award
Meet the most fascinating figures from classical music
We asked today's top conductors to name the best conductor of all time. Here's what they said
We asked 100 of today's leading conductors to vote for the best conductor of all time. And the answer is...
Who is violinist Rakhi Singh?
British violinist and composer Rakhi Singh speaks to Amanda Holloway about the music that has shaped her life and career
We ranked the 21 greatest pianists of all time
Who was the best pianist of all time? We asked 100 leading pianists to name the performers who have brought the most magic to the keyboard
The great composers
Explore the lives and works of classical music's finest composers
Buried alive under an avalanche: music's 11 most bizarre and tragic deaths
Some of the most well-known composers met their ends in highly unusual ways...
Ospedale della Pietà: the orphanage where Vivaldi turned abandoned girls into world-beating musicians
Harriet Constable, author of The Instrumentalist, explores Venice’s Ospedale della Pietà, the girls’ orphanage where Vivaldi taught and composed
Composer Alex Ho and the Chinese diaspora in Britain
Composer Alex Ho is part of a growing community of musicians combining their British and Chinese heritage in fascinating ways, writes Richard Morgan
Meet Hildur Guðnadóttir – the star composer of Joker and Chernobyl
Cellist and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir has forged a career spanning classical, film and electronics – but she’s always been drawn to unsettling themes, as she tells Claire Jackson
Greatest Recordings
Our recommendations of essential additions to your listening library
Outliers: these 21 albums sound like nothing else their bands ever made
Some albums defy expectations. From Beatles to Neil Young, these outliers reveal bands daring to experiment... and sometimes bewildering their fans
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
Prog rock 1975: ranking the 17 greatest prog albums turning 50 this year
1975 was a landmark year for progressive rock, delivering groundbreaking albums that pushed musical boundaries and redefined the genre’s scope. Here are the 15 best
Ranked: the 21 greatest country rock albums of all time
When rock met country, magic happened — steel guitars, road songs, and restless hearts. These 21 albums defined that bittersweet crossroads
Albums of the week
A selection of the best reviewed albums from the latest issue of BBC Music Magazine
Review: Schreker • Korngold • Krenek
This superb album brings together three Austrian composers who would go on to fall foul of the Nazi regime
Review: Debussy • Szymanowski Quartets (Belcea Quartet)
Michael Jameson is entranced by the Belcea Quartet’s brilliant pairing of French and Polish composers
Review: Schubert 4 Hands (Chamayou / Andsnes)
Leif Ove Andsnes and Bertrand Chamayou play Schubert with exquisite sensitivity, says Misha Donat
Rock music
Explore rock music
You weren't just 'in' these 17 bands. They were your LIFE
Forget the charts and the tours; for these radical collectives, being in a band was a 24-hour-a-day social experiment.
These 15 iconic rock partnerships notoriously turned sour
From wavering friendships to outright feuds, some of rock music’s most legendary partnerships are also some of its most flammable
9 old-school rock genres you never hear about anymore
Rock evolves relentlessly, leaving behind once-vital sounds. Here are nine forgotten rock genres that shaped music history... but have quietly vanished from today’s airwaves
Audio equipment reviews and advice
A selection of the best reviewed albums from the latest issue of BBC Music Magazine
