To mark the 150th anniversary of Berlioz’s death, we speak to six leading musicians about the works by the French composer that have shaped their musical lives. Berlioz’s renowned work Harold in Italy is also on your cover CD month, alongside La mort de Cléopâtre. Also this month, we discover Liszt’s Sardanapalo, the unfinished opera that has now been completed and brought to the stage.
We return to the Tudor times to explore the lives of Catholic composers such as Dowland, Tallis and Byrd, who were forced to live in spiritual exile under the reign of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I.
Elsewhere in the issue, conductor James Conlon tells the stories of the music that has had a profound impact on him, and Cuban conductor and composer Odaline de la Martinez talks to James Naughtie about her mission to bring neglected modern American music to wider audiences.
We name the finest recordings of Chopin’s ‘Funeral March’ Sonata and suggest which works to explore next. Plus, the reclusive virtuoso Charles-Valentin Alkan is our composer of the month.
Click the image below to download the inlay for this month's free cover CD.
